Thank you Father for your many promises, for walking with us, for being our peace and comfort. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Theresa had her 4th Chemo treatment Wednesday and has a break next week. She is so glad to have the port. It makes the blood draws and chemo infusions so much easier. She gets pretty severe GI pain for about 2-3 days after chemo and has to take meds for it. This seems to becoming more intense. Her chest pain persists, maybe a little worse since dropping down the prednisone. She will see the cardiologist in a few weeks. She is eating some, helps with meals and reads a bit. Looking forward to a week reprieve. Theresa’s spirits continue to stay up. Her cough is about the same as well.

My reading today from Rick Warren is right on.
James 1:2-3 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the the testing of your faith produces perseverance”.

“People are like tea bags. You don’t know what’s inside of them until you put them in hot water. Stress and problems have the uncanny ability to reveal what’s inside each of us.”

“God says to, “consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials” tells us that we have a choice. We can’t choose our trials but we can always choose how we respond. So how does God want us to respond to these trials? He wants us to consider it joy. In fact, “pure joy!””

“Author and speaker Kay Warren says, “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in all things.”

“When we choose to face our trials with joy, the Bible says the test of your faith produces perseverance.”

“Notice that James says, “When (not if) you face trials…” Storms in life are inevitable. If you’re not in a storm right now, just wait – you will encounter one soon enough. Nobody sails through life easily from the cradle to the grave. What’s most important is how you choose to face your storms.”

“If you allow it, God will use storms to work off the rough edges of your personality, to help you regain perspective of who and what is most important, and to grow you up to spiritual maturity.”

“So the next time you find yourself in a storm, choose to focus on God and not your problems. Consider that there might be something even greater at work in your life than just the trial you are facing. And decided daily to choose joy in spite of your circumstances.”

We can attest to the truth of this. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. My you have a blessed Easter. “He has risen”…