My Journey to Healing...Surprise Me God

My Journey to Healing...

"They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD."
Psalm 112:7 TNIV


Life is full of Surprises that are not what we anticipate...yet God is present in the unthinkable circumstances of our lives if we keep our eyes and ears of faith wide open. I will continue to pray the prayer, "Surprise Me God."

I will blog this journey on our website at www.princeofpeacechurch.org on the Senior Pastor's page.
I ask for your prayers for my family and me as we do this journey to healing.


April 27, 2008

On Thursday, after 3 days of tests at the Mayo Clinic it was determined that I have a Mantle Cell Lymphoma. I will be having surgery on Tuesday April 29th in Rochester. I would ask for your prayers as we begin the process of healing.


April 22, 2008

Friday I was diagnosised with a lymphoma and am in the process of determining what type and treatment. I am at the Mayo Clinic this week as necessary. I will keep you informed as I learn more. I ask for your prayers for my family and me as we do this new journey in our lives.

Pastor Tedd

Yeay God

So this is coming to and end. But its seriously been amazing.
I tried out for drum major tonight and I still have a TON of hw that I need to do really well with, but I'm really optomistic that God will help me.
I had another amazing step forward with relationships tonight. Eddy and I talked in the car on the way to my house and then I forgot my backpack at school so we had to drive all the way back (its like 15 min) and we really bonded, which is always an amazing thing to do with someone no matter how good of friends you are or how well you know them.
Well, I've got a lot of real chemical bonding to study for.
Wish me luck!!! (on drum major and all my tests)
God Bless,
Jackie

Struggling...

Lately it's been harder and harder for me to wake up and say those three little words: "Surprise Me, God". It may be because I physically have trouble dragging myself out of bed in the first place. Or it could be because I have so many other things on my mind that I just forget. But more than likely, I think I have gotten to the point where I don't feel like I'm worth surprising.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people complain, which is somewhat hypocritical because I do it too. For some reason, I have become ultra sensitive to everyone's constant negative attitudes and it's really bringing me down. I just don't think there is enough time in a day to do everything that we need to do. I'm sure many people would agree. Between my regular school classes and my handful of after school/before school activities and responsibilities, I'm starting to think that I can't keep up. And the ironic thing is that I brought it upon myself. I CHOSE to participate in everything and now I'm paying the consequences: little sleep, bad attitude, and overwhelming stress.

One thing that made me smile this last week happened on Tuesday in my English class. It is a very demanding college level course that challenges me more than any other class I've ever taken. Luckily, I adore my teacher. She's a St. Olaf alum and actually was confirmed at Prince of Peace, so naturally we got along right away. I must have had a sour expression on my face that day because she came up to me at the end of class and just asked how I was doing. I told her that I was running low on energy, time, and patience with my life.

"The most important thing is to learn how to say no to some things, take a step back and just BREATHE," she said.

Wow. Those words, though I've heard them before, were exactly what I needed at that time. I'm a natural at doing everything- that's how I've always been and how I think I always will be. But there are appropriate times to say 'no' and I am now more aware of that. 

As I sit here and attempt to play catch up with all my journal entries for that English class, I am reminded about the rain that we received tonight. Those tiny drops of water falling from the sky that wash everything clean spoke to me. It was really God talking to me, saying, "It's time to start over again; take a step back and just BREATHE!" So I think I'm going to try it. Step back. Breathe. Whew, I feel better already. :)

The talk with my teacher and the rain was just exactly the surprise that I needed when I was down the most. Thanks for the advice, God. Oh, and thanks for nature's version of a free car wash, too. That made my night.

Kayla Gronli

since feb.15 to march 12

hay you guys i know that i haven't bloged for a little while but i've been busy. since feb. 15 i've seen things that were good and bad surprises from God to me. this surprises have helped me in a way and some just hurt my heart cause a fellow boy scout lost his mother which happened to be my 7th grade mentor and a friend. God has also sent me warnings about my grades telling me to bring them before they hurt me. then there is this girl that comes into the picture and my world turns upside down for the both of us and she has brought me out of the gloomy days that i had and i brought her out of her bad days. it's like God had us meet so that we can be there to support each other when we need it most. ever since god sent her to me and sent me to her my life has changed and i've seen more things in life that i probally wouldn't have seen. so ya this 30 day faith journey had helped me more than i expected. also it helped me understand God more and i saw this in mentoring. to another surprise is that i thoguht that jackie would do most of the talking and teach me through her thoughts but i ended up doing most of the talking and speaking my mind to her which i taught myself about God and she just guided me. i thought that i going to be taught by jackie inside teaching myself. if i can do this again i would in a heart beat.

Thank you

Thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity to share my surprises with you all. I am amazed how the Holy Spirit worked through me to get a message out. I have never done anything like this...but would do it again in a heart beat! Gods blessings to you all as you celebrate our suprise party tonight. Happy Easter Gods blessings.....Peace Sue

Hopefully this can do this again!

Getting Ready for the Surprise Party

I can’t help myself…I enjoy keeping track of God surprises and sightings. It is life-giving ...hope-giving! The Israelites were very good at keeping track of God activity. As one reads the Psalms or Old Testament stories you become more and more aware of this activity of God in the lives of the Israelites. As I prepare for the Wednesday night Surprise Party/Mentoring Celebration/Lenten Service I wonder what Surprise sightings will we see? Surprise us God.

Last night was the final session of Alpha. White clothe table coverings, candles, people serving the meals to the tables filled with those who have been on the Alpha journey together. The cooks had been busy preparing another wonderful meal...the leadership team was busy getting ready for the night...table leaders were gathering with their groups...there was a sense of anticipation and joy. There were new friendships being forged. Laughter was heard with some poignant moments where new and old friends were walking very close in each others lives… tears had been shed for each other. Stephan C., our Alpha leader...the gentle shepherd for these sessions was quietly connecting and caring for his team.

I am always surprised how close we become when we spend time around a meal, sharing our lives with each other…it’s “late night” kitchen table talk time. Maybe you’ve had that late evening meal with new or old friends. As you sit around the table (which seems to be the best place to really visit…really!) the conversations grow deeper and richer…surprise. You see those friends in a different light after times like these. That is one of the Alpha surprises that God is intimately involved in as we share life together.

We wanted to capture some footage of the final Alpha night so Mary S ask one of our members, Shawn E., if he would help us. He graciously consented…even though it was his birthday! As folks gathered for the meal I had a chance to visit with Shawn for a couple minutes. One of the reasons he was willing to be a part of this night was that he had participated in one of the first Alpha series we had at Prince of Peace. He inquired about one of our members of his small group who he had lost track of and said something that I will never forget. “I enjoyed Alpha…but what I really liked was the small group time. They always seemed to be to short. I wished they would have been longer.” Surprise…life is “done” in small groups deeper and more fully. I’ve known and taught that truth for years but to randomly have Shawn share his feelings about the small group experience was an affirmation of what I have believed and experienced in my own life…Surprised again.

See you Wednesday night!
Pastor T

Retiree Speaks

OK, this is my second attempt to post to the Surprise Me God website. My first attempt about a week ago is out there in the blogisphere somewhere. So hopefully this one will work. The first time I went to the Surprise Me God site was to read what our granddaughter had written which Pastor Tedd had quoted in his sermon that Sunday. Well I not only read what our granddaughter had written, I read all the other postings since the inception of the website. I am impressed by the openness, thoughts and feelings expressed by members, the tugging at my heart strings and I can identify with the writer's struggles and insights as to how God Works in our lives. Pastor Tedd, I hope that there is some way this site can be continued because I feel it is very worthwhile. I especially enjoy Pastor Tedd's postings which are right from the heart. I'm now going back to read the other postings of the past week. Right now my biggest concern is the financial situation at POP and the $80,000 deficit, so Surprise Me God.
Ron Welde