The New "Normal"

I've been realizing that one adjusts to situations. I call it the new "normal." Life is still sweet and a wonderful gift. The cloddy (from neuropathy) feet still walk--less gracefully. The clumsy fingers still type and play the piano--more carefully. The tired body still moves--more slowly. And the port that would have seemed an intrusion back in January now seems like a really good idea. Yesterday's kemo hunt for a vein was uncomfortable but finally successful, and I'm very grateful for your prayers. And our home, which has been so filled with Jeremy's joyful presence, will be empty of him after this morning. That will take some getting used to. The day has come for his longed-for departure for Niger, where God's next call awaits him. He has talked frequently with the teenagers in the missionary family just back from there, and they've given him great insights on the people, culture, and country. Their presence at SIM this week has been a gift. His October 3 blog (jeremyinafrica.blogspot.com) expresses poetically the strong and varied emotions he's feeling.

Our Sunday School friend with lung cancer had a big disappointment yesterday. He and his lovely wife were finally scheduled to get the report on his latest scan--after 6 months of chemo-therapy and 35 radiation treatments. Instead, they found that the radiation had caused such extensive scarring that it was impossible to see the lungs and lymph system at all. Now we will pray for the scarring to heal and that the next scan scheduled in December will finally show what's been happening with his cancer. And of course we pray that God has been healing it! We often quote the scriptural truth that we "walk by faith," but in the cancer journey we also "wait by faith."

Thank you--always--for your love and prayers.

Carol