No Fear

I see from the stats on this website that our friends and family have already been checking in on my mom this week.  You all are so wonderfully supportive!  I'm sorry it took so long for an update.

As many of you know, Mom received a call on Wednesday from her doctor after a bone marrow biopsy was done on Tuesday.  The news wasn't good.  Doctor Jessica let us know that they see AML (leukemia) in her blood once again.  We were all very scared and sad to hear this news.  This is the 3rd time she's been given this diagnosis and we don't want to see her go into the hospital for treatment again.  The doctor said she could come in to start things the next day or she could wait til after Thanksgiving if she wanted to.  Mom has been feeling so good and had no signs that this was going on.  We were thankful that her doctor caught it so early this time, although an AML diagnosis is never something you want to hear your doctor say. 

About 30 years ago when my Mom was pregnant with Julie, Mom was watching the 700 Club on tv.  She had a miscarriage about 6 months prior to that, and had begun seeing the same symptoms in her new pregnancy.  Pat Robertson, who is one of the hosts of the show, was leading prayer and prayed for "Mary" who was bleeding.  He let my Mom know during that prayer that God was healing her adhesions and that the baby would be fine.  Obviously my Mom was amazed at witnessing this miracle!  She stopped bleeding soon after and Julie is doing great today.  Praise God!

On Thursday Mom was watching the 700 Club again (Amy, Julie, and I were with her).  Pat Roberston was praying for a few people and last prayed for someone with Leukemia.  Mom claimed that healing prayer and is believing that God will bring her through this the same way He has brought her through all the other trials in her life.

Her counts are still good and she's home living normally.  We're all spending a lot of time with her, aside from my Dad who is in the midst of an outage at work (where he works long hours for a few week period of time).  He will take off work if he needs to be in the hospital with her.  Today we (mostly Mom :) made Thanksgiving dinner and are enjoying family time.  We are so blessed!

Still no further news from Mom's doctor in terms of what's next.  They need to get more results from last week's biopsy in order to determine what they will do.  In the meantime we are believing in God's healing power as we've witnessed before.  We will not be afraid of the trials that await any of us in this life because we have a hope of something greater through Jesus Christ.

Here is an encouragement written by Jack Kelly from www.gracethrufaith.com.  If you are going through a fearful time in your life, find encouragement by counting your blessings and trusting in our Creator...


For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (Romans 8:15-16)

The Lord’s will is that you no longer be afraid but trust in Him to protect you. Therefore the fear you feel is from the devil. Resist him and he’ll flee from you (James 4:7) You have been given the authority to take your fearful thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Instead of crying yourself to sleep, stand up and rebuke these fears in the name of Jesus. Get into the Word and learn the promises the Lord has made to you. One of my favorites is Phil. 4:4-7 When I feel fearful or uncertain, I begin thanking God for all the blessings He’s given me. Before I’m finished, I’m at peace.

The enemy has persuaded you to reduce your thoughts to their lowest level. In Phil 4:8-9 Paul tells you to elevate them to their highest level. You have the right to choose the thoughts that will occupy your mind, and only need to exercise it. But you can’t just deny the fear, you have to replace it with thoughts of protection and blessing from Bible verses and your own experience, proving to yourself that your fear is unfounded. Since God has protected you in the past, it stands to reason that he’ll do so in the future. He is faithful after all. As you convince yourself, your fears will go away and the enemy will flee.