I directed someone to My Blog yesterday and I realized that I have not written in quite some time. It is Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada, this is a perfect time to write an update. It probably won’t be a long post but as I sit down in front of the computer this early morning I am reminded of the powerful words from Psalms 100:4-5.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Thanksgiving is more than a day on the calendar. As those who follow Christ already know, living life with a thankful heart is how we should greet everyday day. Each day we should be Praising and Thanking God for His goodness. Are things always good? We know that they are not, we just have to look at the world today and see how upside down it is. But even with everything going on all around us and all over the world, we can always find things to be thankful for. Am I thankful that I had too much dessert last night while visiting friends, and now I am wide awake at 4AM? I am not thankful for that, but I am thankful that I have a computer, and technology to write another Blog Post. I am also thankful that in quietness of the early hours of the morning, I can spend time listening to worship music, thanking God for his goodness while looking at the amazing moon outside. I am also thankful that since it is 4AM, that all of you who are reading will forgive my grammatical errors. Even at 4AM I still have a sense of humor.
I want to give some updates as to where “The Journey” is at. Where does one start? I will start by saying that I Praise God that I have been given another day. Looking at the calendar I realize that two years ago this week is when I first started to feel the pain in my right side. Two years, the time has gone so very fast! It seems like just yesterday that I started feeling the pain. The last two years have been an amazing journey, A journey of learning about medicine, a journey of trusting, and a powerful journey of increasing my faith. Not only that, but Roxanne and I continue to shine the light of Jesus at all the appointments, and not just there but each day, with all those we interact with.
During these two years I have also learned to listen to the “nudging” of the Holy Spirit. If He wants me to talk to someone, encourage someone, pray for someone then I need to do it willingly, and without fear. I have also learned that “chance meetings” are many times not “chance meetings”. Some are “divine appointments”. I remember meeting a young couple at The Cross (Cross Cancer Institute) I still follow up with them, see how they are doing and pray for them. We can never underestimate the importance of divine appointments, and most times they are benefit to all parties. I will say it again be prepared for the “nudge” of the Holy Spirit. God has big plans for all of us.
My Face Book Friends know that I started doing a devotional “Live at 9:” when covid started. Twenty Nine months later I am still doing the calls, and from all the feedback I get they are still encouraging others. They also encourage me. When I think about it, I started doing the calls about 7 months before my diagnosis. During those 7 months I was increasing my faith, little did I know that “The Journey” was coming, So I encourage all of us to build our faith day by day, We never know when we will need it for ourselves or when listening and supporting others.
After all the earlier writing I will give you an update. My oncologist retired last week, and I ended up being his last patient. It was amazing to be able to talk about “things” other than health. One of my eye professionals is expecting a baby, so she will be off work for a while. Twenty Two months of cancer treatments, you almost take for granted everything will always remain the same. But it never is. I have briefly met my new oncologist, and the first words out of his mouth were, “Hi. I’m Matt”. I look forward to learning more about him as I continue my treatment.
All the Metastatic Sites, continue to reduce and/or are stable in size. I need to Praise God for that, I will never stop thanking Him. Storms may rage, but as Job said “I know my redeemer lives”. Vision, it has come a long way. Even as I type this I am doing so with out any reading glasses. I will say the 32 inch monitor we bought is really helping. But in saying that i can now read the paper and books with reading glasses. For over a year I was not able to read anything in print, other than the headlines in the paper. Small steps everyday. The vision fluctuates dramatically almost daily but overall improvement continues and again I praise God for that. That is the update on the health, other than saying I will have a number of treatments and updated scans before Christmas, and I am trusting that all the “lesions” continue to reduce. In writing this Blog I always said if I can just encourage one person then that is what I am supposed to do. When things feel overwhelming remember the words of Isaiah from chapter 43 and verse two.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. Isaiah 43:2”
There is one more thing that I need to be THANKFUL for while writing this post.. This week Roxanne and I will be celebrating 20 amazing years of marriage. I could write volumes about how amazing Roxanne is and how wonderful our marriage is. She is a gift from God and our marriage is far greater than I could have every hoped for. One thing we have always done is keep God at the head of our relationship. I have been so blessed to be married to Roxanne for the last 20 years, and I look forward to at least 30 more years. Happy Anniversary in advance Roxanne. Thanks so much for loving me and for being my best friend.
It is after 5AM now, and time to wrap up today’s post. I know that many of you who read this are outside Canada, but find time to be Thankful. For all of us, give thanks for the big things, the little things, and remember and be thankful that God loves you so much.
“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He gave His [One and] ]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 AMP
Thanks everyone for taking time to read this post, and I look forward to writing again in the future about the amazing things that is doing during This Cancer Journey. Take care everyone, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
The Retired Banker 