Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! We hope that you and yours are greatly blessed. Our greatest blessing this year has been your prayers for Debbie and for our family. Because of God’s mercy and your prayer, we are enjoying another Christmas celebration with Debbie. We know that it is only because of the mercy and grace of God that we are alive. And because of what has happened to Debbie, we feel a special sense of gratitude for our time together.

Debbie has had a great week preparing for our celebration. She grows weary much sooner then before but with rest she has felt strong enough to return to many of her roles has keeper of our home. She and I both enjoyed the preparations more this year because we rejoiced in each thing she was able to do.

The most recent blood test revealed that her CA 125 count had dropped even more. (It was 30). This is excellent news and is one indicator that the treatments are doing what our doctors wanted them to achieve. The tumors are still present but the cancer cells are not multiplying as rapidly they were just a few weeks ago. Please pray that the tumors will shrink and then disappear.

Please pray that her red cell blood count would increase. This is necessary for Debbie to continue having her treatments. The red blood cells also determine her energy level. The most recent test revealed that her red blood cell count was lower then normal.

This morning as our family read the Nativity passage in Luke 2, I was stirred once again by the faith of Joseph and Mary to cooperate with God. They must have known Him as Lord. They fully surrendered to His will in spite of how it caused them to suffer.

It is a mystery to me why some have this kind of faith and some do not. I have observed this kind of faith in Debbie during her darkest days. In the midst of great pain and suffering both physically and emotionally, I have heard her say, “I trust you Father”.

Why does she trust Him like this? Why did Joseph and Mary trust Him like this?

As we approach January 1, I am approaching my 35th anniversary as a Christian. 35 years ago, I decided to follow Jesus in spite of how it might cause me to suffer. (The blessings of following Jesus have far out weighed any suffering.) Why did I make the choice to follow Jesus in spite of how it might cause me to suffer? Why did Debbie make this same choice 35 years ago before we met?

Through the mercy and grace of God, we saw we were sinners. Because of His mercy, we saw the wickedness of our hearts. We also saw for the first time what Jesus did to save us from our wicked condition. The Holy Spirit then baptized us with the love of God and we gave our lives to follow Jesus no matter what it cost.

When we consider our faith, we can only give God glory. Without His mercy and grace and the revelations we received of ourselves and of Him, we would have never made the choice to follow Him. Now more than ever, we need Him to reveal Himself to us. And He is faithful to do so because of His mercy and grace toward us.
If you are in Christ, He has pledged to you His mercy and grace and the revelation you need for the difficulties that you currently face and will face in the future. Take time to be with Him and to listen to Him. He will be true to His pledge. He will lead you like a shepherd that loves His sheep.

If you are not in Christ, I believe that His mercy and grace is being directed toward you and He wants to reveal Himself to you as He has revealed Himself to us. You may see yourself as seeking truth but the truth is He is seeking you. That is why you have taken a moment to read this blog today. He is seeking you!

If you are not in Christ, but He is seeking you, you need to keep seeking the truth from the bible and from those who follow Jesus no matter what it cost. He will reveal to you the truth about yourself and the truth about His mercy and grace to you. Do not stop the pursuit because He is seeking you. I can assure you that you will find what you are seeking because He is faithful.

Merry Christmas from Debbie and from all the Wells!