The Joy Of The Lord Is My Strength

Dear Friends and Family,


I hope this finds you well.


We have just returned from York. It was lovely to see some of you, and thank you again for your prayers and encouragement.


I guess my writing will now be about the lessons we have been learning, how we have experienced God in the midst of it all and the mixture of highs and lows.
Eventually I'll catch up with myself and when I write it will be an actual update rather than looking back on what has past. For now it will be remembering's!


I left you last time on the day Owen returned home from hospital. The next day was kind of a turning point for me. From scared and wondering what the heck was going to happen to complete peace that passes all understanding and a sense of purpose in what we were living through. If you can begin to see purpose in something it changes your whole outlook on it I think.


So, the next day was a Sunday. I had been thinking that maybe I would take Quinn and Jonah to church and leave Owen at home to rest, but he was certain that he wanted to go. This was unnerving but also encouraging at the same time! We all needed some kind of normality. We needed prayer and the support of our church family.


We had been told that church was holding a prayer meeting for us before the service, and as we arrived at church we were told that an encouraging number of people had attended and that the sense of support and unity that was displayed was amazing. This was our first indication that this was not just about us and the situation we were going through, it was bigger than that. God was already using this for far more than we would ever know, and one aspect of it was about calling the Church to prayer. To unite and to press in to God.
This was again displayed when the whole church prayed for us as one during the service. So uplifting.


I can't tell you who was speaking that morning or what was said, but I can tell you how God spoke to me. He spoke of joy, of strength, of His almighty power and His glory, of his working on our behalf and of how he would use this to speak to others.


The verse that was strong in my mind was Nehemiah 8:10. "The joy of the Lord is my strength." It had been on my mind for a few weeks already and now it seemed especially appropriate and necessary. What a marvellous lesson to learn, what a joyful lesson to learn! Who doesn't want to be joyful at the best of times, but especially in adversity.


I also began to think of how amazing it is that we know the CEO of the Royal College of Physicians, and how he was able to ensure that Owen received the best care while he was in hospital in the days before. God is good....and yet! How silly I felt when I had the sudden realisation that we have THE KING OF KINGS and THE LORD OF LORDS acting on our behalf every single step of the way!! Flipping amazing!! Who are we to worry when THE King is fighting for us!


My third line of thinking was of our friends and family and how this might impact them; of how God might use this for his glory and to speak to those around us in new ways. An opportunity for us to speak of God's hand on us throughout and all our answered prayers; an opportunity for his goodness and glory to shine.


Owen gave testimony that morning of the healing he had experienced only a couple of months before in his foot after he had broken it playing hockey. He had been facing surgery but when he had gone for prayer he felt a pulsing through his foot and at the X-ray he was told it was now healed. What marvellous timing. God had taught us truths about Himself in a relatively minor incident before we face a more serious situation! Jehovah Rapha! The Lord our healer!


We were given a pile of paper with verses and prayers and encouragements that people had written over the course of the weekend and during the prayer meeting that morning, and we were given the passage 1 Peter 1:3-9,


  "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end results of your faith, the salvation of your souls."


Wow!


The next day when elders came to pray for us I was given the verse, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." There seems to be a theme emerging here! I was already feeling uplifted and joyful, a positivity that I'd never experienced before. An enabling to be what Owen needed me to be to support him and our family. To be strong and positive and courageous in the face of the giant we were facing.


Here ends another letter!


God Bless and Much Love to you,


Rachael xx


P.S: It seems that the comments section of the blog is not working (I will try and work out why), so if you would like to leave a comment or ask any questions please do so by Facebook or e-mail or phone. Thanks!