Thought of the Week...by Oma Farmer

Two weeks ago we were told my husband, Jerry, has a benign (95% chance) tumor in his spinal fluid sac. It is causing him a great deal of pain as the tumor is pressing on his spinal column. He sought medical advice because he thought it was due to an injury he sustained after a fall backwards down an escalator.

We want to praise God for two things related to his injury. (1) Due to his injury we found the tumor while it was removable and is only a large grape size, and (2) The fellowship that He has allowed us to enjoy with Him as we go through the suffering of the injury, the physical suffering as well as the emotional and spiritual.

During this time we have come to discover that it is not about the suffering; it is all about the fellowship. The fellowship that we know in our hearts that "our God is supplying all our needs and that all things work together for them that love the Lord". The suffering is a given; everyone suffers at sometime in their life. The beautiful thing is that Christ offers us the chance to know Him and to fellowship with Him in a special way while we suffer. What a gift! Who, in their earthly wisdom would think that the injury due to a fall and the news of a tumor could be a gift?

God is waiting to give YOU, personally, a gift; the gift of knowing that He is your savior, that He in charge of you and that nothing can come into your life unless He allows it. God wants to give YOU the gift of eternal life and keep YOU for the rest of your life and throughout eternity.