What an amazing God we serve!!!
Hey friends! I finally get to say hello from the other side of this whole ordeal!!!!! I’m soooo thankful that surgery is behind me! I can’t even come close to expressing how good it feels! And the fact that I feel Jesus has given me a second chance at life….wow, the things I dream about, the people I have a burden for, the things I want to be able to accomplish here on Earth…all those things I now see as realities….in God’s timing and in God’s way I believe those things will be fulfilled. No more do I wonder…will this ever happen? Or I’ll do this in a few years when I have time…. Or I can always tell that person about Jesus tomorrow… nope, like I said before I see life so differently now. I can only tell Christ thank you for allowing this to happen so I can see Him so much more clearly! Our God is amazing!
I will say that I don’t see life as my “comfort” anymore….I know that may sound weird, but I guess I mean that I see life for what it is now….it’s our training for our real life one day in Heaven. I feel so much more a responsibility now to live life on purpose……please pray that I will always have this feeling…..I guess I just see it as what it is…it’s not about me…it’s all about God and His plan! So….if you ever ask yourself…”who’s reaching out to my neighbors about Christ?” or “who’s going to get involved in that ministry that’s so close to my heart?” or “who’s told that family member about our incredible God?” and you don’t have an answer to your question then I would definitely think that you might be the very person God wants to use!!!! We can say no to Him, but what joy what peace what excitement and adventure we’ll be missing out on. Serving Christ….doing life with Him is the ONLY way for the best life we could ever have on this Earth!
Thank you all for your many prayers…..again I have to say that I can’t express just how much I’ve appreciated every prayer….we are humbled by them and we have felt very loved through them. Thank you for doing your part in this adventure that God’s put in our lives. Honestly one of the most thrilling parts of this whole adventure has been watching the Body of Christ come together and carry us in so many ways. It’s been humbling and we’ve had to swallow pride several times as we’ve admitted stuff about us that is not the first thing we want everyone to see. I have realized though that we need to be transparent with each other….we need to be real…..we need to show others that we’re hurting at times, because if we don’t we are closing the opportunity for someone to be Jesus with skin on in our lives. To be a Christian…to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ..it’s not about being perfect…why do so many of us try to pursue that? It’s about seeking God in all areas above anything or anyone else and worshipping Him through life no matter the good or bad.
Thanks for your continued prayers guys….recovery time is already proving to be stretching for me (although I’m so thankful that I get to go through recovery!!) I can’t really do ANYTHING until four weeks after surgery and then after that I still have to wait another two weeks before I can drive and stuff like that. So in the meantime I will try to enjoy my silver headband made of staples 
and continue to be so thankful that God brought me to the other side of this!!!
May 15th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
My dear……we are all thankful to our Lord and Savior for bringing you through this.
Love you
Cyndi
May 16th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Martha Marie, It is so good to hear from you! Glad you are doing so well, but will continue to pray for your complete healing! You and Eddie have been an inspiration to many of us. Even though you were afraid at times, you remained faithful! Thanks for keeping us updated!
Love,
The Cloers
May 16th, 2008 at 10:01 am
MM~How wonderful to hear from you again. Welcome back, friend! PRAISE THE LORD for answered prayers. We are continuing to pray for your complete & total recovery daily. I am still in awe of your faith & renewed commitment to the call of Christ on your life. You are a true inspiration…more than you will ever realize. Take care!
Much Love,
The Burchel Bunch
May 16th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
So glad to hear you are home! So glad to hear from YOU! Nice surprise. Thanks to your hubby for all the updates. Those updates helped all of us pray. Its always nice to know the “specifics” to pray for.
WOW, lady! You are amazing me more and more. Your faith in God is incredible. You’re enthusiasm is contagious. I’m looking forward to seeing all that is instore for you! God wants to use us so much. All we have to do is ALLOW HIM! Thanks for the reminder. I know I needed to hear all of this.
Hope you are getting some good rest!
May 16th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
It is so good to hear that the surgery went well and you are home!! We will continue our prayers for your speedy recovery.
Love you!!!
May 17th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I am soooooo glad that you are doing well. I have been trying to keep up with your progress, but I didn’t know about this website. We are definately praying for you!!! You are such an inspiration to me. I can see GOD shining thru every word and every deed. I know He has changed your life. I hope I can someday be a shining example of His love and mercy as you are!!! Its so amazing to see Romans 8:28 come to life thru you!!! God bless you and your family.
Love, Erin Potts Fuller
May 18th, 2008 at 8:05 am
So glad to see you back online! Thank God for what He is so gracious to show us through experiences in our lives. Love you all, Janet
May 19th, 2008 at 10:41 am
He IS amazing! He is faithful and cares for us though we are so undeserving. i worship Him with you, friend.
trying to relate…this is so hilarious…the closest thing i can think of to the feeling of relief from being on this side of surgery is the ending of a semester courseload/taking that final exam or the ending of a school year…. obviously can’t even come close to comprehending the feeling of relief that your very life/motherhood/time on this earth was being threatened…and the threat is dispelled! gone! you are healed! wow, martha marie! as i contemplate, i do rejoice with you…and breathe a long sigh of relief with you!
oh, we are so inspired by your testimony. thank you so so much for taking time to share your thoughts about what’s most important in life…. there’s an old song that comes to mind…”i want to live like i’m leavin’…live like i’m leavin’…i want to live like i’m leavin’ today….” may your thoughts inspire dozens, hundreds, thousands…may the idea of the importance of how our time is spent here cause a ripple-effect among your bloggers, their friends, friends of their friends…all of your other contacts at church, SWU, throughout the wesleyan church and beyond…eddie’s professional contacts, acquaintances, and friends…your families… may God use you to inspire many…that the fruit would be as a hundred-fold!
do you remember the little story about the bird? if a bird were to take one grain of sand from myrtle beach to the moon, fly back to earth, get another grain of sand, take that grain to the moon, fly back to myrtle beach, take another grain of sand to the moon…until he had taken every grain of sand from myrtle beach to the moon…that that would be the BEGINNING of eternity! oh, if i am blessed with long life, i am still just a breath…and in that breath, the ONLY THING THAT MATTERS is what i do that affects eternity! oh…may we let the cares of this life fall off and live solely for the purpose of glorifying our Father who is in heaven and loving His creation the way He does!
Colossians 3:2 “set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
thank you, martha marie, for your inspiration! i want to be like you…and to think like you, friend. i love you, steph
May 19th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Wooohoooo!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Just a quick note to say, PRAISE THE LORD for such a great outcome. We’re continuing to pray, and Thank God for what He is doing in and through your lives. Glad to see you are back on line, and look forward to hearing from you guys more in the future! Blessings, Mark, Tina, Ray & Keith Landis.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Praise God! We have been thanking Him and still praying for your recovery. A day or two after your surgery, we were praying over lunch and I asked God to help you get better. Raya interrupted me and said “He already made her better!” Loved that! Wish I could hug you…