The Lord Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle, Right?

Have you ever heard someone say that before? "The Lord won't give you more than you can handle." I've known for a very long time that statement is theologically wrong. I can tell you of a number of people, even friends, that have experienced things that are completely more than they can handle. I have a friend that had her first baby die and if that wasn't bad enough, her husband just died unexpectedly last year (and he was even younger than me) leaving behind his 2 young sons. That is definitely more than my friend can handle. That is definitely more than any wife/mother can handle. But God. Friends, the last 3 weeks have been more than I can handle. Almost 3 weeks ago we got on this roller coaster called cancer and I want off the ride. It's so hard to watch your favorite person in the world in agony. It's so hard to watch your children process what it means that their dad has cancer. Our family is way too familiar with this beast. We watched it take our nephew from us and break our hearts into a million pieces. It's hard to watch the effects of the drugs that are supposed to save his life, give him debilitating hiccups for 8 days straight and cause him more pain. It's so hard to watch students that love him break down and cry because they are heartbroken that he's sick. It's so hard to be so far away from family who want to see him and want to help us. It's just all hard. But God. My pastor, friend, and boss got me a sign that says, "Objects in the mirror are holier than they appear." It sits on my desk in my office.I tend to look at things with "look what God was doing" eyes. I fully believe in God's sovereignty over all things and I can look at how God has been preparing us for this season. God moved us to California. There are some of the top cancer centers in the country here. He also gave us time to build a community here. (Without this community, we would genuinely be drowning right now). God put our sister-in-law in a position to have a friend that just happens to be a myeloma specialist (and he has been consulting with us every step of the way). God directed Chloe to go to college at Fresno State (and this has given us so much "bonus" time with her that we would never have had if she went further away...and she has been a HUGE help since Nathan's diagnosis). Elsie has friends that I know will help her walk through this difficult time and pray for her when they aren't together. This hasn't always been the case. Mikenson is home after being in a program out of state for 16 months. He is doing well and taking over caring for things around the house that Nathan can't do now. He also has the most amazing friends here (and their families) that have made him feel special and loved during this time. James is always James. He just rocks and rolls and sometimes he gets the seriousness of all this, but a lot of the time it seems like he doesn't (which may be a blessing for now). Nathan has been in deep dive about suffering for years. When I was working at the school he teaches at, I would always hear about his staff devotions on suffering and people would say, "You don't really hear people talk about suffering that much so it was really helpful." And, I have been praying diligently for the faith of my children the past 3 months. This isn't how I would have planned for my kids to grow in their faith (because who likes suffering?) But I also know that this is something the Lord will use to reach my children and let them know he is real and he loves them. Elisabeth Elliot said, "Suffering is an irreplaceable medium through which I learned an indispensable truth." The truth is this, God is real and he is love. When all the worldly things fall away, if you have Jesus, then you have all you need. I'm praying my children know this and I am praying that if you are reading this, that you know it too. God will absolutely give you more than you can handle, but it's really only then that you are in a position to realize your deep and certain need for him. Here are some specific Prayers/Praises: 1. Nathan didn't have the hiccups today! Praise the Lord! (It was a really rough 8 days of a lot of pain and discomfort.) 2. Nathan is done with week 1 of treatment! Yay!!! 3. Nathan started to get hives on his face and neck yesterday and today they got worse. We let the doctor know and they put him on a new steroid. Please pray that this resolves adverse reaction. 4. Nathan started coughing up some green mucous the last few days. We heard from a friend that this is common. He started taking mucous medicine today and that has seemed to help but pray that this also resolves. 5. School starts for Nathan this week (no kids yet). Pray that he feels well enough to get to school and do what needs to get done before the school year begins. 6. Preemptively pray for this upcoming school year. Nathan wants to teach so badly! He loves his students. Please pray that he would be able to be in the classroom as much as possible. 7. Keep praying that Nathan's treatment would be effective with minimal side effects. Thank you again for all the love and support! We are so grateful!