Symanzik Family Update

The Lord is my light and my salvation;whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, "Seek[d] my face."
My heart says to you, "Your face, Lord, do I seek."
9 Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.

13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

One of the main supply lines of water to Davao was damaged during the recent typhoon due to debris and heavy lumber coming down the river and hitting the pipe.
A fixer-solution is being installed and should restore some water in a week, but the real solution will be installed within two months.
So, one of the blessings of living on a hill is we don't flood.
But a down side, like now, is that when the city water pressure is low we don't receive any water.
So, now, we are using buckets of water to wash our dishes and selves with. And I am making arrangements to do laundry elsewhere for a while.

There are times in every life when the enemy seems to be working extra hard, like a roaring lion, to tear apart believers.
Our family is experiencing some hardships that I can't explain fully here now and we would really appreciate your prayers for each of our kids and for us.

Psalm 143:3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.

There is a wonderful, inexplicable participation in the life and power of Jesus when we suffer. We can have joy and comfort as we travel in this fellowship of suffering. Christ endured his suffering "for the joy set before Him" (Heb 12:2) so that we can have joy and comfort IN our sufferings. We have a host of believers who are already in heaven cheering us on.

Yes, in the midst of pain it may feel like we are alone but at the darkest times Christ works His greatest work in our lives and we must remember we are in a fellowship - a fellowship of sufferers.

Job, at the beginning of his trials, understood the wisdom of quiet submission to the secret will of God. "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord..." Job 1:21......................

The path can lead through valleys deep and dark, full of pain, tumult, confusion, chaos and also the path can be restful.

There are seasons it seems for the dark and the rest....just as in nature there are seasons.

God has a rythym and order to all He designs. But no matter where the path is leading the main thing is to keep my eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen and Amen.

"Jesus has no tenderness toward anything that is
ultimately going to ruin a man in service
to Him. If God brings to your mind a verse which
hurts you, you may be sure that there is
something He wants to hurt."

Andrew Murray, "With Christ In The School of Prayer."
Old Tappan, NJ; Fleming Revell Co; 1953

above excerpt copyright 2012 Beth M. Symanzik

cleaning out the kitchen cabinets yesterday, looking for the
Christmas cookie cutters, I came across
IV tubing from Jerard's last hospitalization when he came home
with an IV for us to continue his medicines.
I thought I'd thrown that out a long time ago.

Tears ran down my face as I held that tubing, remembering
my little guy, his smile, his patience, his soft breath on my neck
when I held him.
And for a while I really missed the sleepless nights and
getting up at various hours of the night to give him
medicines and snuggles.

I hugged the tubing to my body before putting it into the
outgoing trash.

letting go and moving on.

Grief ebbs and flows.

someone recently emailed me that it would be great for Jerard
this holiday season to be spending his first Christmas in heaven
with the Reason for the season.

Yes, it's great Jerard is in Heaven. But there are moments
my momma heart really misses him.

His brother misses him, too. We were baking cookies and he
spontaneously said to me, "I miss my brother."

I hugged him. We took a picture of Jerard and the figurines
representing each of my children...
and soon he was busy having fun rolling out the
dough, eating the dry flour (he says it tastes good), taking
cookies off the trays after they were baked.

In a couple days we will frost the cookies as a family;
and James will be having a frosting party with some friends,
too.

Life goes on.
Grief ebbs and flows.
Jerard is missed and yet there is a thankfulness he is no
longer trapped in a body not working right for him. He is
with Jesus!!!

Advent is the preparation of Christ coming as a baby.

John Piper wrote a great poem - I share it with you, now...

Advent Beauty
Tilting on her yearly track
Advent beauty circles back,
Flying faster with the years,
Hardly giving time for tears
First to dry upon the cheek--
Has it been more than a week
_Since we laid both young and old_

In the ground now winter cold?

Has there really been a spring
When the birds began to sing?
Has there been both summer, fall
Since the Baby in the stall
Called us with a Christmas bell
to sing, O Come, Immanuel?
Tilting on her yearly track
Advent beauty circles back,
Flying faster with the years--
Ah, but overtaking fears.
Let the Lord of advent lift
Every care (an early gift!);
See the Savior and the Son
Shine in advent candle one.