I love that feeling knowing that for a whole week that you are not responsible for any work! You know that during the week ahead you will have a week to catch up with others, enjoy your kids, and spend time in a different place far away from your everyday stomping patch.
Well this last vacation was a special one for my family and me. You see a couple years ago my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Our last vacation two years ago was right after she had undergone chemo and radition therepy together. She was tired and easily exhausted during the vacation and my thought was that this could be my last vacation with her! Going this time I was able to reflect on her still being with us.
Here is her story. About 3 years ago my mom went to the lung specialist for some routine check ups. She has suffered for a few years with breathing issues, but as she had been losing weight and excercising it all seemed to be getting a bit better. During this visit she was sent to have a scan done on her lungs to see what they looked like. At the reading of the scan there was a spot on her lung and also on a few of the nodes.
Needless to say this alarmed the doctor and scared the pants out of my mom. In the time to follow they did numerous tests and found out that it was indeed cancer and that the only true options for treatment were chemo and radiation therapy. As my mom's lungs were not very strong the surgical option came with too many risks, of which the major one was that she would not make it through.
With the reality of her condition in mind, my mother did as much research on her situation as possible and sought the advice of the best doctors that she could find. She also went through a whirwlind of emotions and thoughts, but the one thing that comforted her most was when she read her Bible and saw that God loved her and that she was in His hands.
I had many conversations with her at this time and even though she was secure in her relationship with Christ, she still had a hard time dealing with everything. She has a lot of grandkids that are young and her thought was that she did not want to miss anyone of their wedding, graduation, kids, etc... This tore her up and caused many times of tears and heartache.
To that end she began to pray and seek others who would pray for her. I know in my prayer group many people lifted her up to the great physcian and ask for Him to heal her. In most cases (approximately 70%) the person diagnosed with lung cancer is dead within one year. To this extent the prayers were desperate and literally cries to the Lord. I know in my prayer life I had to deal with a lot of questions that I wanted to ask of the Lord.
These questions were items like this:
Why did you allow this to happen? Will you heal her? How will I deal with this with my kids? Will you be her comfort through this all? How can I best help her? And the hardest one was what do I say or do for her?
As we continued to pray, God answered our prayers one by one. First He really showed that He would comfort her. During her first round of chemo she showed up and a friendly face was present. The nurse was the sister of one of Julie's close friends. As my mom must have been trembling with fear and anxiety this must have been a comfort for her. Later in the process (which by no means am I trying to make it out like it was easy) the doctor told her to get a wig because they have never had anyone go through these two treatments back to back and not lose their hair. My mom got the wig, but guess what? God spared her hair as she did not lose any of it.
God also gave Julie and me wisdom in telling both my kids what Grandma was going through. When they heard they were devastated, but they committed to being Grandma's joy and strength by encouraging her and just plain being themselves. The same was the case for my other brothers' and sister's kids. They all became Grandma's special supply of hope!
It totally broke my heart to think of the pain that my mom was going through, not the therepy but the mental task this was taking on her! As I prayed to God, I asked: what do I tell her? What scripture will give her peace? What can I do? God answered me through a song that I was listening to at the time. It was a song by the Casting Crowns entitled Love them like Jesus.
The lyrics are truly inspiring and gut-wrenching at the same time. Click on the video below to see a video of the song being performed live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV0BC042Rv4&feature=related
God's answer to me was do nothing, say nothing, quote nothing! Just love her the best way you know how! Love her like Jesus has.
The two toughest prayer requests were still unanswered. Why did He let this happen and would He heal her? Well, first of all the first question of why is not an easy question to answer and to this day I am still trying to digest the answer. For the most part the answer was for His glory! I say this because the answer to my prayer if He would heal her was YES! As of my mother's last scan the spot they found was so small they are considering it scar tissue.
Lung cancer is never said to cured as it is an extremely nasty diasese, however, to have it shrink to scar tissue is a major miracle. Also to have her with us 3 years later is incredible and a blessing to all of us.
To all of us that were in Ocean Isle it was a joy to watch my mom interact with her grandkids! She is like no other when it comes to putting on a show for the kids. Her imagination and desire to marvel our kids is awesome. She set up a story of a lost treasure and sure enough tricked the kids into believing they had found this long lost treasure. The joy in their faces was amazing and in turn to watch my mom enjoy her grandkids was priceless.
For now I will always remember this vacation for all that it was, a blessing from God. My hope in writing this post will be to encourage all of you to find your joy and hope in this world. I know for my mom this event has been life-changing and difficult ,but through it all she has clung to her joy and hope, Jesus and her family! Thank you Mom for fighting the good fight and for going through the tough in hope of inspiring us all to much much more.
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