All of us have been encouraged by the reports of literally thousands praying for Nelson and his family. It’s the most powerful thing any of us can do for him.

In addition to that, many have asked, “What can we do to help?” And suddenly multiple packages have begun arriving at our apartment complex, mostly things to help us set up housekeeping in our little apartment. Though a few days ago it was completely empty, now it’s beginning to look like home.

My nephew Luke loaned us furniture along with his trailer to haul it from his house to Rochester, an 80-mile ride. (He also let us stay at his house until we could find a place.)

YWAM friends Mike and Judy drove 100 miles from their home in northern Minnesota, to help us move. With Luke’s help, they loaded his trailer and towed it an additional 80 miles to our apartment. They carried it all inside, put together a couple of Ikea items, drove the 80 miles back north to return the trailer, and then did the last 100 miles to get home in the middle of the night – all with good cheer and the joy of the Lord.

Yesterday the landlord of our apartment complex said, “Come to my office. There’s a roomful of boxes for you here.” And suddenly it’s Christmas in May. We stand amazed.

But the gifts haven’t been limited to material things. Yesterday we met with a world renown doctor who is an expert in three areas: radiology, oncology, and lung cancer. He will be the “head honcho” over what happens to Nelson in coming days, dictating treatment along with his team of other specialists.

This doctor gave us a piece of good news that had us all rejoicing. Nelson’s MRI of his brain revealed no sign of cancer there. To that we shouted hallelujah! And the doctor was pleased to meet Nelson and his family, since all of us attended the meeting.

In 28 appointments over the last 5 days (doctors, nurses, labs, tests), no one has mentioned Covid and they’ve encouraged all of us to attend everything, even if Will is fussing. They understand how much Nelson has to live for and want to make that happen.

But…

today the all-important biopsy took place when they removed the center of an infected lymph node, poking Nelson 9 times in his neck. As Dr. Oliver said, “Without the tissue, there’s no issue.” Determining the source of the cancer’s origin is critical, because that will dictate treatment.

As we were talking about that today, the phone rang. It was one of the doctors letting us know that the labs done on the fluid that was extracted from Nelson’s lung showed lung cancer. But worst of all, his cancer is Stage 4. This difficult news has taken all day for us to absorb.

The renown doctor told us not to Google “Stage 4 lung cancer,” because we’d only find bad news. “And,” he said, “Google doesn’t know about all the new meds and treatments we have here at the Mayo Clinic.” So we continue to follow the doctors’ lead, knowing they know more about all this than we do. And we’re praying for a miracle.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)