Week of October 13 - 19

October 13

For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
     2 Samuel 22:50

Gratitude. We must come back to it every day. To affect a positive change in our outlook, our attitude and our well-being, we must devote time consistently to thanking God for God’s love and care for us. Give thanks right now for this day, for the life you have been given today to enjoy it. Give thanks for the sunshine, the rain, the home in which you are able to live. Give thanks for those who care about you and for you. Give thanks for the moments of release when you laugh, when you cry, when you have a burden lifted from your heart. Give thanks for unexpected blessings and for blessings when expectations were met. Just give thanks. For everything you can. As often as you can. Your life will change when you do.

I  give you thanks today, O God, with a grateful heart, a heart full of amazement and joy. The more I seek what is a blessing to me, the more I realize I cannot finish counting the ways you enter my life to heal it. Amen.


October 14

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.
     Philippians 1:3-4

In all of our lives are people who love us. We cannot travel this pathway alone. Each of us needs the healing touch of others who love us and who only want the best for us. Not only do they help to provide care for our bodies, but they also nurture our spirits and souls. The support they give is invaluable. Take time to name those who are essential to your care and well-being. Take time to thank them for all they do. Take time to thank God for providing them in our lives and for working through them to bring hope and encouragement to each day.

I know I do not thank you enough, dear Lord, for those people you bring to me who love and care for me. But I take this moment today to begin to renew my expressions of gratitude for them and for all they do to give deeper meaning to my life. Amen.


October 15

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will exult in the God of my salvation.
     Habakkuk 3:18

To place our deepest hope in the One who knows the depth of eternity is to set ourselves on the strongest foundation of all. God wants only the best for us – to have life and to have it abundantly. God offers the abundance to us and invites us to delight in it. How will you delight in this day God has given to you? How will you accept the love that lifts you above the everyday turmoil of this world? How will you react to challenges in a more healthy way? How will you find sacred meaning in even the most routine of tasks? When we think purposefully about these things each day – and strive to do them - we will be amazed at the peace we will begin to achieve.

Help me to rethink the way I approach each day, O God. Help me to look at challenges and frustrations in a more positive way. Help me to react to them in a manner that lifts me higher, not pulls me down. I look for your guidance to set me on this better way. Amen.


October 16

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
     Colossians 3:2

What are the things that “are above”? Among them are hope, peace, joy and love. They are eternal; the things that last forever, that cannot be destroyed by time, circumstance or place. Hope through God never dies. Peace deep within our souls can never be destroyed. Joy imbedded in our hearts will never be taken away. Love filling our lives with rich and abiding meaning can never be overcome by disease and distress. If we seek these things above all else, we will surely find ourselves transcending – rising above – all the difficult and temporary challenges of this life.

When we seek first your kingdom, O God, we are promised a new outlook and a new understanding of the importance of our lives. I pray for a glimpse of your eternal wonders today. I need it to put my priorities in the right place. Amen.


October 17

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.
     Psalm 4:8

Cancer can too often give us many long and restless nights of worry and fear. But worry and fear do not bring encouragement and hope. Our challenge is to acknowledge the things that trouble us. But it is also to release those troubles and bring our minds to more positive and hopeful places. Give yourself a few moments to ponder the worries when they creep in. But resolve each time they do to give them only a very small amount of your time. Then move on to thoughts that bring you encouragement and joy. Move on to thoughts of promise and peace. Stay in those thoughts as long and as often as you can. They will offer you respite and bring you more gentle rest and relief.

The many nights when I lie awake in anxiety and alarm do me no good, I know. So, O God, I look to you to help me with the challenge of setting boundaries for worry and for opening up the doors for calm and release to come in. Amen.


October 18

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
     Matthew 11:30

So many of our troubles come from thinking we must do all the work of survival on our own. Too many days spent feeling overwhelmed is a result of us believing we are on this journey by ourselves. Feeling that we are overburdened and alone responsible for every aspect of our healing is natural for most of us. But we are not meant to stay feeling that way. God means for us to know deeply within our souls that we are not alone with this cancer. God wants us to know there is help. God wants us to know there are answers. God wants us to know there are others who can share the walk with us. God wants us to know that God, above all, is here to carry us when we need it most.

It’s incredible, dear God, when I reach out beyond myself I feel the burdens lifting. When I am open to allowing the touch of others to bless me I find relief. When I listen for you and allow you to guide me I find myself in a more hopeful place. Thank you. Amen.


October 19

“He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
     Matthew 8:17b

We are created in God’s image. God knows us intimately and perfectly. God wants us to find relief and release for our disease and pain. Because God understands us so fully, God is the one to whom we need to connect to know how we can best find help. God’s business is about offering us healing, hope and new life. God does not want us to suffer and neither does God want us to live in despair. We need to know and believe deeply within our souls that God’s purposes are only for our everyday and eternal best.

In love you have made me. In love you exist to save me – from myself, from my fears and from my distress. I will live confidently today because of this deep love for me, dear God. Amen.