Posts Tagged With: hope

Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 10, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 9

Rough day. Norm wanted to come home, but the chemo levels had not reduced enough for him to leave the hospital.

He did so well before and on the chemo that I forgot the after effects that show up on Monday and Tuesday, the discouragement, the emotional let down, the weakness…I know on Wednesday he’ll start climbing out of the pit, but until then he needs an extra boost.

I am grateful for those people who are contacting him, wrapping him virtually in their arms with love and concern, praying for him to keep fighting the cancer. Knowing people are supportive goes a long way. I don’t know how anyone walks this road without the hope that is in Christ. This is a tough road.

I am thankful for the loving support of family, friends, and friends of friends that we do not know.

I pray that Norm will have stamina in body, heart and mind to weather this storm.

I rejoice that God has this all in his hand, even when I don’t sense it.

Where’s the joy? God sends people from all walks of life to encourage both of us, reminding us that he is always there.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23

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Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 9, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 8

Norm was alert enough today to take a few walks around his floor. While we walked we saw a lady, a fellow patient walking alone.

Norm went back to the room and I headed down to the cafeteria. As I exited his room, the lady walked by. I joined her as I headed to the door, but kept going with her instead of exiting. While we walked, she shared her story.

Like Norm, six months ago she was healthy. She danced ballet with a group that ministered in jails using song, dance and theater. She ate the right things, had an active lifestyle…all the good healthy things. But some cancers hit no matter how healthy you are. This one hit hard. It took time, doctors thought it was something else, tests and finally a trip to the ER discovered her cancer.

No one wants a diagnosis of cancer and the need for chemo therapy, radiation, or surgery. But a proper diagnosis will lead to the treatment necessary for healing, whatever one has.

I came away from this encounter thinking that all of us suffer in some way. It could be a broken relationship, illness, job insecurity, or lack thereof, addiction, failure…all of us struggle in some way, it’s the nature of our life on this world.

What we miss? We don’t have to struggle alone. God created us to live in community and he desires that we encourage one another along the way.

No matter where we are in our suffering, we can be an encouragement to another. It costs us nothing to give someone a genuine smile. It may be the encouragement one needs to keep trying.

A kind word goes a long way. The people who serve us in restaurants and stores, a kind word may give them the strength to keep going. That mom with a screaming kid doesn’t need your critical looks and snide remarks…I’ve been there…she’s already embarrassed.

A smile, a kind word, an act of kindness go a long way. If we take a moment to look outside our own box of struggles and show a bit of kindness to another, we will find our own burden a little lighter and perhaps get a spark of joy along the way.

I am thankful for the nurses and staff at UT Medical center floor 5West for their help, attention and kindness that they show to the patients and the families.

I pray for Norm, Donna, Tony and my new friend Cathy who are suffering with the surprise diagnosis of cancer, and enduring the treatments. I pray for their complete healing and strength to endure the treatments and wisdom for the doctors.

I rejoice that God gave us community so that we do not have to suffer alone.

Where’s the joy? Today, I found it in Cathy, a new friend with a great attitude.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

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Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 8, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 7

Today, that is a good question for me. It’s been a sad day, lots of tears. I think it’s just part of the ongoing concern. Norm’s doing fine in the hospital, everything is going as planned. He sleeps quite a bit as the chemo works in his body.

Tonight, I went with some family to see “The Christmas Carol”. It’s a well done production at the Clarence Brown Theater in Knoxville.

Before going, I went to my sister’s place. Her dog, Chester, greeted me and just stood there, allowing me to pet him. Then, when I sat down, he came and stayed by me. It’s as if he sensed something wrong, and that I needed a little extra love.

I am thankful for the staff at the hospital who are taking care of Norm tonight.

I pray for the strength, courage and wisdom to endure, for both Norm and me.

I rejoice that God has not forgotten us, and is with us throughout.

Where’s the joy? Tonight, it was having Chester come to be with me.

Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:19-23

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Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 8, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 6

I took Norm to the hospital for his fourth round of chemo. A month ago, I wasn’t sure he’d live. The last few times we’ve been to the hospital, he needed help to get inside to get help. Today, I watched him walk in, steady and sure, while I parked the car.

After the day of chemo, I returned home. I’m feeling drained. I sat and watched some Hallmark movies…Christmas ones of course.

I’m out of survival mode. The adrenalin rush is over. I feel like I’m in a marathon. At the start, there is adrenalin coursing through the body, making sure it’s a good start. At the end, well, the end is in sight and there comes another surge of adrenalin. But here, in the middle section, it’s just remembering to put one foot in front of the other and don’t fall down. Keep drinking water and taking in nutrients.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3

Thank you Lord for friends that come alongside to walk this road.

I pray for perseverance as we enter this middle section of treatment.

I rejoice that God has this all under control.

Where’s the joy? Norm walked into the hospital on his own, without any help.

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Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 6, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 5

Tomorrow we head back to the hospital for Norm’s brain chemo. He stays at the hospital for at least two days. We see evidence the chemo works. Norm has more energy than he had from August to October. He no longer tries to scratch his skin off. I am grateful for our medical community that works to remove the cancer, and those researchers who go to work each day in order to find a complete cure.

I’m taking joy in these days of reprieve. Three more months of chemo to go, but trying to take them one day at a time.

I am thankful for the medical community that stepped in to save Norm’s life.

I pray for the researchers to continue to discover more effective and less painful ways to battle cancer.

I rejoice that God is in control. He knows what I cannot see, and has a plan. “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.'” Jeremiah 29:11-13.

A lot of people quote this verse about the good plans that God has for their lives, they don’t realize that God said this to the people just before they went into 70 years of captivity in Babylon. I take comfort in this. Norm has nine more chemo treatments. He’s captive to the cancer in his body. But God still has a good plan for him, a future and a hope. It includes a promise that God will hear and God will be found.

Where’s the joy? Today, Norm and I had lunch with some friends of ours.

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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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Where’s the Joy?

Posted on December 2, 2024 by tricialathrop

December 1

Christmas comes with great joy and anticipation. The joyful narrative of Jesus’ birth, announced with the joyful words of the angels. “For unto us a child is born in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.” Children and adults sing joyful carols like “Joy to the World”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells” everywhere we go. Our eyes delight in the colors of the season, red, green, gold, silver and rich blues and purples, even the whimsical pink ornaments. We joyfully give and receive gifts.

It’s my favorite time of the year. But this year will be different.

One month ago, the doctor revealed that my husband, Norm, after months of testing, had the dreaded C-word. It’s an aggressive cancer that requires aggressive treatment, three rounds of chemo in the last four weeks.

In the last four months, we’ve seen plan after plan fall to the wayside. Norm’s trip to photograph canyons and mountains in the west, fell to the wayside as he grew weaker and weaker. Plans to go north and see the fall colors in Vermont and follow the peak colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway and all through the Smokies, vaporized as we searched for answers. Christmas plans to celebrate the holiday with our children and grandchildren won’t happen until his treatment is complete. Norm will miss our traditional holiday events, “The Christmas Carol”, a play we’ve seen for the last 30 years…except for the Covid years, The Nativity Pageant, the lighting of the town Christmas Tree. While I’ll be able to participate in some of these events, it will be without him.

Where’s the joy? For a time, I focused on the losses of missed events and family connections. I continue to watch my husband struggle in health and attitude. My faith is challenged, knowing God can miraculously remove the cancer from his body, but has chosen to allow Norm to go through the pain of chemo.

So this year for the Advent season, I decided to search for joy and to write each day. It’s an unknown path, with an unknown result and there may be days I miss.

A verse that keeps coming to mind during this journey: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

My thanks for today: From September to October, Norm endured test after test. Along the way, doctors recognized his need for answers. Each one had a part in getting the ball rolling and keeping at it until an answer was reached. The oncologist sent him immediately to the hospital, where they discovered the cancer had advanced faster than anticipated. I am grateful for the doctors, nurses and support staff at the University of Tennessee Hospital cancer unit. Their care and concern is far above what I expected. My husband is alive today because of the care and intervention of these doctors: Dr. Semeco, Dr. Hayes, Dr. Wheeler, and Dr. Cutrer.

Prayer: That God will miraculously remove the cancer from Norm’s body. But if he chooses not to, prayer that Norm will have the strength of body, mind and spirit to endure and let the chemo do it’s work against the cancer with minimal side effects. We have two friends who are also traveling the cancer journey at this time, Tony and Donna, that they will find healing and refreshing as they walk the path before them.

Rejoice: Jesus Christ came into the world to live as a human. He revealed the character of God in his words and action. He suffered and died on the cross to provide a way for us to experience a relationship with God. While he walked among the people, he had compassion and mercy for all who suffered He healed the sick, delivered the oppressed, declared and demonstrated the love of God for all humanity.

Where’s the joy? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16-17.

Could God have delivered Norm from the cancer miraculously? yes. Why didn’t he? I don’t know. This I do know, God loves Norm and has him in the palm of his hand.

Despite the circumstances, I can have joy because the God who created all things, loves Norm and loves me.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

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Reflections

Posted on December 2, 2022 by tricialathrop

I bought a towel that says “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, I am my mother after all.” My mother passed away last year, but her image lives on in each of her children…and in some of her grandchildren. Whether in physical appearance, behavior, or words, whenever we get together, at some point I think, “Wow. That is so Mom.”

At this time of year, we focus on Jesus as the baby in the manger. He limited himself to a human body, helpless and totally dependent on his parents for food, clothing, protection, and love. And like us, he grew up, experiencing all that the human life has to offer along with its joys and sorrows.

Jesus came to earth as the image of the invisible God, but mankind had become so hardened that they did not see the character of God. It had all been forgotten, set aside, lost in the day-to-day business of life.

When Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus replied, “Have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know me yet Philip? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say then, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9) Even the disciples struggled to see Jesus for who he really was.

Over the years, our distortions color our perceptions of God. Some of us see him as one who does not care, an indistinct being somewhere out there. Others see him as a cruel taskmaster, punishing us for all offenses. Some deny his existence altogether.

And yet, Jesus took on our form, our sinful and warped image, and reflected the image of a perfectly holy and merciful God. He had compassion on those who hurt. He grieved with those who were in despair. He healed all who came to him for help. He went out of his way to talk to the unlovely. He had courage to challenge the self-righteous. And finally, revealing the enormity of God’s love for us, he embraced our sins and took them to the cross, dying in our place.

Jesus came as the reflection of God, compassionate, caring, holy and righteous. He died the reflection of man, self-serving, corrupt and sinful.

Though evil in our world distorts our perceptions, through Jesus Christ, we can not only come to know the true God, we too can reflect the image of God to a lost and distorted world. We can care for those around us. We can offer hope for those in despair. We can share God’s love, because Jesus demonstrated his love for us on the cross.

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

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Transitions

Posted on June 26, 2014 by tricialathrop

We put our house on the market this week. 

I stand at the door, unsure of what waits on the other side. I didn’t think this door world come so soon. Opening a door is not new to me; transitions are a part of life but this one feels different.  

My first major transition came when I left the comfort of my Mom and went to kindergarten. Mom says that I came up with many reasons not to go, but off to school I went. There were good and bad days, but each year presented me with opportunities to learn and grow. 

I remember the excitement of going to college and then the apprehension when I waved goodbye to my parents and walked back to my dorm room. Surrounded by new faces and map in hand, I began the adjustment  to life away from home. Four years later I said goodbye to the comfort of college classes, friends and my parents bank account.

Could I make it on my own without my parents help? A new job, making my way through the maze of finances, time management, relationships…then the marriage to my best friend, a lifelong companion with whom to explore and enjoy the mysteries of life. 

Each transition came with challenges and opportunities. Doors opened and closed, always with the sense of anticipation, excitement for the possibilities and angst for the challenges. But each transition eventually became comfortable.

Three children came along. The options now included their development and experiences. They walked through their own doors leaving me with an empty nest. No longer responsible for their care, I began to put more into writing.  

Once again, I arrived at a place of comfort. Now, Norm’s retirement brought us to this new door. All the other doors of transition led to opportunities, explorations, new experiences, learning and growth.  Just because we are older doesn’t mean this one will be any different. We can stand on these truths.

  1. “This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lam. 3:21-23. Everyday I can rely on the Lord, who does not change, to be faithful no matter what comes my way.
  2. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11. This promise has no age or stage of life limits. 
  3. “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. In the morning sow your see, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Ecc. 11:4,6.  My responsibility, step out in faith and don’t worry about the outcome.

 

I stand at the door of transition, unsure of what lies on the other side, but confident in the Lord God, who does not change.

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