Blessings in Disguise

Several years ago, Laura Story, a gifted Christian songwriter penned these words for a beautiful song entitled, "Blessings:"

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise.

This has certainly been a week for the books. On Tuesday morning, I reported to MD Anderson in Camden for my first date with Mr. Chemo. After my temperature was checked in the lobby and I lathered on the hand sanitizer, I was allowed to proceed to the 3rd floor otherwise known as the Infusion floor. After checking-in, I was asked about my lab work. I told them that I had it done on Thursday and apparently, they didn't take all the blood that they should have. Therefore, I had to get more blood drawn and wait for those results until I could start my date. I bet poor Mr. Chemo thought I had stood him up!!!

Once finally settled in my chair and I was hooked up to Mr. Chemo, I turned my back on him and took a nice little nap. When I woke up, he was still there. This wasn't a bad dream. The day went pretty smoothly as I worked on some personal stuff on my laptop. Finally, at 6:30pm, I was free of Mr. Chemo and I could pack up my stuff and wait for my sister to come and get me.

The next morning, still pumped up on steroids, I got up and went to work. Being in the travel industry has been extremely depressing over the past several weeks. Every day, more and more reservations cancelled with no new reservations to make up for the cancelled ones. And finally, once most reservations were cancelled, the phones just stopped ringing. On March 19, the company laid-off about half of the reservation agents. This meant half of my team was gone in a flash. Not even time to say good-bye and good luck. The next weeks were even harder. Then right before noon on April 2, I was summoned to a Zoom meeting. I prayed for peace. I needed it. Now it was my turn. I was laid-off -- log off the computer, etc. "You'll be the first group to be called back when business picks up. We'll email you with an FAQ sheet." After receiving the info, I filed for NJ unemployment, I pushed my work computer, phone and monitor to the side, had lunch and took a much needed nap. But my very first thought was this is a blessing in disguise!!! 

The dictionary has several definitions for the word blessing. I especially like this one, "a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness." But how can I think of a layoff as a gift? I dwelled on that question for a while and came to the conclusion that if you think of everything - good or bad - as a gift from God, then everything is a blessing. It may not immediately bring happiness because it might not be what you had desired, but in the long run, God will use it for His good & His glory. That's why I thank God for cancer. It sounds weird, but I have been blessed by a closer walk with the Lord, an army of Mighty Prayer Warriors, and the opportunity to write creatively and share my thoughts with you.  

I will leave you with this brand new song called "The Blessing" from Elevation Worship. The song is quite long, but let the words soak into your soul because they are directly from Scripture. In the YouTube comments, someone already did the leg work for me:

Numbers 6: 24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace." Psalm 67: 1: May God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah Exodus 20: 6: But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love Me and obey My commands. Deuteronomy 7: 6: Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands. Psalm 103: 17-18: But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to the children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. Deuteronomy 31: 8: The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Exodus 33: 14: The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Romans 8: 31: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 1 John 4: 9: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.

Romans 8: 37: Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

In this crazy world we live in right now, I'm glad I worship & serve a steady and unchanging God. 

May your days be filled with abundant blessings!!!

Prayer Requests:
- Blood work on April 16 -- pray for good numbers
- Chemo date #2 on April 21 

Only by His Strength,
Sandy