Saturday, August 22, 2009

Don't Waste Your Cancer

I "just happened" to come across this article today. It really spoke to me. You can read the full article by John Piper here. Here are his 10 points from Don't Waste Your Cancer from his own experience with cancer 3 years ago.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
5. You will waste your cancer if you think that "beating" cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Good Checkup

We went to Birmingham today for my scheduled checkup. It was good because it's been 3 months since my last checkup. This is the second time this year I've gone 3 months before a checkup! I've never gone that long between checkups before. That is a great feeling. And good because my doctor said all looked well. My mouth has healed well. And good because I had a PET scan on Thursday that he had scheduled, and he said that was clear. PTL! I had a EGD (Endoscopy) with dilation of my esophagus on Friday. That will make it much easier for me to swallow. It's been 2 1/2 years since I last had it done. It's something that has to be done usually for patients who have had surgeries and radiation to the neck. I have a really nice gastro doctor that takes care of that for me. I am beyond blessed with the doctors God allows me to have!

On a side note, we had an interesting lesson on patience today...or maybe that's impatience! We had to take a detour getting to my doctor this morning as the two lanes were backed up at the exit we take due to an accident. After our lunch at Cheesecake Factory, we got in some more stalled traffic leaving Birmingham due to road work. Then when we got onto the interstate in Montgomery to get to the southern route to get home, it was slowed down for miles. We eventually passed a wrecker about to pick up a stalled ambulance, but that wasn't the total cause. It was still stalled/slowed for miles ahead yet. "Someone" decided to take the next exit to see about getting to our route faster. Alas, many other people had the same idea about their intended destination. Once again miles of slowed traffic. Whew, we finally get to the point we can turn onto the road taking us south and homeward. Lo and behold, just ahead of us, right in FRONT of us, was the very same wrecker, with ambulance now aboard, making a right turn onto another road. I restrained myself from laughing out loud.