One Thousand Gifts #6

**For an update on my chemo session/doctor appointment today, please see my Caring Bridge journal.

93~ The crunch of leaves under foot
94~The chorus of my 3 little ones singing “Trick or Treat!!”
95~ A timely song, to remind that I am never alone
96~ Chemotherapy, and the signs that it is working!!!
97~ A sister who dresses as a “bald pirate” for Halloween in honor of me. 🙂
98~ Warm coats, gloves and hats
99~ Chili in my crockpot, made by my Ann

Because this is number 100, I will name one that stretches me.

100~ Pain.  Pain reminds that “when I weak, I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10  I will speak this and write it, and He will be faithful to make it true in my heart.  It is a gift I don’t want, yet it is a gift.

NIV Version:
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)


The Message Version:
^7-10Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,  My grace is enough; it’s all you need.  My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.