Being told that you have maybe several weeks to live is akin to that cold bucket of water thrown in your face. Being told that it really could be several month doesn't make the water less cold or much more tolerable. The assurance by a medical professional that if treatment commences immediately that you could live another year was about as comforting as it got in January of 2019. Not too bright a future for a guy who still had plenty to live for.
Turning the affair over to Jesus was the best action Ann and I could take. Being found under the umbrella of the prayer of the church's faithful was an unexpected peace filled experience. Never under estimate the power of the prayers of the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. Never under estimate the prayers you offer for others. They are very powerful.
One of the many blessing I received through having stage-four lung cancer has been my ability to sit quietly and listen to God. Just sit quietly and listen to His voice through His Word, from His physical creation, via the lyrics of contemporary Christian music, through the encouraging words of others and on and on. He does not limit himself to any one manner. For me, He is found any where and every where.
I have long loved Biblical prophesies and the study of the end times. Maybe my interest in this has been rekindled by the fact that not only do I have a ticket for the Train to Glory but I'm in the boarding line at the station. In any event, after finishing a book on this subject in which Heaven was discussed I was thinking about life beyond time.
Our garden has been producing a bountiful harvest for us this summer. For the past several weeks I spend hours each day, usually with Ann, sitting at our picnic table on our carport cutting peaches, plums or tomatoes for processing. I have always said that if God has a garden in Heaven, I hope I'm able to work in it. While I cut and skin and pit and dice the various fruits I listen to the Rich Mullins channel on Pandora. This channel produces a constant stream of contemporary Christian music and praise.
I have come to realize that God has given me a glimpse of Heaven on my carport. I'm working doing something that I love while listening and participating in the praise offered to the Creator of the Universe. What a blessing! A blessing that I may have missed if I hadn't been blessed by cancer and had been drawn closer to the One whose name is greater than cancer, Jesus!
