Posts Tagged With: cancer

Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 5, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 4

Last night I went to choir rehearsal for the Nativity Pageant. It’s a yearly event here in Knoxville, free to all who want to come As we rehearsed “O Come All You Unfaithful” by Lisa Clow and Bob Kauflin, I cried.

You’ve probably heard “O Come All Ye Faithful”, a more familiar carol. It’s a joyful, jubilant song calling us to worship the King of Kings, Jesus Christ the Lord.

In contrast, “O Come All You Unfaithful” calls the broken, the weary, the imperfect, those in pain to come to the Good Shepherd, who shows compassion on those in need. Our ability to come to the Lord is not based on our goodness or how put together we appear. Our coming to the Lord is based on his death and resurrection. We cannot be good enough.

Before Norm’s illness, I bopped along with plans for this holiday season. I did procrastinate, but no big issues. It did not take long for it all to flip on end: Things I enjoyed…cancelled, groups I led…handed off to another. My self sufficiency totally out the window, and I never know when my emotions will bottom out and tears will well up.

God’s faithfulness overrides my issues. Jesus Christ desires those who are unworthy to come to Him, He is worthy. Jesus Christ calls the unloved to come to Him, for He is the standard for unconditional love. Jesus Christ calls those who walk in darkness to come to Him, for He is the Light of the World. Jesus Christ calls the sinner to come to Him, for He is righteousness. Christ calls those who are lost to come to Him, He is the Way. Christ calls the sick to come to Him, He will rise with healing in His wings.

My Thanks: Jesus has provided all I need through his life, death and resurrection. He always intercedes for me.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;

But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:4-6

My Prayer: As Norm and I walk this road, I pray that we will be able to encourage and support those we meet who are in need. And that we will always pray and express gratitude for those who minister to us.

Rejoice: I rejoice that Jesus came to earth as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He took my sins and sorrow to the cross and paid the debt of my sin, in full.

Where’s the joy? Music, the upbeat and the songs that make me think of who Christ is. Music calms the troubled soul.

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Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 4, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 3

Norm is on the upside of the chemo cycle. Some of his college friends came for a few hours and he enjoyed his time with them, fortunately I like them too, so, a good day for all. It felt like a normal day. We laughed, we talked, we went out to eat.

But there is a shadow that hangs over the good days. He will suffer another round of chemo on Friday, and it will take time to recover from the treatment. I’m trying to take this one day at a time and rest in the reprieve, two more days…Jesus knows we have trouble living day to day.

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; for for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

Do not worry then, saying, “What will we eat?” or “WHat will we drink?” or “What will we wear for clothing?”

For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you

So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

I’ve never considered myself a worrier, and yet this illness of Norm’s sometimes has me tied up in knots. I really have no control over the outcome, but God does. I can be faithful to support Norm, provide his needs, encourage and pray. Sometimes the support is just listening. All else is in the hand of God.

Thanks: We had a good day today, full of joy and laughter.

Prayer: For Norm to continue to gain back some strength before his next round of chemo.

Rejoice: That God cares for us and knows all that we need. He is working in ways we cannot see.

Where’s the joy? The joy is knowing that God has all this in his hand.

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Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 3, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 2

Today, I had my husband back. Norm got up and moved around and joked with me. It’s a rare event since cancer entered our lives. I know he has a long way to go, but each day of respite is a delight.

Throughout this challenge, we have been supported, encouraged and prayed for by family and friends all over the US.

Before the diagnosis, Norm’s pain and overall body itching never stopped. He wanted to claw out of his skin. He was angry at God who could heal him, but chose not to. He knew people prayed for him, but in his mind, the prayers did no good. He walked in the darkness of pain and despair. Like a black hole, time seemed to stand still as he circled round and round without hope, closer and closer to the pit of absolute, overwhelming despair.

The prayers that Norm considered useless served as safety harnesses, holding him back from the pit, keeping him from giving up all hope. They not only kept him from falling, they pulled him back towards the light, eventually allowing him to see the light and restoring his hope. He recognized that the prayers lifted him up and that he was not alone in this walk.

Our prayers are powerful for those in need, piercing through the darkness, supporting the one who cannot see. A prayer at the right time delivers the mind and soul, drawing back the broken and feeble, who cannot survive on their own.

Thanks: I am grateful for family, friends, and those we do not know who have prayed and continue to pray for Norm and as we battle this cancer. I am also grateful for those who send kind thoughts and words of encouragement and support our way.

Prayer: Strength, wisdom, courage and hope as we continue this path God has chosen for us. Though tough days lie ahead, with the possibility of more despair, we pray that our hope does not diminish and remains near at hand.

Rejoice: Today, I rejoice that my husband had a day of hope and laughter.

Where’s the joy? It’s easier to be joyful when things go well. But we live in a world filled with broken people, and there will be times when things won’t go well. My joy is in the hope that is in Jesus Christ.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:22-39

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