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What lies ahead in 2007?
Every New Year's Eve, Jeseca and I pray from 11:55 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. to thank God for all that He has done in the passing year and to pray for the new year. Last year we prayed that God would take away her cancer, among other things. That didn't happen, but I imagine the other things did as a result of her having cancer...closer relationship with God...more prayer...more study...more reliance on His every word and provision. This year is different. Everyone is asleep now. We prayed together with the boys before they went to bed, beginning a new tradition with them, but there will be no prayer at midnight tonight. Jes isn't doing very well. And so I wonder, what lies ahead in 2007... For the past 3+ years, I have been to every radiation and chemotherapy treatment my wife has had to endure; I have been there for every procedure and office visit; and I have seen the hand of God work miracles. What began as cancer of the tonsil spread to 30+ lymph nodes in her neck and throat, and her liver. Through the best oncologist we know, and a fantastic surgeon, God eliminated the cancer in her tonsil, neck and throat. Since then, though, her liver has become one massive tumor; her chest and lungs are rapidly being overrun; and her left eye is in jeopardy again (having already gone through one round of radiation), this time with a tumor growing from the top-inside corner of her eye to beneath it. She has been through six or seven chemotherapy drugs, some of which were entirely experimental and had no history of working on her type of cancer. They didn't work. Liver transplant is not an option, nor is surgery on the liver; both will kill her, they say. Her system has become so fragile. And because none of the conventional chemo treatments are effective, there really isn't a systemic approach we can take. Throughout all of this, God has shown himself strong in our lives. He has dealt with every care we have, and has given us the opportunity to show our two young boys how amazing God is in the midst of trials and challenges. We believe more than ever that God is an awesome God. He has proven Himself. All there is left to do is wait for Him to do what no one else can. And I pray that He will come quickly, because time is short. As for my golf game in '07, Jeseca blessed me with a membership at a local golf club. Now I can work on my short game every day and begin to lower my scores. I am also reshafting my irons with X-100s, have a new putter, will buy a new sand wedge, and hope to find the right combination of shaft strength, torque and launch angle for my driver. God willing... As midnight approaches, I want to finish with this: As I prayed over Jes a few minutes ago, telling God that our hope is in Him alone, Jeseca awoke and said, "Don't forget to praise Him. He deserves all of that." It reminded me of a story Jeremy Camp told our church congregation 10 years ago; about how his wife died of cancer, singing with her head and hands lifted up to God. I'm blown away. How does she do that? I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth...my wife loves God more than her own life...and she loves me next. So, I will praise Him. He is deserving. Happy New Year, everyone! And to God be the glory! JG Labels: Jeseca's Fight Against Cancer
Christmas Eve
It's beyond words that Jesus came to be born in a manger underneath the stars He created. I looked up at those stars tonight after the Rock's Reason service and could only smile in unbelief. I heard David Jeremiah speak today about Jesus' fulfillment of prophecies. He stated that the odds of Jesus fulfilling just eight prophecies would be 1 to 100 million million. To give you an idea of how large that number is, he said you would have to pick the only marked coin in a stack of coins the size of Texas and three feet deep......on the first try! But Jesus fulfilled dozens more prophecies, e.g., He was a son of Abraham, a son of David, was born in Bethelehem, born of a virgin, how He was to die, what He would say when He was dying... If you're honest with yourself and do your due dilligence, you can't escape the truth that Jesus is exactly who He said He is...God. Thank you, God, for sending your Son, Jesus, into this world to give us a chance at eternity with You. We didn't deserve it, but we are so thankful.
Off to El Hongo Prison
Today has been interesting. I was supposed to help with a prison outreach team this weekend, or what I thought would be only this Saturday. Instead, I've been asked to speak at a maximum-security, but high-tech prison in the mountains of Baja California called "El Hongo." This comes at a time when I really don't feel comfortable leaving Jes and the boys, let alone heading to another country. It appears God is trying to stretch me out a bit. We come back tomorrow at 4 p.m., and I will be anxious to get home. I'll let you know how it goes...JG
Strange things happening
Here it is just a day after I successfully delegated away all but one project at work......I told my department that I would be taking the next several weeks off of work last Friday, as it looked like the beginning of the end for Jeseca......she broke down into tears and admitted that she didn't think she was going to make it. The pain is too much to bear. There are absolutely no options for treatment. And she was no longer motivated to fight it. But there has been a dramatic turn of events. Where every night came with pain, now there is none. Her liver has softened; it was rock hard. Best of all, she had an "overwhelming" sense as she approached a local supermarket today that she has been healed. Whoooooohooooooooo!!!!!! I don't really know what else to say. Last week we were preparing ourselves for the worst. Tonight we're praising God for doing the impossible! We're gonna wait to tell the world about it for a few days, and probably go in to see our oncologist and have him take a look, but for now, we are overjoyed with the possibility that God has shown Himself strong and brought us through! Man, He's good! JG Labels: Jeseca's Fight Against Cancer
One door closed, still looking up
We found out a day or so ago that our insurance won't cover a trip to Santa Monica for the trial treatments. It's a relief, to a certain extent. It's also an answer to prayer, as we've been asking God what to do. I've felt for the past couple of months that God will not share His praise with anyone or anything else. Not Isagenix, although it has helped to better Jeseca's life. Not chemotherapy or any radiation treatment. These only treat the symptoms. No, it will only be God who completely heals her, and He will deserve all of the credit. So we are down to the decision of whether to seek Him in Mexico at the Oasis of Hope ( an alternative treatment center with a concentration on Christian principles) or here at home. The Oasis of Hope offers 2-3 weeks of natural treatments, solitude, and a good soaking of the Bible and prayer. But it comes with a $18,000 price tag, all out-of-pocket. We don't have the money, so unless God sells a couple of cows, we'll be praying here in San Diego. Time appears to be getting shorter, but we balance what she goes through with the promises of God, words He has actually spoken to us through the Bible, in our hearts, and through other people, and we wait for Him to come through. He will, we are sure of that. We just hope it will be soon. JG Labels: Jeseca's Fight Against Cancer
The Real Superman
Today was Everen's 8th birthday. We had a great 2-day celebration with him. I can't believe he's been with us for eight years! It is amazing to see how much he has grown over the past few years; to see how much he has matured and grown to love God. His Sunday School teacher told me today how special Everen is, how much he knows about God, and what a great job we are doing in raising him. I couldn't have been prouder. Nothing matters more to us than establishing the foundation to the relationship our boys have with God. And I pray they won't abandon it as I did when I got older. Part of his birthday celebration included a surprise home-screening of Superman Returns. Christian loves Superman -- continuing to claim as he has for the past couple of years that he is Superman -- and since Jes and I saw it when it came out in theaters, we knew it would be okay to see if we fast-forwarded through the more intense scenes. So we watched it together, and again it fascinated me that the story is so metaphoric of Jesus. In fact, I used the movie to tell the boys how amazing He is; that He is the real Superman. You really can't escape it, either. Superman is his father's only son, sent to Earth to save its people from evil and destruction. He does more miraculous and supernatural things than you can count. Then, knowing that doing so will destroy him, he chooses to lift and send into orbit a kryptonite-laden rock the size of Texas. If you've seen the movie, before he heads to the bottom of the ocean, he flies skyward to spend some time in the Sun, which gives him power. (The sun is light...God is Light...time in the sun...time with God. Like I said, it all follows The story line.) And for the icing on the cake, when he sends the kryptonite island off to neverland, as he collapses just outside Earth's atmosphere and falls toward Metropolis, he strikes a pose in the form of a cross. Now he doesn't die and come back to life, mind you. And you have to get past the nonsense of his having a baby with Lois Lane out of wedlock some five or six years before. In the end, though, you have to wonder how or why Hollywood would put this type of imagery in a movie about a comic book superhero. On the other hand, nothing can ever come close to the story of Jesus. For the entirety of His life, He predicted that He would die and how. He walked toward Jerusalem knowing that the cross awaited Him. When Judas approached Him in the Garden of Gethsemane with the Roman guards, He stood to meet them. And when they asked for Jesus of Nazareth, He said, "I am He," and the entire mob fell to the ground at the sound of His voice. Superman had to be patterned after Jesus. There's no other explanation. Jesus stood in front of the "bullets." Jesus came to save the world from its sin. Jesus was beaten beyond recognition for me and for you. And Jesus rose from the dead so that you and I could live with God for all of eternity. Unbelievable. Jesus is the real Superman. Never forget it. JG
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© 2006-2008 Jon Graves. All rights reserved. |
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