Category Archives: Disease

Flashlight or Floodlight?

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Mary is a natural cheerleader. She encourages others in their pursuits and celebrates their successes with them. I remember how much her cheering meant to me when I began blogging years ago. Despite my uncertainty of both the process and my ability, she urged me forward and became a faithful reader.

Tonight, based on last night’s blog about her future uncertainties, I’m posting her favorite of the 1374 posts on this site. She often quotes from this one, because the principle cited is a guiding light straight from Scripture. It was written on 9/3/09:

JackWhen our dog Jack and I take our late night walk through the neighborhood, tree-lined streets can be inky black. I always grab a flashlight, because without it, we’d walk into parked cars and yard fences trying to find our way.

Most of our flashlights are the dollar store variety. Their circle of light is small and often inadequate, although a little light is better than none. Then there’s the heavy flashlight with the powerful halogen bulb. When I carry that one, I feel guilty for producing a swath of light that spills into the privacy of people’s living rooms. It’s a floodlight in a tube.

Last night when Jack and I walked, my cheap flashlight was flickering with weak batteries, casting only a faint yellow glow in front of us. This was irritating since my light would only shine as far as the next spot my foot would land on and no further.

Scripture gives us a word picture of this exact situation. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105) When walking along life’s path, I crave a peek down the road, into my future, preferring a floodlight to a flashlight or a lamp.

But God is the only one who can see all the way down the road. Because of that, it seems sensible to leave the darkness and uncertainty of what’s ahead, up to him. He’ll light it up when we need to see it. Meanwhile, he hands us the lamp of his Word. He says, “One step is enough for now. Walk into that circle of light in front of you, and let me worry about what’s ahead in the dark.”

Digital StillCameraLast night Jack offered the perfect example of why we ought to take God’s advice on this. He stepped in front of my flashlight’s beam, which suddenly cast his own black shadow directly in front of him. He startled, jumped to the side and searched for the dark villain he’d just seen, but the shadow had disappeared. The walk goes better if he stays behind the light and follows where it leads.

And I guess that’s good advice for the rest of us, too.

“Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139:12)

Mary’s Prayer Requests

  1. To patiently follow God’s light into an unseen future
  2. To gain weight; praise for the first taste of meat since March 16!
  3. Praise for a good day with visits from two prayer partners

Party Time

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Night skyGod gives each of his children gifts, everything from a new day to a good night’s sleep. He gives relationship gifts like love and harmony, and physical gifts like homes, food, and security. He gives the gifts of opportunity, confidence, and freedom. He gives providential meetings, coincidences, and something we call happenstance. And there are others.

He also gives spiritual gifts, at least one to each of us. When we dedicate them to his purposes, he usually gives us more.

My sister Mary has used her spiritual gifts to benefit others, and as a result she’s been given many, one of which is hospitality. For as long as I can remember she’s been the hostess-with-the-mostess, happy to welcome people in. Her hospitality also goes out, in the form of food, flowers, gifts, and hours of service to anyone in need. Whenever a list is circulated asking for sign-ups, Mary’s name is on it.

Dinner...One of her (and Bervin’s) regular in-house gigs has been to invite their own grown-and-gone children back for dinner once a week. Naturally those living at a distance can’t make it, but for all those local, the welcome mat is out. Table talk is lively, and the evening ends with group games. The single guys appreciate a well-balanced meal, and the girls profit from watching a pro at work.

Several of my Chicago-based grown children have been on that regular guest list too, and I’ve appreciated Mary’s extra motherly care of them from my post in Michigan.

Catch PhraseThe week Mary was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (mid-February), this group of 20-and-30-somethings had come over as usual, gobbling up pork roast, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, corn, tossed salad, and apple pie. Afterwards it was girls-against-the-boys playing the word game “Catch Phrase,” and Mary participated with her usual enthusiasm. That dinner, though, was her last hostessing for a while, since her focus was then pulled to hospitals, doctors, tests, and surgery.

Yesterday, thankful to be back in her own Chicago kitchen and feeling a bit better, Mary hosted a dinner for this same group of “kids”.

Dinner timeWhen I asked if she might be overdoing it she said, “It was so much fun setting the table again.” Not too many post-op patients are willing to make a meal for 10 big eaters. In God’s economy, however, when we use our gifts, we experience delight, not drudgery. Mary couldn’t wait to get at it.

photo(110)The guests ate heartily of Mary’s spaghetti casserole, but of course Mary didn’t get even one bite. Surely it’s difficult cooking for others without sampling, especially when your taste buds are calling loudly. But her body can only handle liquids by mouth and formula by feeding tube (see back pack). If all goes well, next week she might be given permission to introduce soft foods to her personal menu,

maybe even a bit of spaghetti casserole….. after it’s been enhanced by a blender.

“Be… hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.” (Titus 1:8)

Mary’s Prayer Requests

  1. Pray for weight gain (still stuck at 109)
  2. Pray for Mary to “fix her eyes on Jesus” more and more
  3. Praise for the blessing of Moody Church (and its radio broadcast this morning)
  4. Praise for a good weekend visit with Marta and her safe travel from Arkansas and back

Into the Storm

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A few weeks ago, I was driving from southwest Michigan around the bottom of the lake, heading for Chicago. I appreciated the good traveling weather, sunny and dry, knowing that winter winds and moisture funneling down the lake (known as lake-effect blizzards) can take drivers by storm, pun intended.

Just ahead...As I whizzed along appreciating the 70 mph speed limit, an ominous sight came into view, a swath of stormy-looking clouds hovering directly over my route. On more than one occasion at that same point in the trip, I’ve driven from dry weather into a snowstorm that was akin to blasting through a white curtain into another world.

As I continued on, I thought of how we can often see other types of storms coming to our lives, too. We might know ahead of time we’re going to experience a rough struggle, but circumstances dictate we have to head into it anyway.

Major surgery is one of those.

Although doctors usually give minimal detail about the suffering a patient will encounter post-op, we begin finding out as soon as we’re in the recovery room. And it doesn’t always get better from there. In some cases (like Mary’s) the misery hangs around for quite some time.

In hindsight, though, Mary couldn’t very well have said no to this surgical storm. Now that she’s gone through it, her prognosis is a thousand times better than if she’d opted out. And just like a lake-effect blizzard, the turbulence she’s currently experiencing will end.

No life is free of stormy periods. Our son Lars used to live in San Diego, and when I asked when the weather would be best to visit he said, “Mom, it’s warm and sunny every day here.” I thought of our crazy Midwest weather with its variety of storms, and wondered if those Californians appreciate their sunshine as much as we do ours.

Operating roomAnd that’s the thing about storms like surgery and so many others. After spending some time “down and out,” it’s a thrill to get back to ordinary life. After bearing intense pain, it’s a blessing to have a feel-good day.

Mary and Bervin gratefully drove from Rochester back to Chicago yesterday to spend their first night at home in quite a while. And it was every bit as soothing as they’d hoped. Mary reported that today was nourishing in every way.

By the way, that day I drove into a crazy lake-effect storm, I had to grip the steering wheel tight, lean toward the windshield, and squint to keep from getting hypnotized by the wild snow. But once I came out the other side, I could sit back, loosen my grip, and drive calmly the rest of the way.

Into the stormMary, too, will come through her storm to face life with a new sense of tranquility and gladness. An ordinary “ride” will have become a supreme pleasure.

“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble… He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness.” (Psalm 107:28-30)

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1. Pray she’ll learn which foods work well and which don’t
  2. Pray for weight gain
  3. Praise for a good first day back home
  4. Praise for the encouraging cards/Scriptures in their waiting mail