My Cup

My Cup

Welcome to Christianity Oasis. This is My Cup from our Sojourn With Luz Leigh Collection. We hope you enjoy this enlightening reading and it helps you on your own be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.

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Sojourn With Luz Leigh

My Cup

Written by a lady whose pen name is Luz Leigh 11 November 1995 following the death of her beloved husband, Jack Hardee, on 12 July 1995

The names in the story have been changed to protect our privacy.

Our cups can either be full or empty. I suppose the cup could be half full or half empty. My cup has been both, though not at the same time necessarily.

As a child, I grew up in a very poor family when measured by worldly standards. My cup was empty of frivolous things; we only had the necessities of life. But the cup was full of love. When I was nine months old my cup was emptied of my young mother. She had to leave us for nearly a year while she sought treatment that might prolong her life. When she returned, I was allowed to have her about ten years, then my cup was empty again. Death snatched her away one cold January night in 1950. It was just a few days past my twelfth birthday.

My daddy became both daddy and mother to me. We lived together in the house he had built years before for his first family (a wife who also had died young and a son who seldom visited). Daddy had always been special to me and now that he was all I had, I clung so tightly to him. But, once again Death came calling at our house. During the early hours on a June morning, Daddy slipped away to join his loved ones who had preceded him in death. I was twenty years old.

Then my cup was filled again! Jack and I had been in love for some time. He had promised my daddy he would take care of me, so we married less than a year after Daddy died. My cup wasn't just filled, it overflowed. There was love between two young people that could have filled a bucket, not just a cup. The Lord blessed us with three lovely children. The children brought such joy to us.

As the children left home, one by one, the cup did not become any less full. There was a different kind of fullness, one of contentment with each other. Having lived as a couple for nearly forty years, we could anticipate the thoughts, desires, pleasures and wishes of the other. Then suddenly, on a hot, hot July day, the cup was tilted and emptied again. My beloved Jack was taken from me. I was fifty-seven years old. For a brief time I felt the cup was broken, never to be filled again.

But time is changing the hurt. It is still there, but I can deal with it because the cup is being filled again. My children and grandchildren are seeing to that. I arouse from a sound sleep many nights and reach out to touch that one who shared our bed so many years. It is at times like that the cup feels empty. But, when morning comes, I arise and thank God for another day to seek His will for me. Soon the phone will ring, or there will be a voice at the door, and one of the children will be there, refilling my cup.

Then I can again go to the Lord and say, "Thank you for filling my cup so many times." He will never leave me with an empty cup.

The following was added 05 April 2004.

On 05 May 2003 a mass was discovered in my colon and it was determined I needed surgery as soon as possible. Surgery was scheduled for the following day. The surgeon gave the news to my children: colon cancer in stage three. I was extremely ill, so it was a few days before I was advised of the cancer and the need for chemo treatment. With the sound of the word "cancer" the cup again tilted, allowing hope to flow out. Six months of chemo treatment followed. Five days in a row we would go for treatments; five days the weakness and sickness would overwhelm my body as I fought to win the battle with this dread disease. God gave me strength to bear up to this agony.

Now months later, my strength has returned. I feel good; everyone says I look great. The cup is again filling. Because He has given me another chance at life, I have sought His will more strongly than in the past. Volunteer work, the writing of a book, the preparation of a weekly newsletter; these things take a great amount of my time along with my intense Bible study and prayer time. I ask that the cup remain filled so I may better serve Him.

ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION

May I share something with you? Years ago I learned about the "Romans Road to Salvation." These are selected scripture verses from the Epistle of Paul written to the Gentile and Jewish Christians in Rome. They are an excellent reference when explaining the Plan of Salvation. The page numbers at the right will not match up to your Bible, unless we happen to be using the same version and edition of the New International Version/Rainbow Study Bible. This is to show you how I can easily find the next scripture. At the bottom of page 1253, I have written in "1255," which indicates I need to flip over to that page; on page 1255, I have written 1258, etc. These scriptures are plainly marked for easy location.

ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION

Romans 1:16 Salvation for All page 1255

Romans 3:23 All have sinned page 1258

Romans 6:23 Wages of sin is deathpage 1256

Romans 5:8 Christ died for our sins page 1262

Romans 10: 9, 10, 13 Confess, Believe, and Receive Salvation

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