Despite the harsh reality of his cancer, Nelson tries to live within it, according to Scripture’s instructions.

October 20, 2022

“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” (1 Peter 3:8) I was thinking of a verse for today, and here it is. I’ll try to live this one out today.

Sympathetic. Compassionate. Humble. Take every opportunity to be humiliated as a chance to grow in humility. Simple but hard.

When Mom and I went to my appointment at Mayo, the doctor said we don’t need to worry about stuff like my possible hernia but focus instead on the cancer, the main issue at hand. The medical community sees some road blocks to a speedy recovery… even with a genetic match for the treatment.

When looking intently at the problems of life, they seem to grow. Looking at solutions does the opposite. Faith grows.

October 21, 2022

It’s good to be together. Mom made a spaghetti meal for all of us, plus John Hartley. The baby boy slept through it, amazingly [jet lag], and it was really fun to be together.

Today is Friday, and the temps are supposed to reach as high at 75 by tomorrow. It will be nice to get a little more summer before we take the deep dive into the cold for good.

Overall, things are good, but I am still a little hung over from the news that the cancer will probably mutate and find a way around the drugs they’re using.

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“The Holy One says this: I restore the crushed spirit of the humble.” (Isaiah 57:15)

Nelson continues working on projects each day that have nothing to do with cancer, checking off his to-do list. But he was surprised today to hear, from two sources, that he may not live too much longer.

                                                            >>>>>>>>>>

October 19, 2022

I went online last night and found this portal that the Hawaii Bank guy didn’t mention, and it seemed like I could move money from there to here. Now, I don’t know the limits, but I started the process anyway. Maybe if that goes through, we don’t have to drive up to Minneapolis every day.

“The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be kept safe.” (Proverbs 29:25) That verse is one I’ve even worked up a whole message and preached on, but have I mastered it? Not at all. I fear what people will think on so many levels. And why is that?

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The role of a wife is SO important. I would never have bought this house without her encouraging me along. I wouldn’t have even cared enough to want to do it. To be honest, if life is just me, a sleeping bag and a few bucks is enough. I don’t think much beyond that is worth the effort.

But with a family to take care of, I want it to be better for them, and that makes it worth it. After all is said and done, my prayer, Lord, is that we get to close this thing on Wednesday as planned. I don’t care what I have to do between now and then.

The thing about prayer is that God does more than you ask or imagine. You have to be out there playing the field, but if you are willing and looking, he can do things you couldn’t have imagined.

On a different note, I got a follow-up call yesterday from a guy at the US Social Security office who wanted to work on finishing up my application for a disability benefit.

When he asked about my disability and heard me say “Stage 4 lung Cancer,” he told me I would definitely qualify and that the payout would be labeled a “compassion benefit.” It would also carry on for Annso and Will in my absence.

He didn’t come right out and say it, but thankfully, the benefit would continue even if I did not. What a wonderful thing, and for it, I’m very thankful. But it’s also sobering in another sense when statistically the world sees you as a man who will not be alive 5 years from now. Think about it. How would you feel if you knew that you would be gone within the next 5 years?

Later the same day, Mom and I went to a check-up at the Mayo Clinic. My Mom is the queen of questions and she kept on firing away at the doc.

One thing she asked was, “If the chemo meds have worked this good so far, can we expect them to keep working this way until the cancer is eventually totally gone?” We got more sobering news.

The doc said that in her experience, there will be a plane-ing off, then sometimes a turn before the cancer starts to grow again. But, at that point, we will come up with another plan. “Wait a second, what?”

The effect this info had on me was a strong reminder that I’m not out of the woods at all, that this kind of cancer is resilient and resistant to even the best treatment… and that most of the time, the medical community encounters some road blocks to a smooth, speedy recovery… even with a genetic match and some of the most advanced chemo treatment available.

Apparently, the ‘Match’ they found for me is not guaranteed to be the Silver Bullet I was hoping it would be. Hmmm. Once Mom and I were in the elevator talking about the meeting, I shared how I felt.

“Twice today, I was basically told by professionals that I won’t be around long.” Without skipping a beat, Mom said quickly, “But they’re leaving out the God-Factor.”

Yes! The God-factor! Of course, how could I forget that? With only science and medicine, we can go part of the way, but it’s faith in the Creator of all life that finally brings the ship ashore. Common sense and reason only take me part of the way. It’s faith that brings me home!

                            >>>>>>>>>>

“He guards the lives of his faithful ones…” (Psalm 97:10)

Nelson is happy that Ann Sophie, her mom and Will have returned safely to the apartment. Her dad is back also from a road trip across the country with a friend. So, next on the agenda is a house closing.

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October 19, 2022

Ann Sophie, Will, and Astrid came back from Germany last night, and I’m so glad they’re here again. They attended a memorial service for Annso’s grandmother, who passed away last week.

I’m reminded that I almost passed away earlier this year. But at 49 years old, I thought I had lots more time. It turns out I might have been right at the end without even knowing it. Was I ready if the end did come? I’d like to think so.

For now, I’m taking chemo meds every morning and every night, doing whatever I can to stick around as long as I possibly can, and the results are looking good. I have more to live for than ever before!

John Hartley (orange hat) and I are headed up to Bank of America in Minneapolis today to try and move some money from Hawaii to here, so we can close on the house. I blew it and didn’t have any checks for the First Hawaiian account and wrote one from an old account Annso had a few years back.

Good grief.

I’m a novice at this house closing stuff. I have never moved larger sums around like this and didn’t know about the daily limits and other fun stuff. Now I am learning.

We drive 2.5 hours round trip to make it happen. Then I will know what to do to get this whole thing wrapped up. How long will it take to get $50K moved from Hawaii to BA? We have 5 working days left before the closing next week.

Of course that’s just the exact amount of days we need. How stressful, but I’m learning. Today, in Annso’s little note (she left one for each day) she said, “I am thinking of all the projects you started and finished.” Then she has pictures drawn of the truck, the mopeds, and other ideas I had that came to fruition.

It’s so fitting that I would see that note today when I am honestly a little discouraged about this money problem. It could be a lot worse. I have to remind myself of that.

I thought originally there was some IRS tax form that I was supposed to fill out or the bank needed to turn in to report the movement of that amount of money. That was NOT the case, which I’m thankful for.

The problem was totally on my end, not theirs. It’s not that big a deal to drive up to Minneapolis every day for a week to get the money moved. I love how right when Annso heard it, she said, “Well, I thought maybe something like that would happen, but I know you will figure out a way to do it in time.”

No pressure, but that’s the best thing a wife can do for a husband to build him up. She’s super good at that. She knows just what to say to keep me moving in a positive direction.

(…to be continued)

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“My God will supply every need of yours.” (Philippians 4:19)