May 14, 2009

Anne continues to be blessed by feeling well. Praise God for that! She has done so much better than her first session of chemo at Mayo Clinic---maybe we do it better in Saginaw! She's not really even had any significant nausea, which she had a lot of last time. I wish it were possible to see the tumors shrinking on a daily basis, but that's only because, as most of you know, I'm not the most patient person in the world. She made dinner herself tonight--one of my favorites--Black Bean soup (sorry, Curt--I ate it all), and she ate a good portion of it too.

Work was it's usual today, although for some reason or another, it seemed like I got done early, and I met Del DeHart for coffee at the Magic Bean. We had a great conversation. I got home later than I thought I would and decided to leave dictating for tomorrow. Unfortunately, I'll probably forget who I saw today. Maybe all of my notes will look the same. It would be cool if I could just use the "copy note" feature of my electronic medical record system. Dictating would only take 30 minutes a night instead of 2-3 hours.

I guess I've started a trend of daily devotionals, so I'll keep going. The following came from a friend and patient of mine, Phyllis Oomen, who also went with us to Nigeria in June of 2008:


There Will Be a Day by Jeremy Camp

I know the journey seems so long
You feel you're walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you've walked out all alone

That's only the first verse of one of my favorite songs, from my favorite Contemporary Christian artist. It goes along with a previous blog I wrote about God being there for us no matter what we go through (Isiah Chapter 43). The devotional she sent went on to mention the story about footsteps in the sand:


Footprints by Mary Stevenson
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints; other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints,
so I said to the Lord, "You promised me, Lord, that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?

"The Lord replied, "When you saw only one set of footprints, my child,
it was then that I carried you."

God is carrying both Anne and me at this point in time, of that I have no doubt. He can do that for all of us in times of trouble and need. I don't really think we need to ask Him, although it wouldn't hurt. On the other hand, He is so awesome He would do it for us anyway.

God Bless,
Tony