Please Pray

Our Sunday School friend with lung cancer has had a fever for several days, and despite antibiotics it's no better. He's terribly fatigued. The doctor can't find a cause, so is sending him for a C-T scan and pulmonary angiogram today. He even said the dreaded words, "Maybe the cancer is growing again." Please pray for him and his wife.

And a wonderful young man is waking up with a broken heart this morning because he didn't make his school's basketball team. He prayed so hard, and now he's facing a crisis of faith. I know it's an important life lesson and all that, but right now he needs to feel God's nearness and comfort.

Speaking of "life lesson," a new book titled After Cancer Treatment is soon to be published. The author, herself a cancer survivor, recognized that returning from cancer meant building a new life based on some losses and some gains. She quotes a philosopher named Joseph Campbell: "We must be willing to give up the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." Medically speaking, it doesn't look like I'll be at the "after cancer treatment" stage any time soon, but I think the wisdom in this quote applies to during treatment as well. Also to being cut from the team. And every other life situation in which you and I find ourselves today. "We must be willing to give up the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." If I didn't worship a God Who is both good and personal, I'm sure I'd have serious doubts about "the life that is waiting." What if it's terrible? But knowing the One Who planned it, it's okay. We can untie the ribbon and unwrap the gift of each new day with hope and gratitude--even if it's vastly different from our earlier plans.

None of the scary side effects of Doxil have shown up, and I'm planning a full day at work today. How can I thank you for your prayers? Feeling this well is a miracle.

Blessings,
Carol