tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12077181.post-1115556466479233632005-05-08T08:36:00.000-04:002005-05-08T08:47:46.493-04:00<em><blockquote><em>Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God's peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus. </em>(Philippians 4:6-7, <em>God’s Word</em>)<br /></blockquote></em><br /><br />Dear ones,<br /><br />In this cancer journey, there have been many stressful and worrying times. The daily rollercoaster of good days, bad days. The uncertainty this rollercoaster throws into daily schedules. Steve’s slow decline.<br /><br />I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t worry. I do worry. This monster cancer has shredded our married life, a life we’ve shared together for more than a quarter century. It has meant new roles, new adaptations, new responsibilities. It is knowing that I will be losing my best friend.<br /><br />Yet if I would stop there and just live in the worry, I would be paralyzed. I wouldn’t be able to run my business. To have friends and to be a friend. To care for Steve.<br /><br />I wouldn’t be able to live. I would merely exist.<br /><br />I rage against the “not living.” I want to live! And I do.<br /><br />What keeps me living is a living God, a heavenly Father, who loves me, who guides me, and who protects me. He speaks to me through His Word, the Bible, and He sustains me through the Sacrament of the Altar. And this same God lifts me up through my many brothers and sisters in Christ, who have been fervently praying for us since Steve’s diagnosis in ’03.<br /><br />Yes, this cancer journey continues. I don’t know what lies ahead. I don’t know how long we must journey. But I do know that by God’s grace, we will make it.<br /><br />Love,<br />Sandie<br />(Daniel 3:16-18)<br /><br />**********************************************************<br /><br /><strong><em>A little about this past week and a half:</em></strong> some days Steve’s chemo fatigue is so bad that all he can do is lie on the couch. Yet he courageously works through it, getting up enough energy so: <br /><ul><li>We can take a friend to dinner for his birthday. </li><li>He can mow the lawn – the first time since his diagnosis. </li><li>He can take me to breakfast at Frank’s Diner. </li><li>We can enjoy a gelato. </li><li><div align="left">He can conduct a wedding. </div></li></ul><p align="left">And other days are nearly “pre-diagnosis normal.” Steve can spend half a day working in his office at church, come home to relax and have a normal dinner. My friends, such is our cancer journey. --SE</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Rom 1:16 I'm not ashamed of the Good News. It is God's power to save everyone who believes, Jews first and Greeks as well. </div>Doc Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07874236976304152950noreply@blogger.com