Category Archives: Hearing from God

Stony Obstacles

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The incredible details of Easter are still floating around in my head today. Each year there’s much to think about, because familiar Scriptures have the ability to make us notice one thing one year and another thing the next.

Women to the tombThis year our pastor mentioned something I’d never thought about, despite hundreds of readings through the Easter story. Jesus apparently rose from his dead state some time before sun-up that Sunday morning, leaving his tomb shortly thereafter. But three women who had dearly loved him began walking to the cemetery/garden “just after sunrise,” carrying costly spices and perfumes to anoint his badly battered body.

As they got closer, they began discussing a possible obstacle to their mission: would they find anyone to roll the large stone away from the entrance? Though they didn’t have an answer, they kept going.

As I sat in church on Easter, I wondered about the rest of us. We all come up against obstacles as we try to get to Jesus. But are we as forward-moving and determined as these women? Or do we say, “I know this obstacle is too big for me to move, and I don’t see anyone else available to move it, so I guess I can’t make it to Jesus.”

Last weekend I thought of the many obstacles Jesus encountered on his walk toward the cross, beginning with his intense discouragement in the Garden of Gethsemane just before being arrested. His enemy, Satan, was working overtime to derail the plan of salvation. And Satan still works daily to keep us from that plan and the Lord who established it.

As we walk toward Jesus, the devil puts obstacles in front of us to hold us back, just as the heavy stone sealing Jesus’ tomb would have kept the women away. In our Mary’s case, cancer is the obstacle, and the tempter is hoping she’ll be unable to get close enough to Jesus to maintain her strong testimony of his sufficiency. Since she’s made her faith public and it is encouraging many to walk toward Jesus, he is anxious to discredit her. It’s possible her agonizing decision about chemotherapy was made all the more difficult by this enemy of all Christians. He’d rather isolate her in defeat.

The three women in Scripture didn’t let the obstacle of an immovable stone stop them from proceeding toward Jesus anyway, and Mary hasn’t let cancer keep her from him, either. Actually, she’s been walking toward him with more resolve than ever, tough decisions and all.

Empty TombSalome, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and our Mary are all fine examples of what to do when obstacles come between us and the Lord: trust him to figure out how to move them out of the way.

“They saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.” (Mark 16:4)

Mary’s Prayer Requests

  1. Praise for a good meeting with Rush Hospital oncologist today
  2. Praise that weight was up a couple of pounds on the hospital scale
  3. Praise for friends who’ve signed up for the Pancreatic 5K Walk
  4. Continued request for clarity on where in Chicago to have chemo

 

New Hair

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???????????????????????????????Back in the 1960’s, I bought myself some fake hair. Junior year in college was an especially busy time, and the long “falls” that were popular then (think ponytails) moved hairdos away from high-maintenance curlers to insta-ready coiffures.

The “tails” could be worn long or curled around the top of the head for up-do’s. Many a morning I washed just my bangs, added the fake hair and went from wake-up alarm to classroom in 10 minutes flat.

???????????????????????????????As a newlywed I expanded my hair inventory with a pixie-style wig, a tight, cap-like affair that shortened my prep time even further.

Wigs can be a time-saving tool or, as in Mary’s case, a weapon against letting cancer dominate. Veterans of cancer are familiar with the radical ups and downs of treatment, its physical symptoms and its emotions. Mary has sampled some of that this week, feeling hopeless on Monday but hopeful on Tuesday.

Monday afternoon, in the middle of that deep low, she and Bervin walked into a wig shop near Mayo Clinic.  It’s a place that doesn’t  just sell wigs. The staff there provides gentle expertise and conversational comfort to each customer, well aware that none of them want to be there.

Though Mary had planned ahead of time to shop that afternoon, Monday wasn’t the right day for it. As she put it, “I couldn’t even look at the wigs without crying. The whole thing overwhelmed me, and we had to leave.”

Getting startedTuesday, however, was a different story. After the medical encouragement they’d received at the clinic, Mary wrote about “Wig Shopping, Part II.” “I praise the Lord I was able to put on a skullcap today and try on wigs. As I sat in the styling chair and listened to the Christian music playing, I was reminded of God’s presence being everywhere, even in a wig shop!”

We Christians don’t doubt God’s statement that he will always be with us. He said he’d never leave us, and we believe him. But after a down-day like Mary’s Monday, he knows we need a fresh reminder. And he brought it to Mary in the form of worship music just as she was muscling through a new and unwelcome experience. Our Creator has all kinds of ways to let us know he’s close at hand, and his timing is always spectacular.

Bervin's choiceMary and Bervin walked out of the wig shop with “new hair” for Mary, should she need it during her chemo. She said, “I let Bervin pick it out, and it’s pretty fluffy. I’ll definitely have ‘big hair’!”

The Lord said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)

 

 

Mary’s Prayer Requests

  1. For wisdom to know which Chicago hospital to use for chemo
  2. For improvement in food absorption that will lead to weight gain
  3. Praise for a good blood test result today, indicating no metastasis
  4. Praise for safe travel back and forth to Minnesota

Making Plans

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Checking the listMary has always been well organized. She’s on top of her calendar, and despite having her “fingers in a lot of pies” (as they say), she’s never made a sticky mess of any of them. Her lists are drawn up well in advance, and she enjoys checking them off. She creates practical plans and isn’t forgetful, never the type to say, “I forgot what I came in this room to get.”

That’s why her cancer journey has been so frustrating. She can’t plan. She had no warning that yesterday would be the draining day it was, which made its impact all the greater. But she also didn’t know how much brighter today would be.

The nationally famous, very busy Dr. Truty was part of this day at Mayo’s, meeting with Mary and Bervin for a post-op analysis and progress report. All the news was good, and he declared her Whipple surgery a complete success. She is healing well, and the feeding tube, no longer an irritant, is doing its job.

IMG_3581But Dr. Truty didn’t stop there. To quote Mary’s text: “He really helped us put things in perspective. He agreed that pancreatic cancer is aggressive, but said from everything he’s seen so far, we shouldn’t look at it as hopeless.”

And it was as if a window opened and spring breezes blew winter’s darkness right out. As for Mary’s decision about whether or not to choose chemotherapy, the doctor helped with that, too. She wrote, “He thinks with chemo I can look forward to good days and probably years. He’s a positive guy for sure!”

So she has decided chemo is in her near future and has committed to the doctor’s aggressive treatment program. She also said that since she won’t have to start for another week or so, she’ll get to celebrate Easter while still feeling pretty good. She said, “The Lord knew I needed that. It’s a gift, and an answer to prayer.”

After Easter, Mary and Bervin will put her list-making to valuable use as they meet with oncologists at three Chicago hospitals. They’ll get to choose where she’ll receive her treatments over the next 6 months, and Dr. Truty made some practical recommendations, persuading them it was ok to transfer their medical trust to a facility other than Mayo Clinic.

When Mary and Bervin set out for Rochester this last weekend, Mary had one of her lists with her, this one with four “to-do’s” on it: (1) meet with the oncologists, (2) meet with Dr. Truty, (3) decide yes or no on chemo, and (4) depending on her decision, maybe buy a wig. As they drove back to Chicago today, she had the satisfaction of checking off all four.

And tomorrow we’ll hear the up-and-down story of what it was like to shop for new hair.

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance.” (Proverbs 21:5)

Mary’s Prayer Requests

  1. Pray for God’s choice of a Chicago hospital/doctor to administer chemo
  2. Pray that both Bervin and Mary will keep their eyes off pancreatic cancer and on Jesus
  3. Praise for being able to get a wig today