10/23/11

     This morning before the message, I gave my testamony of what God had done for me during my battle with cancer. Some of it had already been posted on my blog so it will be familiar to you. I picked what I thought was the best of what God had given me. Many of the people had not seen my blog, so it was fitting for the occasion. Now that I have made it through this one time I believe that I can do it again if the Lord gives me opportunity and I hope He does.

    

 The Lord has laid on my heart that I would be very remiss if I did not give public testimony concerning the miracle He performed in my life. I am not comfortable with public speaking, but neither was Jesus comfortable on the cross for me. This thought has given me courage.

      Let me first tell you some information on Merkel Cell Carcinoma. It is very rare, only about 1,500 people in the US are diagnosed with it each year. 1,500 out of 300 million is not very many. It is also very aggressive. Of the 1,500 each year diagnosed about 1,000 of them do not survive. Which leaves around 500 that survive, I am one of those survivors. 1out of 1,500 out of 300 million, what are the odds of that? I should buy a lottery ticket.
     From the moment I heard the diagnosis on September 21 until the day my doctor told me there was no more signs of cancer on October 18, just under a month, I knew I was completely in God’s hands. I never worried, I never prayed for healing. I knew there were many in my family and around the world praying for that. I prayed that His will be done and that I would bring glory to the name of Christ.
This is a copy of the note I wrote to give to my doctor right before surgery.
Dear Doctor Shellenberger,
     I just want you to know that no matter how things turn out, no matter how wonderful the job you do with my surgery, you will have my eternal thanks, but the glory will go to God. He is with you and with me also.
God Bless You,
Mary Margaret Jones
P.S. I hope you are a good seamstress. You don’t want to mess up this beautiful face. Ha ha.
     When I went to my final appointment with him, he told me he was carrying that note in his breast pocket.
     I posted this message on my blog after my surgery.
     Not meaning to brag, but God has awarded me a badge of honor. Truly, I was in a battle against Satan. We fought over my faith, my trust, my beliefs, my grace and God’s glory. With    God as my Commander in Chief and me as a private we marched into battle. God was before   me as my protector with me following close behind Him clothed in the whole armor of God. Oh, I was something to behold having fastened on the Belt of Truth, my Breastplate of Righteousness covering my heart, my feet were shod in the Readiness given by the Gospel of Peace. I took up the Shield of Faith to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. My head was covered with the Helmet of Salvation and in my hand was the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17) Nothing could touch me, not even the worst Satan could throw my way. What a beautiful badge it is!
     “What is your badge of honor?” you ask. It is a two inch scar down my left cheek which I will proudly wear. For it will be a reminder of God’s love to me, His sovereignty over all matters in my life, His protection and willingness to lead me into what was my battle for my life as a Christian. Christ had already taken all the blows, for me on the cross.
     These words in Ephesians have taken on new meaning for me. They are alive and real in me, flowing through my bloodstream. God has provided us with all we need to stand against Satan and his demons. Through everything He is with us fighting harder than we ever could. If God is with us, who can be against us? No one, nothing.

     We will be leaving tomorrow for our cruise. I will not be able to post but will bring you up to date when I get back. I have a little book to put down interesting and exciting things that happen on our trip. We all are planning to spend a great deal of time in one of those deck chairs reading and relaxing while the ship is at sea. That's what we'll be doing when we are not eating. There will be plenty of that. A friend likes to say that you go on board as a passenger and come off as cargo. I wish all of you could come along. We are thinking about having a teaching cruise, Billy will be teaching, sometime if we can get our cruise agent to work it out for us. You can come on that one, I hope. Bye, bye for now. Will talk again in 11 days, November 5.