I succumbed this week. No, not to the cancer. That’s the first thing that comes to our mind. Someone else will have to write the blog if that happens.
I thought I was at the end of the third round of this fight, but the bell apparently hadn’t rung. I was knocked down by the news of the thyroid cancer. The referee didn’t even have time to start counting because the end of the round was so close and I hobbled to the corner. Now we are in the corner getting ready to come out fighting for the fourth round. I got some good news about the thyroid cancer. It is the least serious of the three types and it has been diagnosed early. There are two basic meanings to the word succumbed. The most obvious one is the one that has come to your mind. The second meaning is this: to fail to resist pressure, temptation, or some other force. All three are applicable. I succumbed to resisting a cold. For five months I have been as healthy as I could hope, despite the treatments and the diseases. Four days before I am to leave for Mayo, I came down with a cold. Yesterday I had a previously scheduled phone visit with a Mayo nurse. She didn’t think a cold would have any bearing on the schedule that begins on Monday. I succumbed to temptation on Wednesday. Temptation can come in lots of ways. There is the spur of the moment temptation that presents itself. There is a reason that grocery stores put candy racks at the checkout lanes. However, this succumbing was not one of those impromptu temptations. This one was very much premeditated for a couple of days. In the Lord’s Prayer we ask the Lord to “lead us not into temptation.” I must admit that I didn’t pray that prayer. James says resist the devil and he will flee from you. I must admit that I didn’t do that either. We have a customer who has been very faithful to us. They text to me their orders, so I hadn’t seen them in a while. For a couple of days I had planned to be in Frankfort and intended to stop by to see them. That’s why this temptation was premeditated. They own Poppy’s Bakery. I hadn’t had a doughnut in over a year. I had decided it was time to succumb to the temptation. All their doughnuts are tempting. I chose the cinnamon roll. I succumbed this week to one more thing. The pressure was more than I could bear. I succumbed to emotion. You’ll understand why. Yesterday was Kaylee’s seventh birthday. We went out to eat at a restaurant she enjoys, mainly because of the soft-serve swirl ice cream. We went back to Megan and Bryan’s to have cake and swirl ice cream. She opened a few gifts that she hadn’t opened at the party last week. I was told that something else was planned. The three granddaughters slipped into Kaylee’s room and came back all dressed alike in T-shirts with this printed on them: “Paw Paw’s Prayer Warrior.” It would be easy to say the cold was the culprit for making my eyes sweat. For maybe 15 minutes the three of them sang worship songs. They sang about Jesus being the healer. They sang about how beautiful and powerful that Jesus is. They sang Jesus loves me, which even two-year-old Emma knew lots of the words. They sang Jesus, I need you. I need you now. And they sang what has become one of my favorite songs. “The Goodness of God.” Mike and Dottie Carter had a banner made and they hung it behind the Praise Team in our Worship Center with the words from the chorus printed on it. That meant a lot to me. These three precious children sang, “All my life You have been faithful, all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.” And this grandpa had more than a lump in his throat. Kaylee, Becca, and Emma may very well be three of my strongest prayer warriors. I am sure that Cooper and Caroline would be in that praying army of children. Jesus said that we must become like a child in our faith. The faith of a child to believe and trust. If God chooses to use expert medical care along with divine intervention for my healing, it may very well be because of the prayers of children, my grandkids, children in our extended family, the children from Daybreak, and other children who know of the circumstances. And maybe some prayers of God’s faithful, who might be just a year or two beyond childhood. Then again, we are children of God. Thanks for your prayers. You, too, are a part of Paw Paw’s Prayer Warriors.
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Chuck Cooper
Pastor at Daybreak Community Church Archives
February 2025
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