I am sitting in the Cancer Center this morning awaiting chemotherapy.  I am recovering from the tick issue, though not back 100%, but well enough to resume chemo.  After today’s treatment I only have three more before going back to Mayo Clinic in the fall.
 
     Some of these blogs have been more than heavy, as they should have been.  This one not so much.
 
     Parts of the US have been inundated with cicadas this summer, including Central Kentucky and Beaver Trail in Lawrenceburg.  I will admit that not quite as bad as on Harrodsburg Road where Dave and Nancy Alger live.  Nancy sent Teresa pictures of trunks of trees covered with cicadas. 
 
     As many as 1.5 million cicadas can appear in any given acre.   I haven’t seen that many!
 
     My recollection is that it hasn’t been 17 years since the last time we dealt with them.  Maybe some of them can’t read a calendar.  Some of them may be on a 13-year cycle.
 
     I have learned some things about these pesky insects.
 
● They can’t swim.  I fished lots of dead ones out of our pool. 
 
● They can fly faster than my zero-turn mower. 
 
● Their favorite landing spot is an uncovered neck.
 
● They can get in your house without you knowing it.
 
● Their carcasses stink.
 
Hopefully they will die off by the end of June.
 
     I couldn’t help but think of what it must have been like for the Egyptians when God sent the Plague of Locusts on Egypt.  They covered the ground until it was black.  They must have filled the houses.  I am sure that they could fly faster than an Egyptian lawnmower.
 
     Had I been Pharaoh I would have thrown in the towel and let the Hebrew children grow after the locusts invaded the land.  A hard heart can make you do stupid things.   It can also lead to even greater judgment as the Egyptians found out.
 
     I will rejoice when the cicadas are gone.  I even more rejoice that life’s challenges haven’t hardened my heart.
 
     God looks up my heart and yours.  I hope what He sees is pleasing to Him.
 

       I am sorry that I haven’t written a blog in a while, but honestly I haven’t felt up to it.
 
       About six weeks ago I began to sense that something was going on beyond the norm.  I began to feel lethargic, most of my body ached, and my blood pressure was doing some crazy things on the low end which is rare for me.
 
        One afternoon I came home and laid on the couch for a short nap.  Six hours later I woke up and then went to bed and slept until morning.
 
       On a Saturday afternoon I had Teresa take me to the ER because I hadn’t gotten out of bed for a couple of days and my blood pressure was 88/48.
 
       After a few hours in the ER I came home and was told to take a Tylenol before I went to bed.  When the Tylenol “hit” my body was literally on fire.  I took my blood pressure and it was 90/36.
 
       I had been seeing my hematologist during this.  My blood counts were not where they should be and he discontinued chemotherapy, which is still the case.  He knew that I had had a tick bite and he tested me for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease.  Both came back negative.  He put me on an antibiotic before we heard the results, just in case.
 
       On Thursday Dr. Hicks called me with a very much upbeat tone in his voice.  It appears that I have Ehrlichiosis which is bacteria from a tick bite.  Blood work points in that direction.
 
       I have never felt this way through chemotherapy.  The closest thing would be the harvesting of the stem cells, but that lasted only three days.
 
       Never once during two and a half years of dealing with three cancers have I thought that I might be leaving this world.  Over the past six weeks there have been a couple nights that I wasn’t sure I was staying in this world.
 
       Yes, “for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  I just prefer the gain to wait for a bit.
 
       I am far from back to normal.  This has been a very long week with some responsibilities that I had at work.  Thursday night I came home and was exhausted.
 
       I went to bed and slept for about 10 hours, but I didn’t feel all that refreshed when I got up.   I said I felt like my cell phone.   If I drain the power out of my cell phone completely, it takes it a long time to start to recharge and then longer to fully recharge.
 
       I do believe that I have turned the corner.  I fully intend to preach tomorrow if folks still remember who I am. 
 
       I have been reminded once again of just how fragile life is and how vulnerable we can be.  We take way too much for granted.
 
       I have also been reminded that even when we don’t feel His Presence, Jesus is always there.   If I was honest, which I have always tried to be in these blogs, I would tell you that the sweetness of His Presence has been almost non-existent through this. 
 
       I knew He was there because of His Promises.  Sometimes we stand on the promises and we walk by faith.  Illness is often one of those times.
 
       As I contemplated His Presence this morning, I clicked on a worship song that I’d love us to do.  It’s called, “If Not for Grace.”
 
Where would I be, You only know.
I’m glad You see through eyes of love.
A hopeless case, an empty place,
If not for grace.
 
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I’m a hopeless case, an empty place,
If not for grace.
 
       And as I sang, the floodgates of heaven opened and the sweet peace of Jesus filled my heart in a way that I haven’t felt in a while.  And maybe a tear or two in my eyes.
 
       I might have to muster up enough energy today to walk down to the dock and “have a little talk with Jesus.”
 
       Where would I be, if not for grace? 
 
       I think that I am on the way back.  For that I give Him praise.
 
       I appreciate your prayers.