"You should start a journal. " part 2

Have you ever had something happen to you and later on down the road you see that God had given you a blessing to help you get through a rough time ?  (Even if you are not sure you could call it a blessing.)  And then there are those blessings that bring great  joy!

A couple months before the "worm", I turned 53.  And much to my surprise and joy, my church family threw a huge outdoors cookout and party for me. There had to have been  close to a hundred people there. What joy it was to have so many of my beloved friends  there; talking , laughing, eating yummy food  and enjoying good ole Christian fellowship !

What a wonderful time that was. (And yes, I did love all that attention !!) But most of all , the closeness, the love of the brethren  was very obvious to all. Not only for me , but for the church.

You might be wondering what this all has to do with my story. Well, it has to do with love. The kind that is spoken of in 1 John. (Our pastor has been going through 1 John in morning worship. Pastor Cliff Blair's sermons can be heard at  www.sermonaudio.com. )

All of 1 John is so beautiful and rich. And in chapter 4 we are encouraged to love one another.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."  vs. 7 and 8  "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."  vs.10 and eleven. What a wonderful way to see God's love for us... to see it manifested in the love that His body has for one another !!

I remember ,there was a very well known author  and his wife at this gathering He has written many books on theology.  They were staying with a friend of ours and they had brought them along to the gathering. (They were from Great Britain ) They were wondering why my 53rd birthday was being celebrated. Was that a special birthday time in the US ?  "No," replied my friend, "we are celebrating because we just love her."

Just because we love her..... Just because we love our God..... Just because we love our Saviour..... Just because He first loved loved us.

What a gift this party was.  My Father knew what was ahead in the many years of trial. Not only for me,but friends, family my beloved husband, David. A lasting reminder that He loves me...us...His church. All because of His love.

(Photo taken by Debbie  ---Our home ---Fall 2011 )

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God: and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. " 1John 4:7 and 8

"You should start a journal."

There are many things in life that we wish we had done and many things that we had not done. But I do wish that I had taken the advise of my sister, when she had encouraged me to keep a journal of the walk that was to begin with the diagnosis of stage 4 cancer.  Why do I regret now, that I did not ?
Because according to my doctors, they really did not expect me to live past a year at the most.
And now NINE years later, David and myself, along with many others, have witnessed the mighty , merciful loving hand of God . My regret is that I did not document every single minute of this walk !

(Photo of cutesy worm courtesy of Google search)

 

 

 

 " Help, I coughed up a worm !!"

(Warning, this is sort of yucky.)

 

One sunny morning in October I woke up feeling a little congested and coughed.  As I did , something unusual was coughed up. I spit it out. Yuck, it looked Exactly like an earthworm. You know how they look , kind of pale, when they drown in water puddles ? There was not blood or anything else, just the worm.  I grabbed the phone, called my primary care doctor, and told the receptionist that I had coughed up a worm and I was on my way !!  The wormy thing was put in a jar with water and a lid and taken with me.  When I got to the doctor's office they saw me almost immediately. It's not everyday that a patient coughs up a worm.

"Yes ," said my doctor.  " Yes" said his partner.  "It sure does look just like an earth worm !" they agreed.

The first thing they did was, an xray.  I remember sitting in the exam room for quite a while waiting for Dr. G. to come back in the room with the results. When he did come back in , there was a very serious look on his face. "Debbie , I think we have a big problem. " he said. Then he showed me the xray.  In both lungs there were "spots" everywhere. Some were as big as a quarter . We counted by sight at least twenty . "Is it cancer ?" ------- "We can not say at this point, but this is serious."

Blood work was drawn and an immediate appointment was made for me to have a "fine needle" biopsy. 

Before I left the exam room, Dr. G. put his hand on my shoulder and prayed that God would keep me 

and give me grace to get through the trials (that he knew) were coming.

Praise God for our brothers in the Lord who are physicians !

Yes, I was stunned, but relatively calm.  I tried to reach David, but was unable to.  So I called a dear friend who lived near the doctor's office and my pastor.  They met me at the local Burger King and we three gathered in my car and talked, cried and prayed.  

End of part one.