Up

August 27, 2013January 6, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

I want don’t want to be grounded.

Hmm..

What do you do with that? Grounded can take on different meanings. The grounded I’m talking about may not be what you think.

This world has a way of weighing us down, almost as if it is pulling us deeper into the earth. Troubles, trials, relationships gone wrong, the depressing things we hear on the news every day… it feels as if it has a downward pull.

God calls us to look UP. He calls us to “set” our minds on things that are heavenly, peaceful, strong, gentle…… truth. He is continually pulling us out of the muck and mire and setting our feet on solid ground or in spacious places (2 Samuel 22:20). He brings us out of darkness into His unimaginable light.

My feet feel very weighted to the earth at times. I allow the cares of this world to eat away at my thoughts and emotion, at my trust. I am called to so much more! “…because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ…”! (Eph. 2:4,5)

Over the years, I have often thought about what it means to “set your mind on things above, not on earthly things…” I’ve assumed that Paul was referring to heaven. I’ve never seen heaven, so at times I find it hard to set my mind on it, having never seen it and all. But, for me, this verse has come to mean even more.

Look down….

earth, dirt, gravity, weightiness, troubles….

Look up….

Sky, heaven, weightlessness, peace, freedom….

I don’t want to be grounded. I don’t want to be weighed down with the troubles of this world, but to trust in Light and Love and Mercy — Jesus!

He is above! He is the Name that is “above every name” (Phil. 2:9).

He is up!

He is in me.

And when I soak Him in and I listen to Him and when I trust and believe and I focus on Him, I’m not so grounded anymore. I feel lighter and more joyful. I’m not so concerned with how the people around me are not meeting my oh-so-important needs.

May I only be grounded in your truth, Jesus. Otherwise, let my feet be just above the ground because I trust in You. You are working in and through me as I look forward to my forever home.

– Susie Stewart

Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”

1 Peter 1:13 “Be holy, therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming.”

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 32:10 “Many are the woes of the wicked but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trust in Him.”

Photo: Susie Stewart

ChoiSes

August 18, 2013January 13, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

I was jogging along this morning,

got to the end of a sidewalk where it forked two ways,

and I came across this:

Hmmm….. Which would YOU choose? Seems pretty obvious. Unfortunately my house was in the direction of the “worst” choise. I wasn’t about to run the long way to get back home so I went right.

It made me think about choises, large and small, that we make throughout our lifetimes.

Selflessness < YOUR CHOISE > Selfishness

Soft Answer < YOUR CHOISE > Harsh Words

Listening Much < YOUR CHOISE > Talking Much About Myself

Disunity < YOUR CHOISE > Unity

Love < YOUR CHOISE > Hate

Truth < YOUR CHOISE > Lie

React < YOUR CHOISE > Respond

Violence < YOUR CHOISE > Peace

Addiction < YOUR CHOISE > Freedom

Give < YOUR CHOISE > Hoard

Cheerfulness < YOUR CHOISE > Negativity

And the list goes on and on.

I have definitely made my share of wrong choises. Some that I seriously regret, but can’t take back. Every one of us has.

Throughout this blog, I deliberately spelled “choice” with an “s” just like our young chalk artist. Spelling it the wrong way on purpose reminds me of how we all make deliberate wrong choices.

Deliberate AND wrong — those are the “worst” choices.

I know better and I choose wrongly.

Praise God, love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), but when I do make the wrong choices, and it’s usually because of self, there is strain, relational scars, and consequences.

But here’s a choice that has ETERNAL consequences:

Love God < YOUR CHOICE > Reject God

If you love God and you believe Him when He says Jesus is the only way to the Father (1 John 14:6), then you make that choice to believe and follow.

The choice is simple, yet SO profound.

Eternity with God < YOUR CHOICE > Eternity apart from God.

I made the choice to be blunt, because it’s important.

Lord, help us make right choices. Give us discernment and a grounded sense of right and wrong

from your Word and Your Spirit.

– Susie Stewart

Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

-Psalm 119:105

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

1 Year Ago Today…

August 17, 2013January 5, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 13 Comments

1 year ago today I was diagnosed with cancer.

I want to thank God for preserving my life and bringing our family through a difficult year. As I look back at pictures from the past year I think of it all as a journey of growth, tears, strengthening, and lots of love. I share some of them here with you to bring my Savior Jesus glory for His goodness, His faithfulness, and His love for me, for my family, and for every person young or old that goes through cancer.

Right after I was diagnosed, special gifts, texts, calls, emails and FB messages started pouring in. What an encouragement! This fruit bouquet came from Dave & Rebecca, my cousin and his wife.

Thank you for the love!

Psalm 112:7

“He will have no fear of bad new; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

Our son Arik headed to college a couple weeks after diagnosis. Such mixed emotions.

Psalm 18:28

“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”

Our daughter Nicole shared her testimony, which included my recent diagnosis, at Fields of Faith, a teen event, about a week after my lumpectomy surgery.

Psalm 46:1

“God is our Refuge and Strength, an ever-present Help in trouble.”

Andy took me on a getaway to San Francisco before radiation.

Psalm 55:22

“Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never let the righteous fall.”

My sweet neighbor Chloe in The Race for the Cure.

John 5:17

“Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at His work, to this very day, and I , too, am working.”

End of radiation celebration. We didn’t yet know I needed chemo.

John 10:27

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

Hat & Scarf party put on by my sister-in-law Rayna the day before my head was shaved. What a wonderful show of love and support. I used these hats and scarfs to keep warm all through the winter.

Psalm 94:18,19

“When I said, ‘My foot is slipping’, Your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul.”

First chemo treatment with daughter Nicole.

Psalm 42:5

“Why so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your trust in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

Nicole bravely shaved my head before the hair started really falling out two weeks after chemo started.

Romans 8:28

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Trying to get used to the new norm.

2 Corinthians 4:8

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Wig-wearing began.

2 Corinthians 4:18

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Reading during chemo.

Ephesians 1:3

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

6 chemo treatments 3 weeks apart. My special “chemo-sabis” with me each time.

Psalm 138:8

“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your love, O Lord, endures forever – Do not abandon the works of your hands.”

Time with my friend Don as he was going through chemo too at the same place.

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

So very thankful for my faithful husband, so loving and encouraging in sickness and in health.

Psalm 3:3

“But You are a shield around me, O Lord; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head.”

Christmas morning holding a beautiful scarf my son brought me from his December missions trip to India.

Psalm 18:1,2

“I love You, O Lord, my Strength. The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer, my God is my Rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my Shield and the Horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold.”

Never thought I’d be balder than my sweet dad. 🙂

Isaiah 40:29

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

End of chemo family celebration! I am thankful beyond words for my family’s support!

Hebrews 13:8

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Starting to grow hair back.

Isaiah 49:23

“…then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

By God’s grace I was able to go back to Africa in June, feeling good, and co-leading our True Impact Ministries team with my husband Andy! What a gift!

Isaiah 58:9-11

“…If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”