Snow!

Our first serious snow storm of the season hit yesterday and continued overnight. More snow is expected today but there was a lull when I took Charlie out early this morning.

Sunday's Hymn: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
Who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell thy people save,
And give them victory o'er the grave.

O come, thou Dayspring from on high
And cheer us by thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.

O come, thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Latin antiphone, 12th century, Latin hymn, 1710
Translated by John Mason Neale, 1851
Tune: Veni Emmanuel, Ancient plain song, 13th century
Adapted by Thomas Helmore, 1856

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Thirty-Part 2

I am thankful for Rebecca and for her invitation to join in the festival of thanksgiving each day of this month. I made the easy decision to participate. I've participated before and am never at a loss of things to thank God for! But I confess that I never would have posted what I have regarding my recent thyroid cancer episode had I not made that commitment. I would have considered it too personal and you just would not have heard from me while I went through it.

However, God had other plans, plans that I am so thankful for! Sharing the ways He has blessed me throughout this time has multiplied the blessings for me! And, I hope, the glory for Him!

And the response of God's people! Your comments and assurances of prayer as well as the responses and prayers of my real life friends and family, that love and caring, have given me such a depth of understanding of the church universal, far beyond my own loving church family.

What would have been a lonely, albeit blessed, month has turned into a month of wonder and praise far beyond what I could have imagined. I humbly and sincerely thank my God.

I will praise God's name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.~Psalm 69:30

Now please go share your last minute thanks too. There is so much more blessing in shared thanksgiving! Here's the link to Rebecca Writes.

A Month of Thanksgiving: Day Thirty-Part 1

This morning as I stood packing Andy's lunch for work I couldn't help thinking of how thankful I am for my ordinary life. This day ahead of me could have looked very different. I could have been fasting in preparation for my radioactive iodine treatment. I would not have been packing my husband's lunch because he would have been getting ready to take me to Nuclear Medicine at the hospital. My good friends, Kim and Carol, would have been preparing food to bring to my family for the next few days since I would have been unsafe to handle food for others. I would have prepared the sofa sleeper since I would have been unsafe to sleep with my husband...and Charlie. And Charlie! As Kim mentioned yesterday at church, Charlie would have been in for a rough week! Andy will tell you that he's a mama's boy and anybody who knows us very well knows that to be very true. In fact, he's pretty much glued to me as much as possible. And I would have had to stay separate from him for his own safety. That would have broken his heart...and mine!

But God in His mercy intervened for all of us.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.~Jeremiah 29:11

Now, that would have been just as true had I been on my way for the Iodine-131 treatment...but I am so thankful to Him that I'm not.

Share your thanksgiving and bless us all at Rebecca Writes. Today is the last day! But I'm cheating and posting one more this afternoon. I don't think Rebecca will mind!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Nine

Yesterday was a lovely warmish day here at the cottage and Andy graciously blew and raked the few leaves that had accumulated on the lawn since the major leaf raking project up around the roses to finish tucking them in for the winter. He also got out the snow shovels and moved the snow blower into position for whatever comes our way. As we left for church this morning, there was a cold, damp rain falling but those roses looked so cozy in their leaf cocoons and it was a good feeling to know that we are as ready as they are for the impending winter. And I look forward to winter! I like that feeling of coziness, that feeling of rest that comes in knowing that I can't really do much in the way of work outside (except snow removal, of course). All I can do is enjoy the beauty of it. As I will enjoy the spring when it comes. And summer and fall. So today I am thanking God for the seasonal changes He gives us in this part of the country. I love them all, each in their own way!

Only today and tomorrow are left to share your thankful thoughts at Rebecca's. Please join in.

Sunday's Hymn: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear Desire of ev'ry nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child, and yet a King,
Born to reign in us for ever,
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley, 1744
Tune: Hyfrydol, Rowland Hugh Prichard, 1855

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Eight

This morning I woke up and took my synthroid at 5 AM thinking how very grateful I am for that little purple pill! And the blood work I've had over the past few weeks as well as the total body thyroid scan! And the access I have to a very competent endocrinologist! It wasn't always that way for people in my medical circumstances and it still isn't for some in other parts of the world...or even this country! Many people with similar problems have just suffered not feeling very well for much of their lives and died much younger than they would have had they had the blessings that I do. God forbid that I should take those medical blessings for granted!

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.~Psalm 2:12b

We're getting close to the end of November but not nearly close to the end of the blessings of the Lord on His people! Please share yours over at Rebecca Writes.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Seven

Wow!!! Do I have some words of praise and thanksgiving to share with you all today! Upon returning home from a low iodine grocery shopping trip with Emily, there was a message on the answering machine to call my doctor. He says that my total body thyroid scan shows only minimal regrowth of thyroid tissue and my thyroglobulin panel (the tumor marker blood test) that I had repeated on Monday is perfect and within the normal range!! An iodine 131 treatment is not recommended at this time!!! I am still absorbing the news! God is so gracious!! Can you believe it!

With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
~Psalm 60:12

So I can eat all the iodine I want and start taking my synthroid again today. It will take some time to get back to normal thyroid function levels but I'm on my way. Thank you, God, for the gracious victory over this enemy.

What cause for thanksgiving has God given you today? Please share over at Rebecca's.

A Hymn of Thanksgiving

We plough the fields, and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft refreshing rain.

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heav'n above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all his love.

He only is the Maker
Of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower,
He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey him,
By him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, his children,
He gives our daily bread.

We thank thee, then, O Father,
For all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest,
Our life, our health, our food:
No gifts have we to offer
For all thy love imparts,
But that which thou desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.

Matthias Claudius, 1782
Translated by Jane M. Campbell, 1861
Tune: Wir Pflugen, Johann A. P. Schulz, 1800

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Six

Its Thanksgiving Day! My very favorite holiday of the year! I awoke early to see a light, lovely snow covering everything, the first snow of the season, and felt a surge of appreciation for its beauty and the fact that it came today!

In many ways, its not a typical Thanksgiving at the cottage this year. I'm not up to fixing the usual Thanksgiving feast and couldn't eat most of the traditional foods on my low iodine diet anyway. Not all of the Thanksgiving decorations ever made it out. And I'll be taking my naps to make it through the day.

But some things are the same. Its been a long time since we lived close to extended family so its customary for Andy and Emily and me (and of course, Charlie) to be together. Sometimes we've enjoyed the festivities with others but the three of us is a constant. The other constant is the turning of our thoughts to God in thanksgiving for His more than abundant provisions for us the past year...and always.

From the fullness of His grace we have received one blessing after another.~John 1:16

This day my particular thanksgiving to God is for that blessing of togetherness that the four of us share in our warm little cottage on a damp and cold Thanksgiving as the early snow melts and we play a game or two anticipating our very untraditional meal of pork roast and potatoes.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Now let's all share in the rejoicing at Rebecca Writes!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Five

I'm feeling the most hypothyroid I've felt this day. Just totally wiped out! So I'm very thankful that I didn't have to go out anywhere. In fact, I allowed myself the luxury of not even getting dressed. I'm still hanging out in my pj's, intermittently napping, thankful too that Emily fixed dinner, and resting in this promise:

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.~Isaiah 26:3

My mind has been rather scattered lately but it is steadfast enough to know where to place my trust! And that's another reason to give thanks.

How about you? Please share your reasons to give thanks over at Rebecca Writes.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Four

What a difference a day can make! Yesterday, I was uncertain and upset about how things were unfolding regarding the scan for my thyroid cancer. I went to bed just trusting in God's sovereignty and His power in my weakness. This morning, I had the scan and God met me in my need in a powerful way! First, I had the kindest, most caring technician attend to me at the Nuclear Medicine lab. She positioned me on a warm blanket on the bed of the scan machine, wrapping me in it as she brought it together in front of me, fastening it to keep my arms close to my sides. The image of being wrapped in God's Everlasting Arms sprung to my mind! Then she told me to call her if I became uncomfortable, that she would rather have to restart the scan than have me lay there, still but in discomfort, for the next hour. And so the the scan began and I started praying, thanking God for His sovereign, enveloping arms and His strength and power in my weakness. I thanked Him for His provision of that compassionate young technician. Then I thanked Him for my family and my dear church family and many other brothers and sisters in Christ that I knew were praying for me. I thanked Him for each one of you, my dear bloggy sisters, in the overwhelming knowledge that I had people all across this country and even a couple in Canada praying for me! Peace and comfort descended upon me! I am so richly blessed! What had been an ordeal turned into a precious time of intimate fellowship with my God through the Holy Spirit. I am humbled with the wonder of it and so very, very thankful tonight.

The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.~Phil. 4:5b-7

Please share in the thanksgiving at Rebecca Writes. Its a blessing to us all!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Three

This morning I had the preparatory dose of the radioactive iodine for my total body thyroid scan tomorrow. There have been some changes is medical protocol for the tests and treatment of thyroid cancer since my last re-occurrence of it and frankly, some of them have caught me off guard. I was reading an article about thyroid cancer on-line just a little while ago and the thyroid expert mentioned that no one who is hypothyroid, as I am in preparation for these procedures, should be driving. We should consider ourselves impaired as are people who are "driving under the influence." The other times I went through this, I drove...and did many other things...without even thinking about it. Yes, I was tired but it needed to be done. This time, I just can't seem to do that. I feel impaired regarding more than just driving!

Back to the changes in medical protocol and how they caught me off guard. Decisions were made that I feel less certain of this time. But my faith and reliance on God in His sovereignty is stronger this time. So this afternoon of tiredness and uncertainty, I am very thankful for Christ's all-sufficient grace and power.

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Praise God for His blessings over at Rebecca's today and each day of this month of Thanksgiving.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Two

Others have said it, but today is my turn to say how thankful I am for good, solid exegetical preaching! And the Lord's Supper!

Visit Rebecca to see what others are thanking our Good God for this Lord's Day.

Sunday's Hymn: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Elisha A. Hoffman, 1839-1929
Tune by A. J. Showalter

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-One

Right at the top of my list of things to be thankful for today is...the color pink. Its my favorite color! There's nothing like pink flowers to make me feel like skipping...at least on the inside. I love the pink in the sky in the morning for its expression of hope. And wearing pink always makes me feel better when I'm having a down day. I'm not having a down day today but I am wearing pink. Just because I can and I want to. Maybe I'll even wear another shade of it tomorrow. So thank you, God, for the color pink. Sometimes its just the little things.

Now let's head over to Rebecca's to see what everyone else is thanking God for today!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty

The hoops have been jumped through and I am set for my total body thyroid scan next Monday and Tuesday, the 23rd and 24th. Monday, I go to the hospital to swallow a small amount of Iodine 131 which the remaining thyroid tissue in my body absorbs and then on Tuesday, I am scanned to see where and how much there is. A couple of additional thyroid blood tests and the results of the scan determine when and how much of the radioactive Iodine 131 is given to me to (theoretically) destroy the remaining thyroid tissue in my body, all of which is assumed to be cancerous. So I am getting near the end of the process and for that I am very thankful!

Throughout this week, I've been clinging to this particular verse:

The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33:27a

I am humbled and most thankful for His everlasting arms.

Please join us in this feast of thanksgiving which Rebecca is hosting each day for the month of November. Its so much more satisfying than any big meal and has only the most positive eternal consequences!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Nineteen

I'm finally there! My thyroid hormone levels are low enough to proceed with the scan! Thank you, God! Right now, I am wading through the steps to get the arrangements made for my total body thyroid scan. My doctor is about an hour away from the cottage and not affiliated with the hospital close to us where I've had these done before. So he (and I) need to jump through a couple of additional hoops to get the arrangements in order. But things are proceeding and I am trusting God to go before us and smooth the way.

More thankfulness is happening all around us. Go share in it at Rebecca's.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Eighteen

Charlie had a routine vet appointment this morning. Well, as routine as vet appointments are for 14 year-old dogs with checkered medical pasts. But he did well. He accepted the inevitable in better spirits than usual and everything looked pretty good for the old boy. Today I am thanking God for my sweet, little Charlie (who's been dozing on a pillow next to me after his ordeal) and for his patient, kind veterinarian, Dr. Sharon. She makes things so much less stressful for both Charlie and me!


Rebecca is chronicling our thankful posts over at Rebecca Writes. What good gifts are you thanking God for today?

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Seventeen

I just got up from a nap. Naps are a daily necessity in these waning thyroid hormone days. Especially on Tuesdays because my Revelations study is Tuesday evenings. I want my concentration as focused as possible for that and sharp thinking is harder to come by right now. So this afternoon, I am thanking God for the restorative power of sleep. Even just an hour makes a big difference.

What are you thanking God for today? Please share at Rebecca's. Sharing the thankfulness is such a blessing! So while I'm at it, thank you, Rebecca for hosting this month of thankfulness!