God is still working miracles...daily

Daily Devotional by Max Lucado

“God Is! God Is!”

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

f I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Psalm 139:8 (NIV)

It is the normality not the uniqueness of God's miracles that causes them to be so staggering. Rather than shocking the globe with an occasional demonstration of deity, God has opted to display his power daily. Proverbially. Pounding waves. Prism-cast colors. Birth, death, life. We are surrounded by miracles. God is throwing testimonies at us like fireworks, each one exploding, "God is! God is!"

The psalmist marveled at such holy handiwork. "Where can I go from your Spirit?" he questioned with delight.

"Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (PS 139:7-8 NIV).

We wonder, with so many miraculous testimonies around us, how we could escape God. But somehow we do. We live in an art gallery of divine creativity and yet are content to gaze only at the carpet.

We are truly witnessing a miracle at work with each occuring MRI and follow-up appointment. Travis had his 3 month check up and appointment and the MRI remains "un-changed, with no new tumor growth". For almost two years this has been the report and we praise God for His goodness. Going into this we never expected God to declare Travis to be healed or cured from cancer or from the tumor, although we know that we serve a mighty God that can do so and we would give Him all of the glory if this is what he is planning for Travis and our family. We do however count each appointment, in which we hear the doctor say "everything looks great and there is no change", as a miracle in itself. Thank you God for each miracle. That is why this devotion speaks volumes to us and we hope it does to you also. As Max Lucado says : "It is the normality not the uniqueness of God's miracles that causes them to be so staggering. Rather than shocking the globe with an occasional demonstration of deity, God has opted to display his power daily. Proverbially. Pounding waves. Prism-cast colors. Birth, death, life. We are surrounded by miracles." Our family has been blessed with many miracles lately with the birth of our second son Connell James and now with this great doctors report. We thank God for showing us His miracles daily and quarterly with Travis' MRI and follow-up appointments. We hope you find the daily miracles He abundantly gives to you also!

Testimony

Recently the pastor of our church, Bear Creek Baptist Church, preached a sermon series How to Recover from your Worst Day Ever. During the series they interviewed people who had experienced their "worst day ever". We were asked to share about finding out Travis had cancer and how God has walked us through it. It was very intense for us to recall all of the events that have brought us to today, but know that God has a far more powerful ending to our story. Our prayer is that someone's life is reached for His glory through this testimony. If you would like to view the video or the sermon, click on the link below. Please share the link with as many people as you would like. You never know how it will touch someone's life.

http://www.bearcreekchurch.tv/other-videos

Travis and Jennifer

New MRI report 8/21/09

Well, after waiting over a week to get the results from last Thursday's MRI I'm glad to say that everything looked great. God continues to show me his grace and faithfulness. The tumor cavity in my brain seems to be getting a little smaller. I still have a hole in there about the size of my ear. In the picture above the tumor site is the black circle on the left. The left is actually the right side of my head because the MRI is a mirror image. By the time I go in for my next MRI we should have a new baby boy, and a new house. The next one will be after Thanksgiving. Thanks for checking in on me. I appreciate all of your prayers, which seem to be working.

Travis

Update

We just wanted to give everyone a Travis update. Overall things have been going well since the last doctor's appointment and MRI. Travis had two mild seizures last month which warranted a MRI and doctor's appointment. Dr Degroot, MD Anderson oncologist, did not see any sign of growth in the tumor and said that the seizure was most likely a result of stress and lack of sleep. We have been trying to take it easy around here, but between selling our house, preparing for the new baby and life in general we stay busy. Please continue to pray for our family and especially for Travis and his upcoming MRI scheduled for August. We are so amazed at how God has poured out His love, mercy and grace on us through this experience.

Travis and Jennifer

MRI and Jennifers Ultrsound on March 31 2009

Hey everyone, Travis here. This is my first time posting on the blog. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I can't express how grateful I am for each one of your prayers. Thank You!!! Today I got another great MRI report. The exact words from the radiologist were " There is no change". Another great thing about today's doctor appointment was that they told me I could start going in for check ups every 3 months instead of every 2 months like I have been doing for the past year. The only bad thing about today was that my Dr. appointment was for 11:30 and I didn't get to see the doctor until 1:20. We were starving by the time we got out of there. And as you may, or may not know Jennifer is eating for two right now.
Jennifer is 8 weeks pregnant and the due date is Nov. 5th. While I was getting my MRI Jennifer went down the street to her doctor and got an ultrasound. It's still to small to hear the heart beat but it was flashing on the screen. The doctor said everything looked normal. So to sum up the day I would say, "The baby is growing and the tumor is not." Woo Hoo!

January 23rd MRI and Dr.'s Appointment

Today was another follow-up MRI and appointment for Travis at MD Anderson. Dr. Degroot, the oncologist, said everything looked "outstanding" on the scans and that all margins looked clean. He also thinks Travis is doing "outstanding" overall. His only concern was that Travis' blood pressure was quite elevated. He would like for Travis to monitor it for this coming week and then if needed he will be place on blood pressure medication. We think that under the circumstances and the MD Anderson environment would cause any one's BP to be high!

A special thanks to you all for your continued prayers and to God for his continuous grace in our lives.

Travis and Jennifer