These are the words I penned in my journal this morning. “Nothing but Gratitude”. This emotion inside of me is quite real, in spite of the phone call we received from Chuck’s new oncologist. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Living in gratitude I believe is a choice. Several years ago I gave a message at The Ridge called “Choose Joy”. Scripture says in the book of James “consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters when you face trials of many kinds”. I love how The Message Translation reads. “Consider it a gift”. Hmmm. I think JOY and GRATITUDE coexist together, and while joy is a fruit of the Spirit that is rightfully ours as a follower of Jesus, we can choose to let that fruit live dormant inside of us. I choose to live out my life with joy!
I remember a particularly difficult season the summer of 2016 when my mother-in-law was killed in a house fire and we were left to deal with all of that. Several months later my husband started having some chest pain and learned that he had a 100-95-85-65 percent blockages in his heart resulting in quadruple bypass. However, we saw the hand of God consistently throughout that season and as my husband often says “when has God not been faithful?” Truly He has.
The past two weeks I have felt like myself once again. The horrible itching, hives and rash have subsided. Normal sleep has returned. I’ve been able to be out in the sun without breakout out. My brain fog has subsided, and when friends and family say “you sound and look like yourself again”, I take that as a compliment! Chronic spontantous urticaria be gone in the name of Jesus!
So yes, I am grateful; and grateful that I am feeling good so I can come alongside Chuck in next steps. I’ve posted briefly that he has been having tests for a prostate issue. He’s had an MRI, biopsies, a pet scan, another MRI, and an appointment with an oncologist, Dr. Richard Deming. Why the oncologist? The recent pet scan and second abdominal MRI done Wednesday discovered a lesion in his pancreas that needs to be worked up to confirm if it’s cancer or just a cyst. SO GRATEFUL that due to the prostate issue and subsequent tests they discovered this pancreatic lesion. SO GRATEFUL that the cancer in his prostate is a very “well behaved” slow growing cancer. SO GRATEFUL that my brother has a close relationship with Dr. Deming who has come alongside us in this newest health journey. He has shown us care and compassion and expediency in the short week we’ve been doctoring with him.
I absolutely love this video with scenes from The Chosen, put to music by the gifted Brandon Lake. It is such a beautiful example of first the healing power of Jesus, second the love that the friends had for their paralyzed friend, and third, the vulnerability of the paralyzed man to let his friends carry him to Jesus. We have experienced all of these things the past four months, and for that too we are oh so grateful.
