The body.

Quick Update:

First of all, we are rejoicing and praising God about the news that the cancer was stage 1 and I will not need chemo. I will get periodic check-ups annually for the next five years to make sure the cancer is not returning. If no more cancer appears during that time, I will get check-ups every five years.

Second, we go to the hospital tomorrow for Stefanie to get a C-section and deliver the babies. We get to meet the twins! Please pray for God's presence to be in the delivery room, and His hands to be on the babies and Stef.

The Body That Works When There's a Body That Doesn't:

Surgery recovery = no shaving :)

Today, August 3rd, is my Birthday. I'm 34. My body is aging. Fortunately, I get to continue to age. This past month has made me reflect often on what it means to have a body. And never has it been made more evident to me that our bodies are vessels. Empty vessels that somehow God fills with "us" (our soul), and then wants to reside there with us and make us His temple. But as any earthly temple, our bodies will eventually decay to the point of destruction and will no longer hold us. This morning, I read John Piper's Solid Joys devotional, entitled Why You Have A Body. Once again, I am reminded of our ultimate purpose. We have bodies so that God may be glorified. We will some day get new bodies because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Never to get cancer, never to get diseases, never to get unexplainable syndromes, never to decay again. And with our new bodies we will forever worship and glorify the Lord!

But for now we live in a fallen word, and bodies do decay. Bodies get cancer, bodies get disease, we get syndromes that even the most intelligent of minds can't explain, chromosomes are missing, hearts fail. We fall apart, our bodies don't work right. Even the very cells within our bodies will sometimes disobey the order that God has put in place and choose to go their own way.

Despite this, there is a Body that does work here on earth... The Body of Christ. What a blessing to get to experience this first hand! And oh, the dreadful thought of going through something like this and not have the Body of Christ to support you.

Our family has been the recipients of such an amazing outpouring of the Body of Christ in action. It is difficult to put into words the gratefulness in our hearts. The cards on our mantle says it all. We've received so many encouragements through cards, notes, handwritten letters, texts, emails, facebook messages, gift cards, and gifts. Some, from people we barely know. And whether it's mowing our yard, changing the oil in our van, bringing us delicious meals, watching the kids, grocery shopping, coordinating help, filling our water softener with salt, getting pizza delivered to us, lining up a cleaning lady for us, etc, etc, it's all been so helpful and so humbling. The brothers and sisters of the Leo
Apostolic Christian Church have been such a presence and an example of Christ's love to us. And family and friends everywhere have been so supportive and encouraging.

But above all, the prayers. The prayers of those we love! The prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ! We know there are congregations across the nation and loved ones across the world that have prayed for us; that have petitioned God on our behalf. We know God is listening. There is no other way to explain the peace we have felt as we have gone through this journey. God is real and He hears our prayers!

We thank you. May God be praised!