Hope is a good thing...

The news from last week is still sinking in.  Still finding ways to make it feel more real, and still trying to understand how I am to process this "new reality" for me.  Of course we are filled with excitement and jubilation, but there is still part of me that wonders why I get to be excited yet so many people on our daily prayer list are fighting, struggling, and getting wore down.  Also, though Sarah said on Thursday that she was excited to again be able to snuggle with her cancer-free hubby, I'll never be the same person - I'm ok with that, just want to take some good time to reflect and process the collective new me. 

Last week was actually quite surreal.  Sarah and I knew that God already knew the results of the test, but still the anticipation of wanting the know the next steps were challenging.  We would not have been as rejoicing, but we were ok with test results that still showed cancer.  We needed to.  Through this we have learned more and more that we need to give our lives to the Lord and let Him continue to work through us.  But still, the results we received were so incredible.  They give people hope!

We have been humbled by the community of people around us that continue to pray for us, support us, and be concerned for us.  And we weren't concerned that that would stop if the results were different, but it may cause the faith of some to weaken.  Too often people talk about the power of prayer, but also too often we hear people saying that they never see their prayers being answered.  I really hope that this experience increases the faith of many.  As a community we prayed for healing, strength, and comfort.  I could not have gotten through all the treatments (and still need the prayers through these final 4) without the strength of the Holy Spirit and all the prayers from you.  I am extremely grateful for the expertise of Dr. Chen, but since the check-up after the first treatment when he was amazed how much the tumors went down, I knew even more that it wasn't just medicine that was healing me. 

I'm thankful that in this experience our prayers were answered the way that WE wanted it, but that doesn't always mean that they aren't if we dont get the results we want.  There is a greater power that has desires for us - we just may not always see the results the same way.  But I'm very glad that my health can be that glimmer of hope for others.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." -Red, Shawshank Redemption