Today began with an event I’ve been looking forward to ever since we bought our Michigan cottage 14 years ago: the first stage of building a back yard deck.

Most people would have either built the deck or given up by now, but complicating factors prohibited either one. In 2009 when we moved here full time, we hoped to retire and become part of a much quieter, slower lifestyle.

But as we were getting settled, Nate’s terminal cancer appeared, changing everything. Even so, I remember the day he and I walked from room to room talking of improvements we hoped to make in our home. It was a future-oriented conversation we both enjoyed while quietly knowing it wasn’t going to happen before he was gone.

As I moved into the sadness of widowhood, renovation plans were shelved, including the deck. It wasn’t until years later that it seemed right to pursue the list Nate and I had made during our house-walk. And now, a deck is about to be born outside our “door to nowhere.”

Since our property is on an incline, the boards will be 6 feet off the ground and in need of solid underpinnings, 4 X 4 posts set in 42” of concrete.

Almost immediately today the workmen ran into trouble. A foot below the surface, their tools hit a mysterious concrete barrier. Trying to dig it up proved futile, as did breaking through it.  So the men had two options.

One was to set shorter posts into the holes, hoping the new concrete would sit firmly on the old. The other was to reconfigure deck plans enough to relocate the holes. Eventually they decided that taking a chance on a wiggly foundation was a bad idea, and they rearranged the plans to where they could dig new, deep holes instead. A quality structure depends on a sure foundation.

In one sense that’s what Mary is doing with the misery of chemotherapy. She’s building the firmest foundation possible toward good health. She could have chosen a short-cut, skipping chemo and hoping the surgery she had would be enough to keep cancer away.

Instead she made the more difficult decision with a higher emotional and physical price tag. All of us who love her are exceedingly thankful. The firm foundation she’s building (requiring 18 infusions) will yield the strongest result.

Someone else who sacrificed absolutely everything to build a firm foundation was Jesus Christ. His goal wasn’t physical health but spiritual health, making a way for us to become righteous through him. And there’s never been a higher price to pay than the cross. As a result, we can base our faith on him with rock-solid confidence it will never wobble. His foundational promises are actually what Mary is standing on daily as she lays her own groundwork toward good health with 6 months of chemo.

And not too long from now, I hope she’ll find herself relaxing on a new, wiggle-free, firmly-founded deck.

“God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his’.” (2 Timothy 2:19)

Praising and Praying with Mary

1. Praise that the chemo infusion today (#2) had less wait-time, and blood counts were still in acceptable ranges.
2. Pray blood counts will stay high enough to receive infusion #3 next week, completing the first round of six.
3. Pray against infection as white blood cells continue to drop.
4. Pray against nausea, which was a struggle today.