Over the past three years, since the first month I came to Summit Church, I have been abundantly blessed by the living testimony Maggie, Jordan, and the rest of the Stinziano’s have exemplified as they have gone through the journey of Maggie’s battle with cancer. As Maggie went to be with Jesus this morning, I cannot help but think of all the things God has taught me through this family’s story and living testimony of trusting in God, no matter the circumstance. As Maggie’s life here on earth has blessed me, challenged my walk with Christ, and driven me to look at how my own life brings glory to God, I can’t help but think of how many thousands of people have been touched by Maggie’s life. I just wanted to take a moment to put into words just a few of the lessons I have learned through the Stinziano’s journey over the past three years.
Trust in God No Matter the CircumstancesIt is so easy when life gets hard or things happen that you don’t understand, to have every reaction but to trust God. The natural reaction, at least for me, is to question God or to blame him for the circumstances. But Maggie Jordan and their family have been a living example that even when life does not make sense, the only reaction we should have to put all of our hope in Him and trust Him with every area of our lives. Just like the popular verse Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight” it is not about leaning our own understanding in our present circumstances, but trusting in Gods sovereignty and depending on Him to direct our paths.
Rejoice in the Lord AlwaysIt is one thing to trust God in all of life’s circumstances; it is another to rejoice in Him during the good times and the bad. But as Philippians 4:4 says, we are to rejoice in the Lord always. From the testimony of others who have spent time with Maggie, to the emails, updates, and times I have heard Jordan speak at Summit, it was easy to see that joy of Christ in their lives. Rejoicing in the Lord is not something we only do when life is happy or the way we want it to be; it is something we do even when we are at our breaking point and life makes no sense to us. The joy of the Lord does not come as a result of life circumstances, but through depending on God in the midst of our circumstances, just as the Stinziano’s have displayed in the past few years.
God is the God of all comfort.
One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 which says,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”
This scripture has been actively seen in the life and now death of Maggie as we are all comforted knowing that Maggie now stands in the presence of God where there is no pain, no suffering, no cancer. God has comforted this family throughout Maggie’s battle and I know people already are being comforted by the overflowing of Gods comfort in their life.
Those are just a few of the lessons God has made apparent in my life through the life of Maggie and her family. God, even today, continues to use their story to drive me into a deeper love relationship with my Savior. I can’t help but be challenged to live my life with Christ as my highest priority after seeing what a life can look like when you are fully dependent on our Creator. Maggie’s life has shown me the power of prayer, the importance of a community of believers, how God has put us in a certain place at a certain time for His plan and not our own, that our lives are not our own but His to do with whatever he pleases, to cherish the time we have with our loved ones, how God meets all of our needs according to his riches and glory.
This morning at church, Orlando referenced a scripture in John 9 where Jesus heals a blind man. He used the scripture to refer to the fact that people do not face illness because of sin as some might believe. But verse four stuck out to me when thinking about Maggie. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life’.” No one knows why Maggie was chosen to battle cancer, but just like the blind man, God used Maggie’s cancer so that the work of God could be displayed in her life.
Even though Maggie has left this earth, her life will continue to bless people everywhere. I am so thankful for the ways my relationship with God has grown, because of her testimony. I find rest in knowing she is in the arms of our Savior, and continue to pray for Jordan, Sophie, Jack, Jonas, Owen, and the rest of their extended family.
To God be the Glory.
Then in June I successfully passed my NCLEX with 75 questions in 60 minutes (woohoo!!) which made me an official registered nurse! 
In July this little boy, Eric Heath Parker, was born who is one of my pride and joys
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In October the 21st cousin in my family was born and the first boy in 14 years, Jonathan Owen Phillips. Such a cutie
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In October the 21st cousin in my family was born and the first boy in 14 years, Jonathan Owen Phillips. Such a cutie
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