Forgiveness

Those who seek God's forgiveness are spared eternal judgment.

Remember that God speaks to you not only through your times of prosperity but through your times in the desert. Many times it is in the desert that you draw nearer to Him. For it is then that you seek and cry out for Him the most. For we require His love and mercy. It is in His righteousness that you will be restored.

I love the song lyrics to the song "At the foot of the cross" by Don Moen. He so elegantly speaks the truth about how we should portray Jesus. He says "trade these ashes (our sins) in for beauty, and wear forgiveness like a crown."

The next lyrics portray an image to me about the entirety of our existence when he says "coming to kiss the feet of mercy, I lay every burden down." All of our filth and unrighteousness is forgiven by Christ. He allows us to give up our burdens and forgive others as He has forgiven us, as Christ sees us as beautiful and precious to Him. We too should see others through His eyes no matter the circumstances. "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32)

I know it isn't always easy; however, we must remind ourselves that Christ does it for us on a daily basis. We aren't Christ, be we were made in His image.

Life can be hurtful, discouraging and dreadful at times but always remember...Forgiveness is needed to bear the burden off our shoulders and onto Christ's. For that is why we must "lay every burden down at the foot of the cross".

Blog was composed by Tina and typed by Aaron.

Update: These past few weeks seemed to have been more difficult than usual. Tina has been having more seizures than usual (several a week) and she is very weak on the entire left side of her body. Her last MRI showed that the Avastin appears to be still working by shrinking the tumor overall, however a small portion of the tumor has crept over to the other side of her brain (across the midline). Due to this, her doctor recommended that she start a second chemotherapy medication this weekend in order to be a little more aggressive in the treatment protocol. The medication is called Temodar and it is supposed to have much milder side effects than other chemo agents. Please continue to keep us in your prayers: Tina - meds will continue to kill the cancer cells completely with minimal to no harmful side effects and that her left side would get stronger and NO more seizures, Katie - she will continue to remain bubbly and filled with the Joy of Christ as God continues to protect her eyes and heart during this, me - God will continue to give me the strength emotionally, mentally and spiritually to care for my family, all 3 of us - that God would continue to allow us to bring Him glory through this trial. Love, Aaron.