The last five weeks have seemed fairly normal and that is great. Cancer is still a big part of our lives, but it hasn’t been as oppressively big as it was over the last nine months.
Ann and I went to the Dallas Arboretum last Friday, something we had wanted to do for about a year and a half. We enjoyed marveling at God’s creative beauty and just hanging out. We talked about prayer and faith, suffering and healing. We talked about daily life and the kids, work and the future. We hadn’t had a “normal” afternoon together – one that didn’t include chemo or a doctor – in a long time. We even topped off our big afternoon with a visit to Sam’s Club.
We head back to Houston this Wednesday (5/9) for tests and will meet with the oncologist on Friday (5/11). We are both cautiously optimistic that the cancer will still be stable and that the break from chemo will continue.
What is the basis for our confidence? God has delivered us in the past, especially in response to heart-felt and persistent prayer. George Guthrie, in his commentary on Hebrews write, “Yet in the biblical literature, faith suggests a firm trust place in God, who has shown himself faithful in his dealings with his people.”
Here is our Big 12 list:
12. His provision of financial support for six years while Ann served with Campus Crusade for Christ.
11. His provision of financial support for Howard’s summer mission project in Japan.
10. His gift of a husband for Ann by her 28th birthday. (I may not be God’s gift to women, but I am His gift to Ann.)
9. His gift of Hannah (1 Samuel 1) and Matt (“gift of God”) after three miscarriages.
8. Moving to Perry, Iowa to be involved with the youth group of our church.
7. Moving to Texas to attend Dallas Theological Seminary.
6. Sustaining our family when I was unemployed and underemployed for nine months following 9/11. (Ann and I were without health insurance for about a year.)
5. Sustaining our family and keeping us intact after eight and a half years of seminary.
4. Allowing my heart attack to occur after graduation but prior to Ann’s diagnosis of cancer.
3. Motivating a friend of a friend (now our hosts in Houston) to rattle folks at M.D. Anderson to move our initial appointment up 19 days.
2. Sustaining Ann through eight rounds of aggressive chemotherapy.
1. Sustaining our faith and hope through this last year.
1 Samuel 17:34-37:
But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Prayer Requests:
- That God will fill us with his peace (Isaiah 26:3) as we wait for the test results next Friday.
- That God would give Ann another break from chemo for Mother's Day.
- That God would heal Ann so that her grandkids can know her love, character, and faith.
Thank you for your continued prayers. We really wouldn’t be here today without the prayers of our family and friends.
Love,
Howard & Ann
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