Test Results and Life Food

Hi Everyone,
I had blood work done on Thursday and got the results yesterday. The liver function test was normal as were all the other tests. The CA 125 was 5 - down a point from October, which is in the normal range (0-35). I am thankful to the Lord for this result. I am still trying to go into the library at Boston Trinity 3 days a week - usually by the 3rd day I am kind of dragging myself in. I love it though - this week I had the opportunity to work with 2 students. It was wonderful!

I don't think I mentioned that I am also taking 3 classes on line to complete my MS in library science. I love the courses but it is hard to keep track of everything that needs to be completed for all the classes. These were classes that I had dropped back in April when I was first diagnosed. I was able to take one in the fall and then 3 now. After this quarter, I will have only 3 left! It is amazing that my mind can function. Another testimony to the restoring work of the Lord.

Cooking healthy is all a challenge because healthy eating is definitely not "fast food." It requires getting fresh cruciferous vegetables and then processing them (chopping, shredding, cutting, cooking) to get them palatable. I also have to search for recipes. I've been making some interesting dishes for the family. It is too hard to cook something for them and something else for me and it is good that we all eat this way. Everyone enjoys the "interesting" concoctions I've come up with - like pumpkin black bean soup or eggplant stew or vegan minestrone with kale and cabbage! I have a slogan I say to myself - "Eat to live, not live to eat." This is a good life principle, I think. So, day by day, as I eat to live physically, I am also taking the time to eat to live spiritually. It is amazing that the Lord Jesus likened Himself to bread, to food.

In John 6:35 and 57 - Jesus says that He is the bread of life and that we should eat Him:

35 Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst.
57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

Isaiah 55:1-2 say:
1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, And you who have no money; Come, buy and eat; Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And the result of your labor for what does not satisfy? Hear Me attentively, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Eat what is good! What could be better than the Lord Himself, the living bread! When we eat Him, we live because of Him - He is the ultimate life food! How do we eat Him, you may wonder? By taking in His word, in short little portions by prayer. What better words to pray than the word of God. As we pray the Word, we are assimilating it into our being - and like the Lord Jesus said in John 6, we can expect to live by Him.

This week I really enjoyed this hymn. It is a wonderful one for praising the Lord for all that He is. Here is a link for the tune: http://www.hymnal.net/Hymns/Hymnal/midi/e0169_i.mid

1 Thou, Lord, to God art precious,
His chosen, His delight;
With oil of joy, anointed,
How comely in His sight.

Chorus
We treasure with affection
Thy perfect comeliness,
Thy sweetness and Thy fragrance,
And all Thy loveliness.

2 The altogether lovely,
The fairest of the fair,
Thy mouth with grace o’erfloweth;
Our hearts their love declare.

3 The wise men offered treasures
And honored Thee at birth;
Thou wast by noble buried,
Still lovable in death.

4 Thy head has been anointed,
The lovely One Thou art;
Thy feet anointed also,
Beloved in every part.

5 Thy death as myrrh in sweetness
Man’s spirit comforteth;
Thy resurrection fragrance
God’s longing answereth.

6 As henna flow’rs, Thy beauty
In loveliness complete;
As apple trees that flourish,
Thy fruit abundant, sweet.

7 Sweet wine Thy love surpasseth,
Thy name an ointment is;
We take Thee as our love feast
And taste the sweetest bliss.

8 As on Thyself we ponder
And all Thy beauty trace,
We taste to full Thy sweetness
And rest in Thine embrace.

He is our love feast - when we enjoy the Lord Jesus, we taste the sweetest bliss.

Much love to all of you. Remember, eat to live!

Joanne