Category Archives: Learning from our past

Blind Trust

Posted on by

Today while driving from southwest Michigan to Illinois, I paid close attention to the signs: route 94 to the Indiana Toll Road to the Dan Ryan Expressway to Lake Shore Drive to Michigan Avenue to my destination in the Loop.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe closer I got to downtown Chicago, the greater the importance of trusting the road signs. If I used a natural sense of direction instead, I couldn’t have gotten where I wanted to go.

One spot on the route became particularly tricky. The goal was to get from the Dan Ryan (on the west) to Lake Shore Drive (on the east). Though my brain wanted to make a right turn, west to east, the signs said, “Stay left.” The only way to successfully make the transition was to blindly trust the directions.

Chemo confusionMy reason for the trip was to spend the day with Mary as she endured her third infusion treatment. As it turns out, chemotherapy goes better with a little blind trust, too. She had to surrender to the instructions, even when they made no sense.

For instance, when the hospital staff said, “Doing a blood draw will be a help,” it was only later, after the results, she learned they couldn’t have proceeded with chemo unless the counts had been high enough. And when killer-poison was being dripped into her veins they said, “This will extend your life.” Only blind trust will cause her to believe that.

Our spiritual lives require a bit of blind trust, too. When he says the trials that weaken us will make us stronger, it seems he’s directing us up the wrong ramp. Or when we hear, “The person who loses his life for my sake will find it,” we scratch our heads and say, “Huh?”

photo(5)Maybe the key to all of these “blind” situations is to look at who or what is being trusted. Have the road signs been put up by way of accurate maps? Has the chemo staff been well trained? Is our God trustworthy?

If all the answers are yes, then blind trust is the way to go. The only way.

“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise that when fatigue sets in after chemo, I have the freedom to rest.
  2. Other than nausea and fatigue, praise that I haven’t experienced any of the many other side effects of chemo.
  3. Pray that the new nausea medicine will work this time.
  4. Praise for a week off chemo next week; pray that blood counts will rise again.

So Much Good

Posted on by

Today when I asked Mary for her choice of prayer requests for tonight’s blog, she paused. “You know,” she said, “I can’t think of a single request. Only praises.”

Beach bums.Of course some of her requests from recent days are still relevant, but she had no new ones. “I have so much to be grateful for,” she said. At the time we were sitting on a Michigan beach under blue skies enjoying 85 degrees.

I said, “Maybe you’re all about praises because cancer has rearranged the way you look at things, at everything.”

Mary agreed. “It’s so easy to take life’s good things for granted. Cancer changes that. Nothing can be assumed after that, not even the small things.”

It’s the old conundrum of not appreciating what we have until we’ve lost it. In one sense, Mary’s lost something important: good health. But as we talked, we realized she’s already gained more than she’s lost. After all, the only thing on her mind today was the many ways she felt like praising God.

“Ok,” I said. “Let’s list them.”

She jumped right in. “I praise God for a husband who has insisted I learn to say ‘no’ to people. It has always gone against me to say no, but during this season, especially after I start chemo next week, I know it’s the right thing to do.”

She went on. “I praise the Lord that my adult children and my grandchildren want to be with me, with us. After watching them rally around as they have for the last 2 months, I’ll never again take them or their love for granted.”

She continued. “I praise God for the cards, letters, and gifts that keep coming in! And the best part is that time and time again, exactly the right encouraging word arrives, just when I need it most. It’s God doing that, I’m sure.”

As I scribbled down what she was saying, she kept going. “I’m thankful for my new car and for driving privileges. After totaling my old one in an accident just before my diagnosis, we didn’t shop for another one, since I might not have been well enough to drive it. But here I am, driving again and enjoying it more than ever.”

And there was more. “I praise God for this beautiful summer day and time to sit in a beach chair, right in the middle of the busiest week I’ve had in a long time. Even this day is programmed with wedding planning and errand running, but for the moment, being on this beach is a balm to my soul.

It's all good.“Even the popsicles Stina brought to the beach just now were a wonderful treat. I don’t know what life will be like during 6 months of chemo, but today I want to praise God for these last weeks when I can honestly say I’ve had more good days than bad. I’ve decided,” she said, “that from here on I’m going to work at appreciating what I do have, rather than what I don’t.”

….a good philosophy for us all.

“Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven.” (James 1:17)

No requests today!

Bible Study

Posted on by

Back in the 1940’s when Mary and I were young, our mom, a Christian, would love to have studied the Bible with other women, but this kind of organization didn’t exist apart from adult Sunday school classes. These days, women have a plethora of weekday Bible studies from which to choose. Beginning in the 1950’s, organizations like Bible Study Fellowship and InterVarsity began springing up in response to women’s growing thirst for more of God’s Word.

Winnetka Covenant ChurchI remember well the first of these Bible studies I attended. It was 1978, and though it didn’t meet at my church, the point was simply to dig into God’s Word together (several hundred of us) without worrying about different denominations. Mom lived directly across the street from that church and invited Mary and I to sign up for the study, offering to care for our babies while we attended.

Those several years were the beginning of “habitual” Bible study for Mary and me. By that I mean we learned so much, we couldn’t wait to begin each next session and dove into our weekly homework with gusto. After we’d been through all the lessons offered by that group, we moved to another one and studied further, making good friends along the way.

Fast-forward to yesterday. Mary experienced something she described as “so wonderful I could hardly stand it!” She had the deep satisfaction of returning to a Bible study group she’d been part of for 25 years, though not the last two.

This particular branch of Community Bible Study has over 300 weekly attendees, and Mary began attending in the 1980’s. After being a small group leader for several years, she took a position as a senior leader, leading the leaders. It was that special group she visited yesterday, 30-some women who know Mary well and who’ve prayed without ceasing since her cancer diagnosis.

As Mary said, “Bible study is always meaningful, but when you do it with other women for years on end, you bond like family. Being with them again was thrilling!”

CBS Leaders.In the presence of these “family members” yesterday, she said she looked from face to face and just drank them in, grateful for each one. “Anyone can study the Bible,” she said, “but hearing what other women are learning, and spending time praying with them causes deep friendships to develop. A group Bible study is far more than just studying.”

Yesterday the women prayed with Mary, and as she left 30 minutes later to keep her next commitment, she told me she “couldn’t contain her joy and in the car spoke to God out loud,” thanking him for all the years with these dear friends, and the great bonus of 30 minutes yesterday.

Surely it pleases God any time we huddle over his Word, and he rewards us with knowledge and understanding. But when we study with others, his extra gift is the rich fellowship that results.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man [or woman] sharpens another.”  (Proverbs 27:17)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise for women friendships and today’s current Bible study
  2. Praise for time with family tonight
  3. Pray for her to be Spirit-led through this busy week