-
Trusting God on the Other Side of Bizarre
In my last blog post, “Trusting God in the Bizarre,” I shared how a diagnosis of tongue cancer had blown up my world and how I was wrestling with my fear—again—of pain and suffering. It has now been 11 weeks since a surgeon removed a third of my tongue. I am still healing, both my tongue and my neck, from which he removed 20 lymph nodes—which were cancer free. I still thank the Lord for that graciousness. My speech is no longer impaired although it is affected. I sound like I have a cough drop in my mouth when I talk, and the “s” sound is still a challenge. Let…
-
Trusting God in the Bizarre
I have tongue cancer. Bizarre, right? I’m not male, nor do I engage in the particularly bad combination of both smoking and drinking, which are the big markers for this nasty invasion. In two weeks I am scheduled for surgery to remove the cancer by cutting out a big chunk of my tongue—which is a particular challenge and sadness for a professional speaker. One of the things I have discovered is that, even without any drugs, the weight of this diagnosis and the upcoming difficult surgery and recovery has consumed a lot of my mental and emotional energy. Everything in my life has taken a back seat to this crisis.…
-
Pain: God’s Just-Right Tool
I wrote this blog post on May 7, 2012. When I ran it again almost five years later, I added this introduction: Not quite five years ago, when I originally wrote this, I had no idea that by this point, I would hardly be walking, using a scooter 95% of the time and unable to move without a walker for the rest. Pain and serious weakness are my daily companions. As I noticed the counts on my most popular blog posts and discovered this one among the top, I am grateful that the wisdom God gave me five years ago is even more true today. And I am grateful that…
-
Blessed Be the Name of the Lord
I am writing this past midnight and I really shouldn't be up. My body is weary yet my thoughts rest solely on my Mom's second procedure in a week to remove her breast cancer.
-
A Holy Limp
I got polio at six months old. Every step of my life, I have walked with a limp. It was a source of great shame to me growing up because of people’s stares. And my limp was probably the biggest reason I hated polio and hated how I saw myself, as the “ugly crippled girl.” One day, as I studied the scriptures, God gave me a divine “lightbulb moment.” As I read in Genesis 32 about Jacob wrestling all night with God, the same Lord who touched his hip, asked me, “Do you see the souvenir I gave Jacob from his night with Me?” Jacob walked the rest of his…
-
Headed to the Courtroom
Since I find myself on another jury today, it’s only appropriate to run this 2013 blog post again . . . Yesterday I was selected to serve on a jury for a trial that is anticipated to last three to four weeks. The jury selection process was an all-day affair, lasting over twelve hours and creating quite a sense of camaraderie in the process. I keep thinking about the three major take-aways from this experience. First, the multiple defense attorneys for the four defendants (thus the long trial) repeatedly reminded us that the American justice system is built on the foundation of “presumed innocent until proven guilty.” And that is…
-
Cancer Can’t Separate You from God’s Love
Today’s blog comes from Joan Floyd, a dear friend of mine who died of cancer 12 years ago this week. She was my mentor, my ministry shepherd, and my dear friend. Her impact on my life and on the lives of others around her is still being felt. The following words were written in a message she wrote for our Bible Study class covering Romans 8:31-39. Can anything ever separate us from God’s love? What if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Does it mean He no longer loves us if…
-
The Testimony of Onelio Gonzalez
“For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Communist Cuba, circa 1963, four years after La Revolución. The young pastor, still in his twenties, had just finished conducting evening services when four men in a Jeep pulled up outside of the church, exited the vehicle, spread out around the building, and then entered. “Onelio Gonzalez,” they said, confiscating the preacher’s Bible, his hymn book, the pulpit, and the forty cents given in the evening offering, “We have orders to take you to prison.” They gave no reasons. Five days later, having already moved him through two prison locations, they finally spoke to him: “Do you know…
-
Can you spare 15 minutes?
Do you read the newspaper for at least 15 minutes a day? Do you watch at least 15 minutes of television daily? Do you spend at least 15 minutes a day on Facebook? Do you surf the internet for at least 15 minutes a day? Do you check your email for at least 15 minutes a day? If you answered “yes” to any one or more of those questions, let me tell you a story and offer you a challenge? A friend of mine recently diagnosed with serious cancer is fighting for his life. For the past several years he chose to read the bible through each year. In addition,…
-
What Not To Say When Someone is Grieving
Last week my dear friend Sandi Glahn wrote another boffo blog post about the myths of infertility, which included some of the dumb things people say. It may be insensitivity or a lack of education that spurs people to say things that are unhelpful at the least and downright hurtful much of the time. I still remember my own daggers to the heart after our first baby died nine days after her birth. And for the past several years, I have been collecting actual quotes said to those already in pain. So here’s my current list of What Not To Say when someone is hurting: Don’t start any sentence with…
