Just For Now....

"We have had an easy 28 years. We can handle one year of a fight."


Standing outside the cancer center in Boca Raton, Mike looked at me and spoke these words. We had just finished meeting with an oncologist who told Mike that yes, indeed he had cancer, but yes, indeed it was curable. 

But not without a little bit of a fight.

Let me back up....

2 week prior, Mike sat across from me a dinner, pulled the neck of his t-shirt down to reveal a lump right above his collar bone. "Does this look weird to you?"  UMMM YES! What is THAT!!  A quick trip to the doctor landed him in the ER, which led to a whole lot of tests, but not a lot of answers. 

*Lymph nodes look inflamed.

*Let's do a CAT scan.

*Send him home with a follow up.

At the follow up, there were still no answers, so a PET scan was scheduled. Another week passed with no news.

I know I have friends who have walked this path. And I feel that they would agree...the WAITING is the worst. SO MANY TEARS about what ifs...so many prayers for this to be just a blip...a weird reaction. 

The PET scan showed what they all believed to be cancerous cells around his neck. This meant that a biopsy was needed to determine just what kind of cancer. Another week passed, and the doctor met with us again. The diagnosis?  Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage 3. 

Wait... in that moment, did I know everything would change?

Did I realize that I would see God show up in incredible ways instantly? 

We have to talk about the blessing of this. Because when the news is dark, there is LIGHT. When there is fear, there is God's promise that says, "When you walk through deep waters, I will be with you." 

What's good about all this? When we got the initial diagnosis, Caroline, Caleb and Jack were all here. The kids were part of these conversations from the beginning....no surprises. 

You know, they have been trained for a time such as this.... many years ago, when we decided that they would attend Lutheran schools, who knew this was why? Their first reaction? PRAY. Pray hard. Tell their friends to pray. Turn to Christ, who call us to Him in our uncertain moments, in our fear, in our confusion. 

Our communities, both here and up north, have prayed with us, cried with us, stepped in to help move us, and have done a million little things that I can't even begin to list.

We know we are loved....by friends and family, near and far, but mostly by a GOD who tells us that He has plans for us, to prosper and not hurt us, to give us hope and a future. And we CLING to those promises, not just for now but always.

So tomorrow, Mike begins his first round of chemo. So we ask for prayers- for comfort, healing, for the doctors and nurses. And we know that "for now", this is our path. But it's just FOR NOW, because we have HOPE that God has this already worked out. And we look ahead to how this too will glorify Him in a big way. 




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