Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • blessings

    —

    Dana

    My doctors vary in opinion about me leaving the country with low blood counts. One seems genuinely excited and offers to give names of foreign colleagues in case I get in trouble. Another tends to worry a bit more, but is encouraging nonetheless. Sometimes I remember to bring them souvenirs.

    Because my bone marrow is so compromised, I must receive platelets every week and red blood cells every two weeks. Consequently, we always schedule infusions as close to the end of a trip as possible. After getting home from Ecuador in June, fellow travelers dropped me off at the clinic on their way home from the airport. I thank God for friends… and for blood and platelet donors.

    Not all cancer patients are followers of Jesus, but you might be surprised to see how much faith and kindness fills waiting rooms. I sometimes think our country could learn lessons about how to get along if more time were spent among the sick and dying. Black, White, Asian, Hispanic… race matters little as we all have brokenness in common.

    The morning after we returned from Israel, I entered the room where patients wait to have blood drawn and sat between an older African American gentleman and a younger Caucasian patient. In the course of our conversation, we learned that the older man regularly drives his brother, a veteran of Vietnam, to the hospital from the north Georgia mountains for treatment. His brother is one of thousands who contracted cancer or other deadly diseases from exposure to Agent Orange.

    As the three of us visited, I marveled at the way strangers can naturally praise God in the course of common conversation. Each of us encouraged the others.  When the younger patient was called over to the nurse’s station, the older gentleman pointed at him walking away and quietly said to me: “That’s a good man… the kind of man you want by your side.”

    This is the witness God loves to see in our confused, angry world. Jesus, who also lived in a confused, angry world, let the character of His Father outshine the darkness of the enemy. He was (and is) full of grace and truth. Jesus is Truth… so He is always righteous and just. But the sons and daughters of Adam can never measure up to God’s holiness, so He offers grace… and, thankfully, His resource is boundless.

    Our young married friends Slava and Alina visited our home on a recent Sunday, telling of efforts to bring the lost sheep of Belarus into the Kingdom of God. Someone asked: “How do you share Jesus?” Slava answered: “In Christ, we have all been given blessings from the Holy Spirit. When true love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are observed by our people, they want to know the Source… then we share the Gospel.”

    May we understand and remember the blessings we’ve been given… and may the glory of Jesus be plainly seen in this world of people our Father loves.

    “From the fullness of grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16-17

    “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

    “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” I Corinthians 2:12

  • come

    —

    Dana

    “We’ve got to go to Israel,” my friend Robbie kept saying. Susan and I had tried to go during the winter, but things did not work out. I replied, “It is great to see the Holy Land, but Susan and I mainly go to see our friends. Let me get in touch with them and we’ll see. Meanwhile, pray.”

    Before I knew it, Robbie, his wife Kristen, Susan, and I were on our way to Israel via Toronto on Canada Air. Harry and Dagmar Tees have lived in the Old City of Jerusalem thirty years as ambassadors for Jesus. Harry is originally from Holland and Dagmar is from Germany. Susan and I met them during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and we regularly stay in touch. Dagmar welcomed us in the Tel Aviv airport, gave us a cell phone, and wished us safe journeys. We then walked to rent a car, planning to stay with the Tees our last three nights of the trip.

    After spending the first night at Masada by the Dead Sea, we drove up the coast of the Mediterranean to visit the Tals, our Jewish friends. I met Steve in 2004 as a result of sitting next to his seven-year-old son, Roy, on a flight from Paris to Atlanta. In 2010, Steve invited us to Roy’s Bar Mitzvah and we were able to attend. Roy is now in graduate school at a prestigious university in London. Steve and his wife Anat live in the town of Binyamina with their three younger children.

    After visiting a while in their home, we took two cars to a charming nearby town where we had a wonderful meal. Before it was time for dinner, Steve, our proud host, took us on a walking tour of the area. We would stroll a while, sit and visit, then hop up when our leader said: “Come… we walk.” “Come… we walk!” became the mantra of our trip.

    Walking was the primary mode of transportation in Jesus’ day and there is something refreshing about it. Shortly after His baptism and return from being tempted in the wilderness, two disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus where He was staying. “Come and see,” Jesus replied. They walked with the Messiah and were never again the same.

    “Come to Me if you’re weary.” “Come, I’ll make you a fisher of men.” “Come, I am the Bread of Life.” “Come, I’ll give you Living Water.” “Come… walk with Me and you will know My Father in Heaven.” These are the invitations of the Son of God who came to seek and save the lost. He Is our Savior and Lord and Teacher and Friend. I just want to walk with Him forever.

    “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me: that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.’” John 6:35-40

  • blessed

    —

    Dana

    The summer break is over and school has begun. Fifteen months ago I entered a medical trial to continue the battle against my blood cancer, multiple myeloma. The cancer has left and has not returned, and we praise God. I continue to receive weekly infusions of blood cells, but I am thankful to be relatively drug-free. We appreciate your prayers and love.

    God gave Susan and me incredible opportunities this past summer to visit family and friends in many places. We traveled to Tennessee a couple of times, to Colorado for Owen’s third birthday, and to Israel, Ecuador, and Spain. I’ll share stories over the course of the year, with all glory going to our Father in Heaven.

    The challenge for the child of God is to be grateful in the good times and the bad. Dealing with cancer for nineteen years, I would say God has answered ‘no’ or ‘wait’ more than He has answered ‘yes’ to thousands of prayers. Though we may struggle with the ‘whys,’ we can always confidently sing: “You’re A Good, Good Father” which contains the line: “You are perfect in all of Your ways.”

    Jesus teaches us to trust… with His words and with His life. “Though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.” (Hebrew 5:8) I don’t fully comprehend this truth, but it is clear Jesus suffered many things before His cruel death on the Cross.

    Like most, I would rather be ‘blessed’ constantly with good health, abundant finances, and ‘happy’ times, but it seems the path to maturity involves difficulty. A foreign-born evangelist I admire recently said, “Without suffering we cannot know the Lord… ” Many might disagree, but this brother has endured much and has recognized good fruit as a product. He would never wish his trials on others or advise a believer to create his own suffering, but he realizes that hardships during the life of faith result in blessing.

    Jesus taught: “The poor in spirit are blessed… Those who mourn are blessed… Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed…” with a future promised but not defined. “For the kingdom of heaven is theirs… for they will be comforted… for they will be filled.” Jesus — chosen and blessed by His Father in Heaven — was called ‘Man of Sorrows’ as He walked the earth, yet now He reigns on high.

    May we learn to ask, seek, and knock as our Lord instructs. And may we learn to trust with child-like faith as we give thanks for the “love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children. And we are!” (I John 3:1)

    “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has now sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:1-2

    “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
    (all quotes of Scripture are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible)

  • school

    —

    Dana

    School’s out this week, so you probably won’t hear from me until August. Please pray Taylor’s heart procedure goes well on June 18. In July, I’ll have a ‘one-year analysis’ of last summer’s CAR-T cell therapy. Susan and I have a busy summer planned… we always cherish your prayers.

    Kinsey, Jordan, Owen, and Keightly flew in to Georgia from Denver last week for a wonderful event. Brian Lee grew up in our neighborhood; he was a 6’5” 280 pound tackle for the Parkview Panthers and about the nicest kid you could ever meet. The Lees are a devout Catholic family and Brian, one of six children, considered becoming a priest as he completed his education.

    img_1033Kristen, one of Jordan’s fellow residents in Birmingham, is also a strong Catholic. Kinsey suggested to Jordan one day a couple of years ago: “Don’t you think Brian and Kristen would make a fine match?” The wedding took place at St. John Neumann Church this past Saturday morning. Taylor was a groomsman.

    img_1024Because Kinsey and Jordan played such a role in their story, the couple asked them to walk the Bread and the Wine down the aisle when it was time for Communion. I offered to hold the baby, but Kinsey replied that Brian and Kristen wanted Owen and Keightley to be a part of the ceremony as well.

    img_1029The priest used an interesting phrase in his message. I’ll paraphrase: “Kristen and Brian, don’t buy into society’s philosophy of ‘instant perfection.’ Many couples seem shocked and disappointed when the first year of marriage presents challenges and difficulties. You love each other now, but your relationship is just beginning. God has welcomed you to His ‘School of Love.’ Brian, from this day forward, you will be learning to love Kristen as Christ loves the Church. Kristen, from this day forward, you will be learning to love Brian as his wife. Marriage is a calling and a vocation. Listen well to your Teacher in God’s ‘School of Love.’”

    School is not a place of perfection… it is a place of growth and learning and understanding. Mistakes are made daily in school, but good teachers let stumbles become stepping stones of progress. The best schools are full of grace and truth and excellent teaching. I think we are all in ‘God’s School of Faith, Hope, and Love.’ May we listen to Christ our Teacher as we follow our Lord.

    “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things.” Mark 6:34

    “Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” II John 1:9

  • birthdays

    —

    Dana

    img_8470Macy turned two May 10! On May 8, my mom turned eighty-five. A few days earlier, I sat on the front porch with Meemaw around 5:00 am and watched the world wake up. This is her habit every morning as she and my dad drink a cup of coffee together.

    img_1019Our Heavenly Father takes great joy in both these birthday girls. He knows Macy and He knew Barbara when she was two… being raised by a single mom, my Nannie. While a young girl, a kind family took my mom to church where she learned about Jesus. God has given her a loving husband, four children, ten grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.

    As we sat in the cool of the morning, talking, laughing, and counting our blessings, Meemaw shared that her only birthday request was to have a celebration meal at her house with a widow who had a birthday the same week. This friend is seven years younger than my mom and has endured many difficulties in life. She has recently been diagnosed with cancer and has a poor prognosis. Of course my dad was in full agreement to make the birthday wish happen.

    God’s desire is for older men and women to be examples to the younger. My mom has lived this way all her life. I pray that all the girls in our family will walk in her steps. Perhaps in eighty-three years Macy will sit on a front porch with one of her children and welcome the morning.

    “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing in value… She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy… She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue… Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:10, 11, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30

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