October 23, 2023 - A Day Worth It

     I started the next regimen of chemotherapy this morning.  The first treatment of the four weeks is the longest and the most difficult. 
     We expect to get the final pathology report on the thyroid cancer in the next couple of days.  If that report agrees with the previous ones, then we will consider the thyroid cancer behind us, at least for now.
     I am going to go on with my life, doing the things that I love and doing the things that I can.  For some reason the Lord has left me in this world.  I will make it my goal to please Him for whatever the reason.
     Yesterday was one of those days that when I laid down to go to bed, I felt like it was worth the sacrificing of a day of my life for the events of the day.  I would hope that I feel that way most days, but I often don’t.
     We surprised some folks by showing up for church.  I am far stronger than I anticipated and far stronger than some folks anticipated, too. 
     I wish everyone was connected to a loving church.  The world would be different if that were the case. 
     After worship we ate with Fred and Carolyn Pace in Mt. Sterling as we headed to Ashland.  Carolyn, who has had MS for several years, spoke last year at our Women’s Banquet.  This summer she was bitten by a tick and came down with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  Because of her MS, the illness was almost fatal.  It continues to be a long road back for her.
     She and I laughed about how people often say to us how good we look in spite of the illnesses we have.  We were blessed to hear her story and to know that she is a victor in her fight.
     Then we stopped in Morehead to see Teresa’s 90-year-old uncle whose wife died earlier this year.  Teresa has such a good way with older folks.  Maybe that bodes well for me if we both live long enough!
     We headed to Ashland for the visitation of a longtime friend, Charlie Hogg.  We have been connected with his family for over 40 years.  Charlie and Jeanette were youth parents when we were youth pastors at their church.
     Their daughter, Angie, was in the youth group and we have been involved in each other’s lives since she was 12.  Her husband, Brad, is a pastor and has been one of the “Timothys” in my life.
     Her brother, Phil, and I became friends at the Wesley Foundation at Morehead when we were in college and remained lifelong friends.  His wife, Janet, I knew even before Phil.  Phil passed away of cancer earlier this year.
     How could Teresa and I not make the trip to Ashland to be with this family we love so dearly?  Even knowing that I had surgery this past week, it was not much of a surprise to them to see us walk in the funeral home.  The greater surprise was that Megan was with us.
     In their family this year two of them have lost husbands, five of them a dad, two of them a brother, one a son, and several of them a grandpa.
     I received a text from Angie the morning after her dad went home to be with Jesus.  Faith enables us to share a text like she shared with me.  “We know that Phil was waiting to give Dad a grand tour of his new home!”
     That is the hope for those of us who believe.  We will see our loved ones again.  Death does not have the final word.
     As a bonus I got to see Abby and Aaron, Angie and Brad’s kids whom we have known since they were born.  Megan babysat them when they were young, as did Angie for our girls.
     Abby is a beautiful, bright, loving young woman in her 20s with a smile that melts your heart.  She has a new beau who came with her to the funeral home.  He had only met Angie and Abby's brother in their family, not even Brad.  He walks into the funeral home to a wall of Hogg family members, meeting them for the first time.  What a way to meet your girlfriend’s family. 
     As any loving “surrogate grandpa” would do, I couldn’t help but assist in welcoming him into the family.  Looking at him and looking at her, I said to him, “Son, you are dating up, way up.”  I am pretty sure he knows that.
     Not every day I can say that the giving of the day of my life was worth it.  Sunday was one of those that I could. 
     Let’s see if I can give my life today and be able to say the same.