| December 6, 2008, Have you taken time to really ponder the Christmas Season??? No, honestly we haven't either. Not until now, that is. We have been so overwhelmed with dealing with Brad's cancer that we have not given much thought to how wonderful life truly is. Life is wonderful because the God of creation became flesh and dwelt among us. Yesterday, December 5th Brad had his post operative appointment. He is doing alright. Not great, but the doctors reminded us that the surgery was very extensive. Brad's liver is working hard to regenerate itself and is sapping most of his bodies energy source to do so. Just last week many of you asked how you might specifically pray for us. At that point I was begging God to please have mercy on Brad and relieve his pain so he could rest. The pain was so great that Brad was at times asking God to be merciful by taking him home to heaven. As prayers went up God sent ministering angels in form of human hands to help him get through. A precious young woman and her gracious mother massaged his feet with lavender oil and that very night he got his first good nights sleep. This brought to my mind King David's 23rd Psalm, "Thou annointest my head with oil, My cup runneth over, Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." I know that this is not correctly quoted in order. But this is how the sweet Holy Spirit allowed me to comfort myself with God's Word. Scripture is the greatest healer. At times when I am done with my devotional reading I hug my Bible longing to ingest more of it. It is life to my bones. Brad's Bible lay beside him always. It is his strength. Back to our post operative doctors visit. I wish that I could say wonderful and exciting things here. Truth is... it was a very somber visit. The doctors were just honest. The only reason they proceeded with the surgery was because they had hoped the cancer in the liver was indeed from the colon cancer. The cancer in the liver, however, was in fact from the gall-bladder. Since gall-bladder cancer is so rare and successful treatment percentages are so low they do not typically do a surgery to remove the metastiatic gall-bladder cancer. Should the gall-bladder cancer manifest again (and according to them the odds are it will) they will not do surgery. This, though it is a blow, is liberating. No longer do we wonder if surgery is right. Short of God declaring that He wants Brad on chemo, we know that chemo is not right for Brad either, because success is not likey. So now we look to natural options and God's mercy. Pray that God will show the way. As for the reason for the Christmas season. We've no decorations up. We've had scarce time for shopping. We have no time for the typical hustle and bustle. We have done a whole lot of reasoning, pondering, and wondering. We've realized that all that matters is what is done for Christ's glory in thanks for all He has done for us. As we reflect we see the times when we are serving in song and word or deed we are most happy. The fulness of God's plan for our lives is felt when we are in active duty despite our heartaches and physical pains. This Christmas remember Jesus. What gift will you give Him this season??? If you haven't already asked Jesus to become Lord and master of your life and to forgive you of your sins and help you to serve Him, make this Christmas gift to Him your heart. |
| This background photo is a picture taken last winter at World's End State Park |