Settling Teri into her new surroundings, I glanced around at the room - a fairly "clinical" looking space, a nurses' station in the middle, and quite a number of specialty chairs made for long sits, and hurting bodies. Next to each chair was an I.V. tower, and a small multi-storage unit for putting your personal belongings whilst chemicals are slow-dripped into your bloodstream. Surreal...
Thinking through this one more time, I could have never imagined that we would be "here". Cancer of course took my mother, but that seemed like a lifetime ago, and certainly before Jesus began healing my broken life. Disease, War, and other maladies of life of course afflict myriads of people every year. And we follow a Savior who can empathize with us in every way except in sin. Should I therefore be surprised that part of the walk with Him should entail footsteps that take us through suffering? No one who sets out to follow Christ gets through this life without scars, nail prints, crowns of thorns, and ultimately the cross - "as the Master so the Servant shall be…"
I turned to say goodbye to Teri, as she prepared for her first 5 hour date with Chemotherapy. She flashed me one of those beautiful smiles, and said with anticipation, "I'm on a journey Bill, to a destination that has yet to be fully revealed!" I started to weep, but didn't let the tears fall - 'till I got to the car and... The beauty of this woman, her heart, her attitude, her response to this ugliness - this all has to be coming from the beauty of the Savior, and to stand in its wake is to be overwhelmed by it's glory.
None of us know where our particular journey will take us in the short-run. But we can know where it will ultimately lead! I'm experiencing this journey with Teri and her attitude of anticipation. What God is doing in and through it, and what it will ultimately produce - is an "ever eternal weight in glory" last time I checked… (2 Corinthians 4:17). And we are tasting it even now...
In my next post, I'll update you on how she is doing to date...
