Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • thankful

    —

    Dana

    Susan and I are so thankful our daughter Karlyn has returned from Africa after spending a semester studying abroad. God protected and blessed her and her team. He answered so many prayers and we continue to marvel at his goodness and power.

    Last Saturday, her older sister Kinsey drove Karlyn to my parents’ house in Chattanooga where we welcomed her home.  Monday, three of Karlyn’s closest friends surprised her in our driveway after we returned from Chattanooga. We are thankful for family and friends.

    img_3281While at the base orphanage in Zambia, Karlyn was assigned to Steve, an eighteen-month-old child with several developmental challenges. Over three months, Karlyn saw Steve blossom. He learned to walk and he progressed in language and social skills. You can see in the picture that Steve is a big boy, dwarfing all the children his age, but Karlyn witnessed the power that loving, consistent care has in the life of a child. We are thankful she experienced why ‘the greatest of these is love.’

    Karlyn not only grew close to her teammates on this trip, but she also met brothers and sisters in Christ from other nations. ‘We are all members of one body,’ and Karlyn witnessed the beauty of God’s plan. As she told us of the gifts God planted in some of her associates, I was reminded of the wisdom of God. The Spirit gives according to the will of the Father, and God knows what best builds up his church. When body members, young and old, offer themselves to the Father for his glory, the light of Jesus shines in a dark world and hope expands. We are thankful Karlyn loves the body of Christ.

    At the end of their journey, the team of college students spent a few days in Rwanda, where an atrocious genocide took place in 1994. Karlyn got to visit a home in the countryside where Christians met to pray and study the Bible. “They asked how they could pray for us,” Karlyn said, “and they wanted specific names and details of our requests. We knew they intended to pray seriously with expectation of answers.” I have witnessed such prayer meetings in different African settings. Hearing brothers and sisters pray boldly before God’s throne of grace reminds us what a gift we have in prayer. We are thankful Karlyn found herself in an atmosphere of faith and action.

    After taking the requests of the Americans, one Rwandan lady asked if the foreign team would pray for her. “Tomorrow I am going to meet and forgive the people who killed my family in the genocide.” We are thankful Karlyn saw the desire of God for his children: ‘Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.’ We are also thankful she witnessed the humility we all must possess if we truly intend to be disciples of Christ on this earth. We face hard things here, but since we believe Jesus has overcome the world, we can say to one another: “Pray for me.”

    I pray you enjoy counting your blessings this special season. And since we are so blessed, may we determine to be a blessing to others for the glory of God. Happy Thanksgiving!

    “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15

  • trust

    —

    Dana

    On this earth, the Son was all about his Father. When the religious misrepresented God, Jesus was angered because He wanted everyone to know the real Father. Of course Jesus knew that if a person does not see Him for who He is, that person cannot know God. “You do not know me or my Father… If you knew me, you would know my Father also… If God were your Father, you would love me… He who belongs to God hears what God says… Though you do not know him, I know him.” (see John 8) Jesus knew God and that made all the difference.

    So what does Jesus want for those who do believe in Him? “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22) “Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1) Jesus knows He is the way to God and He wants all who put their faith in Him to know beyond any shadow of a doubt how kind, how loving, how wise, and how powerful his Father is. “If my Father feeds the birds, will He not feed you? Why do you worry? You can trust my Father!”

    Of course Satan proclaims the opposite message. “Look what is happening in the world… you can’t trust God! What about all those who have died for following Jesus? How can a ‘good’ God allow that? No, anyone is a fool who really believes everything Jesus said.”

    So who do I listen to? The enemy uses my circumstances, my surroundings, and my logic to ‘talk’ me out of faith. Satan uses many ‘smart’ people (even some who claim to know God) to produce fear and doubt. His strategies are crafty and his lies often go undetected.

    But Jesus tells the truth. He was tempted in every way that we are on this earth, yet He walked as a child who knew, loved, and trusted his Father. No matter the circumstances, surroundings, or arguments, Jesus says: “My Father can be trusted.”

    Alex is a teenager who has lived most of his life in a broken home. His parents have joint custody so Alex travels back and forth between his father and mother. He has grown accustomed to broken promises and has concluded that grownups cannot be trusted. In junior high, this young man became friends with another boy from a different home environment where love, stability, and accountability are the norm. When this friend invited Alex to go camping one weekend, there was a lot of skepticism. “I’ll believe it when it happens,” he said. The friend gave a simple reply: “You just don’t know my dad. If he says it will happen, you can go ahead and pack your bags.”

    Let’s believe what Jesus says about his Father.

    “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:22-24

  • spirit

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    Dana

    The camera targeted the head coach clapping on the sideline in a high profile college football game this past weekend. Then the picture shifted to the quarterback on the field. Though a different age and size and role, the quarterback clapped exactly the way his coach did. So often the spirit of a player and a team reflects the spirit of their coach.

    Jesus commented on the connection between a teacher and student. “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40) But what about the parent and child? Heredity aside, is not the aim of a good father to produce his own spirit in his children? Is not the desire of a good mother to nurture a gentle, loving spirit in her children?

    Andrew Murray was a South African pastor who died almost a century ago. His writings and sermons have blessed countless believers over the years. He compared the human goals parents have for their children with the eternal goals the Heavenly Father has for us. “If there is one thing on earth we can be sure of it is this, that the Father desires to have us filled with His Spirit, that He delights to give us His Spirit.” Here’s a passage from one of Andrew Murray’s classic books, With Christ in the School of Prayer:

    The best gift a good and wise father can bestow on a child on earth is his own spirit. This is the great object of a father in education — to reproduce in his child his own disposition and character. If the child is to know and understand his father; if, as he grows up, he is to enter into all his will and plans; if he is to have his highest joy in the father, and the father in him — he must be of one mind and spirit with him. And so it is impossible to conceive of God bestowing any higher gift on His child than this, His own Spirit. God is what He is through His Spirit; the Spirit is the very life of God. Just think what it means — God giving His own Spirit to His child on earth.

    Or was not this the glory of Jesus as a Son upon earth, that the Spirit of the Father was in Him? At His baptism in Jordan the two things were united — the voice, proclaiming Him the Beloved Son, and the Spirit, descending upon Him. And so the apostle says of us, ‘Because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.’ A king seeks in the whole education of his son to call forth in him a kingly spirit. Our Father in Heaven desires to educate us as His children for the holy, heavenly life in which He dwells, and for this gives us, from the depths of His heart, His own Spirit. It was this which was the whole aim of Jesus when, after having made atonement with His own blood, He entered for us into God’s presence, that He might obtain for us, and send down to dwell in us, the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit of the Father, and of the Son, the whole life and love of the Father and the Son are in Him; and, coming down into us, He lifts us up into their fellowship… The Father can bestow no higher or more wonderful gift than this: His own Holy Spirit, the Spirit of sonship.

    “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13

    (Quotes taken from With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. ©2007 Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

  • sons

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    Dana

    sonsThe volleyball team that Taylor coaches lost in the championship game Saturday to close out an incredible season. John would often serve as a ball boy during warm-ups, wearing a team t-shirt Taylor gave him.

    Taylor’s team played the semi-final match of the state tournament last Wednesday in their home gym. They won the fifth set of an exciting match before a large crowd to secure a spot in the finals for the first time in school history. As fans stormed the court I walked down and congratulated our son the coach. I then walked back up the bleachers and observed the celebration. Volleyball players were crying for joy; parents were slapping each other on the back; John and a bunch of little kids were playing ball on the court; and a host of people surrounded Taylor with handshakes and embraces.

    Thirty minutes later, I would estimate that eighty percent of the fans remained in the gym. No one wanted to go home as an entire school community celebrated the accomplishment. Taylor looked up and noticed me sitting alone in the stands. I watched him slip through the crowd and make his way up the bleachers to join his dad. We had a few minutes alone to laugh and share some of the highlights of the night before several people spotted ‘Coach Davis’ and headed our way. It was quite a night.

    I wonder if Jesus and his Father had such moments at the end of a day. As the once sick celebrated their healing and the blind marveled at their sight and the lame jumped for joy, I wonder if Jesus slipped away to enjoy a moment with his Father. Can’t you imagine the Father saying, “Great job!” to his Son after a day’s teaching about the Kingdom? We know Jesus found perfect security in the love of his Father. And this is the love God has for us! Let’s walk as Jesus did!

    “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” I John 3:1

    “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” I John 2:6

  • platelets

    —

    Dana

    Not long ago I shared the plan to enter another multiple myeloma drug trial as my latest chemotherapy lost effectiveness. We’ve learned quite a bit about blood chemistry the past several years and we remain in continual awe of God’s handiwork in the human body.

    In order to be accepted in this new trial my blood counts needed to be at a certain level, so I requested specific prayers in this regard. My platelet count has been the weakest since my stem cell transplant of 2009 and several friends told me they were going to pray for a turnaround. Thursday’s blood test revealed my platelet count to be higher (by quite a bit) than it has been in years. A few nurses chuckled as I told them people were praying, but one nurse looked at me seriously and said, “God answered those prayers.” There is really no other good explanation. My cancer counts have been rising and that usually results in depressed ‘good’ cells, so thank you for praying.

    I survived the first round of this new treatment last week, arriving at the hospital at 7:00 am and departing at 9:00 pm. I hope this week’s session will not take as long.

    Thirty minutes after I was seated Thursday, an attractive young lady of Indian descent sat in the chair across from me. I said ‘hello’ and she smiled and returned the greeting. I kept thinking there was something familiar about the girl, but I refrained from asking questions as my family often accuses me of being too nosy.

    Susan arrived to sit with me a little while later and soon the young lady spoke. “Are you the Davises?” she asked. “Katie!” Susan exclaimed and we renewed an old friendship. Katie was adopted as a baby with her new family being fully aware that she had a rare blood condition that could not easily be treated in India. We met her through church fellowship when she was about six years old, but we had not seen these friends in many years. Katie is now twenty-four years old and must receive red blood cells every three weeks. She is otherwise healthy and beautiful inside and out. She shared news about all her family and reflected the Spirit of Christ as we spent the morning together.

    We have a Father in Heaven who cannot only adjust blood cells in our bodies, but can place members of his Son’s body in the same room for mutual encouragement. And perhaps He wants us to realize that just as each member of the human body is of vital importance, so each member of the body of Christ is precious and valuable. “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” I Corinthians 12:27

    “For we are his workmanship…” Ephesians 2:10

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