September 18, 2020
My Dad, Kenneth, is battling stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma. He underwent surgery less than a month ago. The latest biopsy showed that the carcinoma is back in his neck. After many complications and delays, he will have his first chemo treatment on Monday, 9/21. This past Monday, 9/14, he had a port surgically implanted and a feeding tube. He has a tough road ahead with six chemo and 35 radiation treatments. Dad, I love you so very much and pray for you many times throughout the day. You and Mom have been such a precious beautiful gift so many times in my life, and the lives of so many others. You and mom are so loved.
I love Psalm 139. The God who created the very cosmos created you, and knows all that you are facing! Throughout your life, He has hedged you behind and before, and has had his hand upon you. Even in the darkness of cancer, He will be with you and His light will surpass the darkness. God’s thoughts toward you are so precious and so frequent. He is with you, Dad. We are with you and with Mom. We each hold you in prayer so often. You are loved beyond measure!
Psalm 139
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thoughts afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvellous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skilfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You…
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 …And lead me in the way everlasting.
You know how I love music, and specifically hymns. In the last 17 months, the things of earth have grown strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Mom and Dad have always turned their eyes to Jesus, and have caused so many others to look full into His wonderful face. Please join us in praying for God’s healing mercy in my Dad’s life, and that we may each turn our eyes and our hearts to Jesus, our blessed Redeemer. 💕
