June 6, 2023 - Half Way

     I am sitting in the recliner taking today’s treatment as I write this.  In some sense it is already a significant day.
     Today marks the halfway point for the infusion treatments.  It would be nice if it was halfway for all the treatment for the myeloma, but at least I am half done with the preliminary treatments.
     Teresa baked her awesome cinnamon bread as a thank you to the staff for the way they have cared for me.  Sunshine supposedly placed it in the breakroom, unless she hid it somewhere to take home!  Noah, the valet attendant, enjoyed the first piece.
     I have a nurse that I hadn’t had yet.  We will call her Nurse K.  I would take her every time.  Full of life.  Great smile.  Caring spirit.  And the IV was a first-timer.
      This was the earliest in the morning for any of the treatments.  I got in the Explorer at just about daybreak.   There was a “Canadian” haze in the sky according to the radio.  Through the haze the sun was a beautiful deep red.  It wasn’t until I pulled into the hospital parking lot that the haze had lifted and the bright yellow of the sun could be seen.
     Hazy wouldn’t be a bad analogy of what the last few months have been like.  Beauty through the haze, often followed by a clear ability to see the Light.  Knowing He is always there helps in the times when things seem hazy.
     I hadn’t much left the driveway before I got a text from someone who has stood with me in this struggle.  Of course, I read it when I stopped to get eggs at the DQ!
     The text was a verse from Zephaniah 3:17.   Here is the complete verse:
The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”
     Her emphasis was on the last part of the verse that “The Lord is rejoicing over you with singing.”
     While I have read that verse several times and I have heard it quoted even more, I must admit that this morning there came a thought that I can’t say I can remember thinking before.  As I was driving this morning I had some thoughts about the Lord rejoicing with singing.
     There are lots of Scriptures about singing, but few insights about God being the One who was doing the singing.  If God is rejoicing over me (or anyone for that matter) with singing, what is that like in heaven?
     I can’t say that I have a mind picture of what that looks like.  It must be a joyful singing if He is rejoicing. 
     What I do know is: I will rejoice in knowing that somehow this sinner, saved by grace, has the Mighty Warrior on his side.  I am not too sure how much God delights in me, other than to know that He is pleased that I love His Son and that I have trusted Jesus for my eternity, as well as my today.   
     I would sing along with Him, but what He might be singing is a mystery.
     And to top it off, as I was finishing this, the tech who checked me in came by to verify just how good Teresa’s bread is.  At least what may still be left of it!