To God be the Glory

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! In honor of Thomas, my nephew, I want to post a memory of his journey in 2011. When a child has cancer, the whole family walks the days of uncertainty together. Take a moment to remember the 47 children who have been diagnosed with cancer today! Remember their families!  

When you think life is going along as expected, just wait! It won't be long before there will come some interruption ~ usually unexpected. When I look back, I can often find that God has been preparing my heart in my devotional and prayer time. Such has been my experience again. 

Six days after my last blog entry, the world seemed to stop for a few minutes; my breath seemed too thick to move in and out of my lungs as I heard, "Thomas has a brain tumor." Thomas is my 9 year old nephew, the only child of my only sister. Surgery followed two days later to remove as much of the tumor as possible. An estimated 90-95% of the malignant tumor was removed. Now we are just beginning 30 daily radiation treatments. 

Everything in between what used to be and what is now ~ just happened! Some call such situations disasters, tragedies, unfortunate. Truly this is something that none of us would have chosen, yet it brings new dimension to our faith. This difficult circumstance that we did not choose brings us to our knees before God in a way that nothing but tragedy can. We seek the God of miracles! We praise the God All-knowing! We trust the God of Healing and Wisdom! We move forward only with God! God is our Refuge and our Protection. As so often our prayers remind . . . It is hard for our human hearts to imagine but God loves you,Thomas, MORE than any of us! To God be the Glory!

pray with us ~ 
God of miracle-wonders, 
God of well-thought-out-plans ~
His cloud-brightness burst through a grand 
comet of fireworks. Then God thundered out 
of heaven; the High God gave a great shout. 
We have seen You ~ the Light in our darkness. 
We have felt You ~ the Power in our weakness. 
We have heard You ~ the Voice in the chaos. 
We celebrate You! We praise You! We rest in 
the mountaintop refuge, safe.
Love Most High, in all times You are our 
shield of protection! You rescue us, touch us, 
heal us, lead us forward.
For such love, words search but find no escape, 
captives of mediocrity. 
God, make my life complete as we place all 
the pieces before You. 
Hear the deepest, wordless prayers of our hearts. Amen. ~ dho 

[Scripture from Psalm 18 ~ The Message]

You can follow this amazing God-journey that Thomas is making at www.CaringBridge.org/visit/ThomasMcGirr

**previously posted on this blog/2011/DonnaOswalt