Relay for Life rolled around again last week―Jerry celebrated seven
years as a survivor, and I am now at seventeen years post breast cancer.
We celebrated big, even jitterbugged for about one minute and eight
seconds with the newly replaced knee and broken arm. That’s about as long as we
could last with our corrupted sense of balance.
As I look back, I see all the things God has allowed me to experience because
of these seventeen years: my children growing up, their graduating high school
and college, the birth of grandchildren and their unfolding lives, ministry in
the church, in prison, and to the homeless. Even the privilege of being there
for my mother and my father as they slipped from this life was a high honor. I
had only begun to write for others to read when I was diagnosed, and God used
that event to propel me even further along the path.
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| Me with my crazy headband to celebrate our "Carnival for a Cure" theme |
A verse God gave me many years ago has been in my head
lately.
I first read it in the King James version, “. . . but thy life will I
give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest” (Jeremiah 45:5).
Let’s move from the language here and turn to how Eugene Peterson
translates it in The Message, “ Don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive through the
whole business.”
So, God has kept us alive through the "whole business."
The "whole business," of course, has included treatment, recovery and some other messy hard times, but all worth it to be here for the many milestones and ministry we have
been honored to see.
Oswald Chambers views this verse as having to do with abandonment, that
having your life as a prey means you have let other things go. He writes, “When
you do get through to abandonment to God, you will be the most surprised and
delighted creature on earth; God has got you absolutely and has given you your
life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience or a refusal
to be simple enough.”
When faced with a grim diagnosis, things that previously held high importance
slip away and show themselves for the time and life wasters that they truly
are. We are almost forced into making our lives “simple enough.”
But all that is for naught, if we reach the other side of the crisis
and take up our old ways. It’s a daily challenge to sort out what’s truly
important. But worth it.
I love what Chambers says, “God has got you absolutely and has given
you your life.”
It is enough to make us want to jitterbug.
At least in our hearts.
Bragging a bit about our church's participation--raised almost $11,000. My friend and breast cancer survivor, Brenda, raised around 4500 herself. Stunning. She's the number one fund raiser in the county. Co-leaders, Brenda and Lynn, coordinated the church relay effort while shining in their tutus. No surprise we received second place for "Best Costume." So cute.
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| Lynn and Brenda |