A Note of Encouragement

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Picture of Sue Molenda

Sue Molenda...Encourager

 

 
Unexpected Miracles
Volume XVI, Issue 2
January 11, 2016
Unexpected Miracles...by Sue Molenda
 
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV

I've never had holiday stress as intense as last year's. This year, though little has changed, I am giddy with placidity---an unexpected calm in the midst of a storm that has ripped through my life and threatens to destroy me. Maybe it's that "peace that surpasses all understanding" which, until now, I had not experienced.

This holiday season...in spite of an income well below the poverty line, a long list of unfinished projects, and a deadly stage four cancer...I am surprised by inexplicable serenity.

I worry little about my own difficulties, and I love to share with others the peace God has given me. Towards that end, I joined several online support groups for cancer patients.
Silhouette of a grieving man

The other day, a newly diagnosed man posted that he felt devastated and wanted to die. Like other late stage "sufferers", I jumped in to fortify his courage. The words flowed so easily that I wondered if the Lord had taken over the writing. My comment was, I thought, magnificent.

But my ego was not to be indulged at the expense of a man suffering perhaps the worst moment of his life. One or two members of the group clicked the thumbs up button, but nobody stopped to express awe and wonder at my effort. Yet miracles did occur.
 
The first miracle was for a stranger. It wasn't the brilliant response I wrote while under my bedcovers, but that my comment was quickly buried within an avalanche of replies from people who knew exactly what it means to get a shocking diagnosis. ALL, in one accord, urged him to fight, to live, to savor every moment with his loved ones, and to never give up hope.
 
My message was a droplet in a deluge of love and encouragement he received within minutes. His response to me was a simple, "Thank you" as the page kept filling with messages of support.
 
Sun peaking through clouds at sunset, over a calm lake
The second miracle was for a friend. As a writer trying to finish my first---and possibly my last---nonfiction book, I was disconcerted by what seemed to be the insignificance of my carefully crafted comment---being just one among so many.
 
No sense in wasting these words, I thought. I'll post them on my Facebook page. It might make a ripple. And it did.
 
One friend, an atheist, not only read my comment but shared it. Just the night before I'd shared my testimony with him. Now, having read my comment, he urged his readers (who are many), "Heed her wisdom." Was God softening his heart? Does he, despite his inability to believe in an unseen God, see that Jesus has been very real to me?
 
The third miracle was for me...to be continued.
Sue


Sue Molenda is a playwright, author, and mother of four fabulous adult children who all live near her in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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