Pat ,

We are praying for your son-in-law that he will get a job ASAP. As we all keep him in prayer for the renewing of his mind, it will come.

"All things work together for good to those who love God" Romans 8:28

Anthony,

You too are on our prayer list for the Lord to open up a job as quickly as possible.
It always seems darkest just before dawn, but greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

Just take it one day at a time, one step at a time. It will all work out in due season.
They say that Patience is the last virtue to be acquired. I'm sure of it because I still haven't acquired it .
Know that we and the Doves are holding you up in prayer each day.
May it be a source of renewed strength for you.

Blake,

It is very difficult to see "diminishing returns" each day, as MS progresses. It is very hard to let go of pastoral duties that once thrived under your wing.
But God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, and so suffering is still a mystery.

We are not always healed. Some are reserved for a higher calling. My mother-in-law
lived with MS for 30 years and called her wheelchair her "friend"... she had come to depend on it so.
She found blessing in accepting her limitations, rather than struggling against them.

She forged a ministry of prayer that kept her going and uplifted, always remembering those who had needs as significant as hers.

 We tend to think of suffering as a punishment from God.
We tend to think that maybe something we can do -- or not do --- can change things. Sometimes that is so.
But God is Sovereign and works in mysterious ways.

You have had a job-change...from leading the flock to pleading in prayer for others.
God can find so few who will stand in that gap.
You must be special to be so chosen.
Thank Him for that privilege, and in the mean-time we will keep you lifted up in prayer.

You are in the last lap of the race. It is getting harder as we approach the goal. Here is what Charles Dickens once said that has kept me keeping on:

Ride on, ride on! Rough-shod if need be;
Smooth-shod if that will do, but ride on!
Ride on over all obstacles, and Win The Race!

Satan is throwing every thing he can in your way. One of his ploys is to tell people that they are getting what they deserve. That if they just "claim it" they can have healing. He has them on a gerbil-wheel trying to figure out a spiritual technique that will unlock the safety vault of God's miraculous supply.

Yet they overlook the gold in their hands ... to relate with God in humble prayer for the condition of others.
That --like Paul -- if the condition cannot be removed, then to accept the grace that comes with it.

"My grace is sufficient for thee :for My strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me...
"When I am weak then I am strong." -- 2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10

"Let the weak say, " I am strong." Joel 3:10

"The JOY of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

Oh LORD, please strengthen me one more time" Judges 16:28

Pat ( son-in-law ), Anthony and Blake, know that underneath are the Everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33:27

Your brother in Christ,
Jim Goodrick
www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/strength.html