Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • knowing God

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    Dana

    Some of you may remember me writing about a little friend I met on an airplane from Paris to Atlanta a couple of years ago. He was a seven year old Jewish boy named Roy and his father, Steve, became an instant friend. Several months ago, Steve moved to Israel and we lost contact. Six weeks ago, Steve called to tell me he was getting married. He was so excited to hear Susan and I were coming to his country. “Call me when you arrive and we’ll work out a time to get together!”

    The day we arrived in Jerusalem, I called Steve and we set a Sunday evening meeting place by the Dung Gate (though an interesting name, this is a very busy gate to the Old City). My friend and his new bride drove over two hours from the Mediterranean coast through the traffic of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to take us out to eat. I was amazed that this father would make such sacrifice for a man that he has only met once. But I understand what motivates him… one day I was kind to his son.

    The Heavenly Father lets His plan to rescue a fallen world be rooted in such a powerful relationship. “Come to My Son and I’ll let you come to Me. Love the Son and the Father loves you. Put your faith in My Son and be part of My family.”

    Jesus showed a similar longing when He came to earth. “I have made You known to them and will continue to make You known to them…” Jesus wants everyone to know His Father. So often He was angered when those that pretended to know God misrepresented Him. When people rejected His words, Jesus told them the reason. “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

    I think I’ve reached a point in life where I’ve decided there’s only one thing that really matters: knowing God. I want Steve and his wife, Anat, to know God. I want little Roy and his mom in Paris to know God. I want all the orthodox Jews who rock back and forth at the Wailing Wall praying for the Messiah to come to know God. I want the kind Arab teenager who led us one day through the city streets to know God. And if I have a taste of this wonderful dream, what must Jesus desire? He wants everyone to know love! How He must weep as people attack one another. We shake our heads at the hatred-inspired violence in many parts of the world, but God doesn’t see much difference in our country as hatred-inspired words fill the airwaves. Jesus knew He was the answer, so He prayed accordingly:

    “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they (the disciples) know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:25-26

  • testicular testimony

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    Dana

    No guy really wants to discuss such matters, but I guess we don’t get to choose our testimonies 🙂 First, I want to thank so many for prayer, kind notes, and words of encouragement. Thursday, August 11, I had surgery and they say things went as well as they can in such an operation. I was quite asleep and don’t remember a thing. I sometimes thought my wife, Susan, was a bit of a wimp when those c-sections slowed her down a few days, but now I realize she’s a little tougher than I am 🙂 Thursday, August 18, I got my staples out. The surgeon seemed quite surprised with the pathology report. He told me he was going to use my case as he spoke in a doctor’s conference at Emory. (I never really wanted such an honor…) The tumor was a plasmacytoma, which is totally related to multiple myeloma. This was very good news since we did not want to deal with a whole new type of cancer.

    The key thing now is the protein level in my blood. You healthy people have a zero count. In July, mine measured 1.1 and has climbed to just over 2. (When I was diagnosed in 2000 it was 6.2 and I was in pretty bad shape.) The hope is that this protein level will start dropping after the surgery. I will be stabbed a few more times in upcoming days as this number is observed.

    So… what I think I’m going to do is head to a part of the world where the doctors can’t find me. This week, Susan and I and another dear couple, Joe and Sybil McReynolds, are going to visit our missionary friends in Jerusalem. We were invited a long time ago and had made plans before all the cancer talk began. My oncologist, a God-loving doctor, has given his full permission for the trip, as have my bosses at school. As always, I cherish and need your love and prayers.

    I thought I would send a page from Oswald Chambers’ MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST to encourage disciples when things don’t line up the way we thought they would. From August 3, entitled ‘The Big Compelling of God’:

    “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem.” Luke 18:31 Jerusalem stands in the life of our Lord as the place where He reached the climax of His Father’s will. “I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which has sent Me.” That was the one dominating interest all through the Lord’s life, and the things He met with on the way, joy or sorrow, success or failure, never deterred Him from His purpose. “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” The great thing to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose, not our own. Naturally, our ambitions are our own; in the Christian life we have no aim of our own. There is so much said today about our decision for this and that, but in the New Testament it is the aspect of God’s compelling that is brought out. “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” We are not taken up into conscious agreement with God’s purpose, we are taken into God’s purpose without any consciousness at all. We have no conception of what God is aiming at, and as we go on it gets more and more vague. God’s aim looks like missing the mark because we are shortsighted to see what He is aiming at. At the beginning of the Christian life we have our own ideas as to what God’s purpose is – “I am meant to go here or there,” “God has called me to do this special work”; and we go and do the thing, and still the big compelling of God remains. The work we do is of no account, it is so much scaffolding compared with the big compelling of God.

    Have a great week!
    Dana

  • health

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    Dana

    At this time of the year I usually give some type of update about my health. I have been so blessed to give positive reports these last four years, but this one is a bit different. The last couple of weeks in July blood tests came back showing an elevated level of protein in my blood which is a sign of multiple myeloma. These last ten days I’ve been ordered to go through every test the doctors could imagine. A mass has been discovered in one of my testicles so Thursday afternoon I must have surgery. (I’m planning on taking Lance’s spot in the Tour de France next summer 🙂 ) The possible good news is that this may be a source of the protein increase in the blood. The possible bad news is that I may be singing soprano on Sunday. Seriously, this surgery sounds like a rather simple procedure. I should go home Thursday and be back to work Monday. Later next week another blood test will show if there is improvement in the counts. Until we know these results there is not much to do. Doctors have shared various scenarios and we trust God will give wisdom when it is time to make decisions.

    I am thankful for the peace God has given our family. We have decided to keep things ‘low key’ since we really don’t know what is ahead. I feel great and have had an abundance of energy. For this I am also thankful. Please continue to love and serve those you know who are going through difficulty. At this point our family has everything we need. I know many will be praying for us.

    I always like to end these little writings with Scripture – a great source of hope for the believer. Here are some words from Paul that have encouraged me lately:

    “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

    “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

    “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” I Thessalonians 5:23-24

    “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” II Thessalonians 3:16

    Hope, joy, and peace,
    Dana

  • sweetheart

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    Dana

    At the dinner table, thirty summers ago, my dad, the principal of a Christian school in Chattanooga, told an interesting story. He was walking near the football field and noticed a pretty dark-skinned girl with long brown hair riding a horse named Chief. Each summer, Jim Fuller, my basketball coach, directed a day camp where many of us worked. We were told we had the greatest job in the world because any time we had a break we could play ball. (In addition to this tremendous benefit, we were paid the generous wage of one dollar a day.) I was not working this particular week, but I knew the horses well. All ten of the camp horses were ornery, but Chief was dangerous. He was a fast quarter horse with a mind of his own. Suddenly, Daddy shared, the horse took off across the field and the teenage girl hung on for her life. As Chief reached uneven ground, not far from where my dad stood, the horse stumbled. The rider fell out of the saddle, but a foot hung in the stirrup as Chief kept running. My dad rushed to help the damsel in distress who fortunately was not injured too badly.

    At the age of fifteen I fell in love with the lovely horseback rider and the man who rescued her became Susan’s father-in-law. We laugh each summer as we still find ourselves working at camp. (We both have agreed not to have horseback riding as one of our activities.) So in this first writing of a new school year, on August 4, I would like to wish my beautiful Susan ‘Happy Birthday’ and tell her that I love my sweetheart more now than ever.

    Lover: “How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.” Beloved: “How handsome you are, my lover! Oh how charming! And our bed is verdant.” Song of Songs 1:15-16

    I’m on my way to find what ‘verdant’ means…

  • graduate

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    Dana

    As we close out another school year, this will be my last writing for a while. Our oldest child, Taylor, graduates from high school this week. Susan and I are so proud of our son. When he was born, there were complications that made doctors afraid Taylor would not make it. I remember sitting on the hospital bed praying with Susan after one of those bad reports. Thirteen days later we got to bring our baby home and we have never been the same.

    This past weekend I watched one of my brother’s sons, Jason, graduate from Boyd-Buchanan School in Chattanooga. The student speeches all centered on Paul’s words from I Corinthians 16:13-14. I would like to direct these words to Taylor, trusting we can all benefit from such encouragement.

    “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.”

    Son, wherever you go, whatever you do, be on your guard. There is an enemy who prowls like a roaring lion, seeking victims to devour. This enemy hates all who love God and he hates you. Keep your eyes open and be alert. Do not give the devil a foothold. Guard your heart, control your tongue, keep your mind on good things. Such warnings may sound over zealous in today’s culture, but remember the Holy Spirit says that the closer we get to Jesus’ return, the more dangerous this world will be. The wise know we are closer to that Day than anyone has ever been. Be on your guard.

    Taylor, though we have an enemy, we need not fear… for we belong to the Good Shepherd. Stand firm in the faith. Our faith is in Jesus. The better we know Him, the more firm we are able to stand. So spend time with Jesus. He makes Himself known to those that seek Him. Talk to Him before you go to sleep. Talk to Him when you wake up. Talk to Him while you’re fishing. Talk to Him more than you talk to anyone, but even more importantly… listen to Him. Read His Word and ask Him to teach you. Grow to understand that your life is Christ. As you stand firm in the faith, you’ll realize that He has a firm hold on you.

    Though Jesus is our Shield and Protector, He calls us to be bold. We are to be like Joshua. The Lord promised Joshua victory. God gave him the land, but Joshua had to fight for it. Over and over, the Lord told this man of faith, “Be strong and courageous!” There will be times you will not think you can make it… keep going. There will be times the obstacles will seem too great… don’t give up. Be a man of courage, my son, and be strong. God sees you this way… and so do I.

    Finally, though we are called to be warriors, our greatest responsibility is to love. If you have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, you are nothing. Jesus is the mightiest Warrior, but He is also Love. Your mother and I cannot describe the love we have for you, but even this love pales in comparison to God’s. He wants everything we do to reflect His love. How is this possible? “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” This is how we can do everything in love. Love lives in you, Taylor; don’t be ashamed.

    We are proud of you.

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