Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • appreciation

    —

    Dana

    If you find yourself not being thankful for what you have, take steps to change. Go without food a couple of days and notice how much you appreciate a simple meal. Visit another country and gain a fresh appreciation for your land. A year with poor health gave me a new appreciation for the ability to simply live. I don’t want to take things for granted any more.

    This week, the world remembers events we know are true: an innocent man being arrested in a garden, a carpenter’s son nailed to a cross, and a dead man coming back to life. Could we even imagine how dark this world would be if these things had not taken place? May we never lose appreciation.

    This afternoon, Taylor and I leave with a group from school to visit the Czech Republic. We hope to share the life of Jesus with people who may not know Him. I won’t get to write next week. May Easter bring you much joy and hope as we thank God for His miracles.

    “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever . Amen!” (Revelation 7:12)

  • courage

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    Dana

    Joe Marelle is a basketball coach in our county who has encouraged me greatly in this fight with cancer. He has fought the disease himself for over three years and many have admired him. An award is given at the end of each season to honor someone who has shown courage in a unique way. Knowing I was going out of town this past weekend, my close friend, Tim Vick, shared that two people were going to receive the Joe Marelle Courage Award on Saturday – and I was one of them.

    I told Tim I really didn’t think I have been too courageous. In fact, I think I simply discovered what a wimp I am! But in accepting the award in my absence, Tim made some comments that have made me think. Ben Black, the player who received the award, recently lost his twin brother in a car accident, which he survived. Many of the people we view as courageous have simply found themselves in very difficult circumstances – circumstances not of their own choosing. Why did God tell Joshua to be ‘strong and courageous’ so many times? (see Joshua 1) He knew Joshua was about to go to battle – where courage would be required. If He tells us to be ‘strong and courageous’, we can expect His grace to help us obey.

    Here are Tim’s kind words: “When I told Coach Davis he was going to be honored for the ‘courage’ award, he said, ‘Don’t call it courage…call it what it is…not having anywhere else to turn.’ But you see…what Coach Davis may not realize is that IS courage. In basketball games, courage is pretty simplistic…give 100% for your team. But in LIFE, the stakes are much higher. It means ACCEPTING THE CIRCUMSTANCES and then OVERCOMING THE FEAR. So why does one go through the crushing process of battling cancer? Dana tells me it wasn’t for himself (he was ready). But I know why. He did it for Susan, Taylor, Kinsey, Karlyn, and for all of us who depended on him. And that’s what courage is all about. Accepting whatever comes your way. Setting aside your fears. And considering others more than you do yourself. We’ve seen it in the life of Joe Marelle and we’ve seen it in the two that are honored today.”

    People tell me we got a standing ovation. But Ben and I would both say (along with Joshua), “God deserves the applause.”

    “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

  • Good Samaritan

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    Dana

    Jesus’ command to ‘love one another’ sounds simple enough until one realizes how he is to love. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12) When a person compares his own love to the perfect love of the Lord, he tends to go one of two directions. He either defends his imperfections and tries to justify himself or he admits his weakness and cries out for help, knowing the standard is beyond human reach.

    An expert lawyer came to this place of realization after asking Jesus how to obtain eternal life. “What is written in the law?” Jesus replied. The lawyer gave a brilliant answer: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

    But who does this? Who loves God or his fellow man in this perfect way? If eternal life depends on following this standard, how will anyone be saved? So do we admit our need or do we try to defend ourselves? The lawyer wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” In response to this question, Jesus told the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan.

    Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian who spent the last twenty years of his life in prison for his faith, taught that the meaning of this parable is our desperate need for a Savior. When I think about my life, I agree. I was on the road to destruction. I was assaulted by the enemy who hates us all. Religion came close to me, but it could not help. Though I heard the calls to try harder, I finally realized I was unable to live up to God’s perfect standards. How could I ever love God or my fellow man with this selfish heart? “What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

    But just when there seemed to be no hope, a Savior came. He was a Stranger from a far place, despised and rejected by most. He showed me mercy. He knew I was helpless and He knew what I needed – so He washed me with Oil and Wine.

    I can try to justify myself all day long, but without the Wine there is no justification. I can try to live up to God’s perfect law all my life, but without the Oil, there is no hope. Keith Green sang the appropriate prayer: “What can be done for an old heart like mine? Soften it up with Oil and Wine. The Oil is You – Your Spirit of Love. Please wash me anew in the Wine of Your Blood.”

    “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly….Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (Romans 5:5-9)

  • I saw Jesus

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    Dana

    Some friends often go sing at a nursing home. A few days ago, I got to join them and I’m positive I saw Jesus – I’m just not sure where.

    Was He in the old lady slumped in her wheelchair or was He in the aging man by her side, caring for his mother with gentle kindness? Was He in the man with no legs who asked that we sing “Sweet Hour of Prayer” or was He in the teenage boy who tenderly led the song? Was He in the four children from the same family who spread joy to the elderly or was He in their parents who have made it a practice to show compassion to those who are often forgotten? Was He in the bed-confined gentleman near the end of his life or was He in the nurse who was trying to make his final days more comfortable?

    Jesus said we serve Him when we serve the least of His brethren. It is not hard to imagine the joy the Lord receives when we serve others. If someone goes to visit my elderly grandmother, I am so grateful. If someone is kind to my parents, I want to return the kindness. And if someone goes out of his way to help my children, he’ll be a friend forever. When we serve any person, we are serving one that God loves more than we can imagine. It brings God joy when we love someone He loves. And when I see my great weakness in loving others, Jesus reminds me that as I live in Him, He lives in me – and He is love.

    “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

    “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” (John 15:4)

    “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (I John 4:16)

  • forfeit

    —

    Dana

    This past Christmas was my second trip to Africa. Before moving to Capetown, my brother, Brian, was a missionary in Benin. A little over three years ago, my son, Taylor, and I visited this country in West Africa.

    In Benin, there is much pagan worship. Voodoo is practiced openly and sacrifices are made to ancestral spirits. When one becomes a Christian, he turns his back on the false gods of his land. Disciples of Jesus understand they cannot worship idols and make sacrifices to demons while following the one true God. Though they often face persecution and hardship for choosing Jesus, they know true life is forfeited if they go back to the old ways. In the belly of the big fish, Jonah stated truth that holds today: “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” (Jonah 2:8)

    Upon our return to this land, I saw clearly with spiritual eyes the things I had seen with physical eyes in West Africa. The same forces at work in Benin, that cause men and women to bow to a crude idol, are at work in the western culture. It is a frightening thought, but in some ways I think the people in Benin have an advantage. There the idols are seen. Here they are not recognized. When a person chooses the Lord there, it is clear he is rejecting the other gods of the land. A person who hears a call to follow the Lord here may not hear a call to count the cost.

    Jesus spoke plainly about these matters when He walked the earth. He knows idolatry does not just involve graven images. He also knows what will be forfeited if man does not boldly choose to follow Him.

    “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26)

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