Category: struggle

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

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

This past weekend our guys won the state tournament in tennis. I’ve been a champion for less than forty-eight hours and I tell you it is not enough. There is a definite thrill in victory, but it only lasts a while. Pretty soon that accomplished goal fades and we realize why we need to be more than champions.

Perhaps Napoleon or Alexander the Great felt the same after their military exploits. If you conquer the world, what do you do next?

God knows each of us is in a war that transcends all that we see on earth. There is a war for our souls and God sent a Mighty Warrior to ensure victory. But the victory He gives goes far beyond any state championship or any military accomplishment. Jesus is more than a conqueror because He understands what it is all about. Sometimes I’m afraid we don’t have a clue. But every now and then we may get a glimpse of what is at stake. Oh for the courage to enter the battle without fear! Oh for the passion to risk all to follow the King! Oh for the willingness to look like a fool to the world, while knowing deep down that anything He requires will be worth it in the end.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot, the man who made this statement, gave his life in the steamy jungles of Ecuador as he attempted to take the gospel to the Auca tribe. But Jim Elliot is more than a conqueror and so are all who put their faith in Christ and pick up their cross to follow Him.

We are searching for a crown that will not fade. We are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are pursuing a Savior who will not fail us. And nothing can ever separate us from His love.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

Someone asked me to call their friend who had just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. As I talked to a dear man and his wife, who are facing a great battle, I remembered all the questions, confusion, and fear that accompanies this disease. “Friend”, he told me over the phone, “I have to tell you, we’re just a little scared.”

At the doctor’s office this week, I saw the father of one of my old students. He has been fighting leukemia. The chemotherapy knocked out the leukemia but brought another cancer that has attacked his bone marrow. He is on his way to Texas for a bone marrow transplant and will be away from home for a minimum of four months. “I would appreciate your prayers”, he humbly requested.

I talked to another friend this week whose sixteen year old son is approaching the end of treatment for leukemia. This family loves God and testifies of His faithfulness through the storm. The son is a courageous young man.

At a tennis match this week, I saw one of my old players who is now in his mid twenties. He is fighting lymphoma with a great attitude. He told me he is closer to God than he has ever been.

Though going through intense trials, these people all have a perspective that is very focused. All that is unimportant or distracting has been cut away and clear priorities are in view. Four years ago, when I first started working again, I realized with amazement all the trivial things we worry about. It seemed that everyone was running ninety miles an hour and going no where. “Lord, I’ll never get in the rat race again,” I claimed. Now, despite my good intentions, I find myself running ninety miles an hour, worrying about things that aren’t that important.

I’m not sure how to avoid the pace of our society, but one thing I know: we cannot neglect the things that are important. I must pray for Buck, Don, David, and Shaun. I must love my wife, Susan, my three precious children, and Terry and John. People are important… “Lord, help me to love.” No matter how busy I am, if a friend is in need, I must find the way to serve him. And most importantly, I must walk with the Lord. He is our God, a mighty Fortress. He is our Shepherd and faithful Friend.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands – yes, establish the work of our hands.” Psalm 90:1,12,16,17

I asked our eighteen-year-old son, Taylor, what he thought of the movie, LUTHER, and he said, “It was kind of depressing. Thousands of people died because of what he did.”

The Holy Spirit made Paul’s letter to the Romans come alive in Martin Luther. A young man found the love of God in a perfect Savior who died to rescue the undeserving. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” In the movie, Luther’s mentor saw the life of a young priest being transformed, so he challenged him to go out and change the world. But when controversy exploded and pressure increased, even the teacher encouraged his student to recant. This was Luther’s reply: “When you told me to go change the world, did you not think there would be a cost?”

We might expect personal difficulty as we obey God, but should our obedience hurt others? In MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, Oswald Chambers wrote, “If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean other people’s plans are upset, and they will gibe us with it – ‘You call this Christianity?’ We can prevent suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid.”

The only way to walk such a path is to have the mind of Christ. Jesus only cared what His Father thought, so He walked free from the fear of man. Even His enemies gave Jesus this compliment: “You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.” As you read the gospels, notice the unflinching resolve of the Son to obey the Father. Peter was one of those who would be “hurt” by Jesus’ obedience. He did not like talk of trial and crucifixion, so one day he pulled Jesus aside to rebuke Him. “‘Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God but the things of man.’” Oh that we may choose “the things of God” above “the things of man.”

“As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.” Matthew 27:32