July 4 "Inspiration" Day...The Lord Speaks

Deana and I started reading our Bibles, humming songs, remembering what we could remember from past readings. We started writing verses, thoughts, parts of songs on "sticky" notes and posting them around the room.

"The fear of the Lord, not cancer, is the beginning of wisdom" (Bible according to Deana 7/4/07) (Proverbs 9:10)

"Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go" Joshua 1:9

"Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops pereseverance..." James 1:2

"When the enemy presses in hard do not fear, the battle belongs to the Lord" (Petra song??)

"Cast all of your anxiety on Him because He cares for you..." I Peter 5:7

PSALM 81 Sing for joy to God our strength, shout aloud to the God of Jacob, begin the music, strike the tambourine...

PSALM 75 We give thanks to you oh God, we give thanks for your name is near, men tell of your wonderful deeds...

"Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life and have it ABUNDANTLY" John 10:10

"Suffering for glory that will be revealed to us" Romans 8:18

PSALM 143:8 "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go for you lift up my soul."

PSALM 143:5 "I remember the days of long ago, I meditate on all of your works and consider what your hands have done."

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your way acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5,6

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. Revelations 4:8

Also, Wes and Cindy came and prayed with us and gave us a verse and went to the store for us. "The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not follow the way of this people. He said, The Lord Almighty is the one you are to fear as holy, He is the one you are to fear, He is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary..." Isaiah 8:11

Thursday July 5

A group called "Candlelighters" comes to the oncology floor and provides a big dinner. It was very nice, we were actually starting to get hungry, we had not eaten much at all since Sunday. This group is composed of parents who have had children with cancer or lost children to cancer. A couple of comments that were made to Deana and I were "my you look good for just getting the news about your child, you don't have that zombie look" and "you seem to be at peace with what is happening". The only way we can explain this is that God provided Peace BEYOND understanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday July 6

Joshua's team of doctors came in with the official report. He does indeed have Wilms tumor and it is cancer in stage four and it had already moved into his lungs. Talk about being hit with a sledge hammer...but once again God provided PEACE. We CANNOT explain it...but we were not too worried at this point. OK...Let's go to war.

Our Theme Song as a Family for JOSHUA DAVID JOHNSTON

God's got an army, not afraid to fight,
soldiers of the cross,
children of the light,
warriors of righteousness with HEALING in their hands,
God's got an army marching through the land,
LET ME HEAR A WAR CRY, YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Carman)

We have played this every morning when we're picking up the house...quite fun...kids get a kick out of the song but not the picking up the house part!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should get the "Carman" CD and listen to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just as Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and David slew that giant, our Joshua has a battle to fight and a promised land to enter and a giant to slay...God will bring the victory!!!