September 22, 2023 - Chemo

     I am writing this as I sit in the Cancer Center once again.  I am resuming the same regimen of chemotherapy that worked so well in fighting the myeloma this spring and summer. 
     I will have four treatments each month, two on the first day of the cycle.  Then just one injection a week for two weeks and then a week with no treatments.
     As I look around the Cancer Center I have the same feeling that I had for five months: I still contend that I am the healthiest looking cancer patient here.  Though maybe not the best-looking patient!
     We have not heard from Mayo Clinic on the scheduling of the surgery on my thyroid.  They may choose to wait until the “free” week that I have when there is no chemotherapy treatment.
     It has been a very unusual last week or so.  It seems that death has a way of coming in waves.
     I returned from Mayo Clinic last week and on Friday I had a part in the funeral of a friend.
     Later that evening we received the news of the tragic death of the husband of a young mother in our church.  Please divert some prayers intended for me to Sammy and her young son, Ace.  They need all the prayer support that we can give them right now.  Brandon’s funeral is on Saturday.
     Earlier this week I received the news of the passing of Ted Martin, a longtime “Barnabas” in my life.   Ted was like a second dad to me. 
     On Tuesday Teresa and I attended the funeral of Les Karenbauer’s mother.  Her suffering is over and she is free in the arms of Jesus.
     On Wednesday we received the news of the death of a longtime friend from Cynthiana, a man in his early 50s.  Dustin fished with my dad more than I did 20 years ago. 
     Death comes to all of us unless we are Enoch or Elijah.  Or unless Jesus returns.
How nonbelievers can face death is beyond my comprehension.  I have faced death four times now.  Cancer in my leg, a tumor in my abdomen, a head-on car accident, and now cancer once again.
     Through it all the same sweet peace of Jesus has been a consistent reality.
     I wrote to the mother of a lady in our church this week.  Like me, she had cancer over 20 years ago and now is facing it once again.  I prayed for the peace of Jesus to be in her heart in this new battle.
     Experientially what I have found is that the peace of Jesus is a consistent reality, though not always a constant reality.  When the troubles of life come our way, we often are “smacked” by the trouble.  The troubled heart often replaces the peaceful heart.
     But I have found that it isn’t too long before His peace returns, enabling me to trust Him in the trouble and helping me to overcome the trouble.
     How could any of these families face the death of their loved one without the grace and power of God?  I can’t imagine.
     I am grateful for the promise of eternity because of my faith in Jesus and the price that He paid for each of us.  That hope enables me to face each day.