Dan

We have been praying for this day to come...the day that radiation treatments can begin to rid Dan's thigh of any microscopic cancer cells that may be there. The tissue biopsies taken during the surgery January 8, to remove the large avocado sized sarcoma in Dan's thigh, revealed cancer cells all the way to the very edge of the back of the muscle that was taken out.

I asked Dan Monday and again today, "Do you want me to go with you...to lend moral support?" Shaking his head, he said, "No, I'll be fine. I can do this. Besides, you have many other things crying for your attention." It was almost more than I could do to let him go off by himself for his very first radiation treatment. But, I told him, "You are right. The Dr. said you can drive yourself in the beginning. And, I really need to go buy groceries. We are out of so many things."

When Dan dropped me off at the grocery store, kissing him goodbye, I said, "I'll be praying for you. See you later!" In my heart, I was wondering, but not speaking the words, "Will God choose to make him well? What if He doesn't choose what I want for my Dan?" But, again, I heard a voice saying, "Whatever happens, you and Dan will be alright. You know that."

Taking a deep breath, with a prayer on my lips, I went in the store and focused on buying groceries. Just as I got to the checkout counter, my phone rang. It was Dan saying, "I'm all finished. It went well. I'll tell you all about it when I pick you up." It was raining "cats and dogs" as we say here in America, but Dan made the drive just fine.

As soon as I got in the car, I said, "Tell me about it. What happened?" Dan, with a very calm, but serious voice, said, "It took a little longer than expected. The technician had to reposition my leg a little bit. After that, they moved the x-ray machine into the proper position, radiated my thigh from above. Then, they moved the x-ray machine a 2nd time, and radiated my thigh from below."

He said, "It was just like when you have an x-ray taken...I did not feel anything." Looking very solemn, Dan said, "It is a very powerful x-ray." Ten minutes, no pain...but Dan is aware that he is fighting for his life. On the one hand, we long to go Home to be with God and all those who have gone before us. On the other hand, we believe that God still has work for us to do for Him on this earth.

Please, pray that God will remove all cancer cells, make Dan healthy, and let no damage be done to his bones, muscles or skin...and that God will be glorified through this experience. We want nothing more than to be tools in the hands of the Living God. I wonder, if a shovel could talk, what would it say when the workman uses it to dig a trench in a huge hole full of rocks? (Dan did that exact thing all one summer to earn money to pay for his 3rd year in university.)

Can you guess what scripture God gave me tonight? Well, He did it again. "...'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?....The men were amazed and asked, 'What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!' " Matthew 8:26-27 My Jesus controls the winds and the waves. He will do what is best for us. But you might ask Him to heal our fears and fill us with the peace of God, please. -- Anne and Dan