Canada, Camps and Cancer
Posted on 17/09/09 11:23
If you read my blogs, you know this is the first entry in quite a while. It’s all because of Canada, camps and cancer.
Our summer vacation commenced in Canada. We went to Vancouver, BC several days ahead of our family-wide Alaskan cruise, celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
I could have stayed in Vancouver two weeks. The weather, the stunning beauty of the land and seascapes, the endless variety of food and activities...
rank Vancouver high on my list of favorite cities.
Soon the rest of our party arrived, and we departed for our cruise on the magnificently-appointed Celebrity Millennium. Seven days, five ports, glaciers, eagles, whale spouts and tails, baked Alaska, fabulous entertainment, too-tight living quarters, the magical Hubbard glacier: this was our week.
Too soon, we docked and departed for Anchorage. Visiting this all-American city, so far from the continental US but so full of Americana made for a most memorable July 4th. The downtown parade exhibited all of the small-town gusto and pride of Mayberry RFD, but with unique-to-Alaska touches, like reindeer.
Too soon, it was back home and off to camps for the kids. Pottery, fishing, engineering, photography, Christian sleepaway camps competed for my kids’ (and my) time.
But suddenly, life suspended when my father had a seizure and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Most of the tumor was removed on August 6, and he has made an incredible recovery. He began chemo and radiation this week. Though his cancer is not medically curable, we covet your prayers for his continued health and well-being through his treatments and far beyond.
I am so grateful for God’s good timing. How dreadful it would have been to deal with my dad’s unexpected illness so far from home. And how kind it was that his tumor was revealed after the trip. Surely such a trip would have been difficult, if not impossible because of this cancer.
Not only has God been kind, but His body has worked exactly as scripture describes. Galatians 5:13 says “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” John 13:35 goes on to say “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
My parents live several hours away from my husband and our family, and several of their friends have been living epistles of Galatians 5:13 and John 13:35. Isn’t that just like God, no matter whether we’re in Canada or at camp or fighting cancer, to prove that His Word is true? And isn’t that just like God, that even in our in moments of greatest concern, He sends tangible, human reminders of His care?
Summer 2009 turned out to be crazy. But no matter whether we were in Canada, at camp or dealing with cancer, God showed us over and over that He is here, He is kind, and He cares.
Our summer vacation commenced in Canada. We went to Vancouver, BC several days ahead of our family-wide Alaskan cruise, celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
I could have stayed in Vancouver two weeks. The weather, the stunning beauty of the land and seascapes, the endless variety of food and activities...
rank Vancouver high on my list of favorite cities.
Soon the rest of our party arrived, and we departed for our cruise on the magnificently-appointed Celebrity Millennium. Seven days, five ports, glaciers, eagles, whale spouts and tails, baked Alaska, fabulous entertainment, too-tight living quarters, the magical Hubbard glacier: this was our week.
Too soon, we docked and departed for Anchorage. Visiting this all-American city, so far from the continental US but so full of Americana made for a most memorable July 4th. The downtown parade exhibited all of the small-town gusto and pride of Mayberry RFD, but with unique-to-Alaska touches, like reindeer.
Too soon, it was back home and off to camps for the kids. Pottery, fishing, engineering, photography, Christian sleepaway camps competed for my kids’ (and my) time.
But suddenly, life suspended when my father had a seizure and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Most of the tumor was removed on August 6, and he has made an incredible recovery. He began chemo and radiation this week. Though his cancer is not medically curable, we covet your prayers for his continued health and well-being through his treatments and far beyond.
I am so grateful for God’s good timing. How dreadful it would have been to deal with my dad’s unexpected illness so far from home. And how kind it was that his tumor was revealed after the trip. Surely such a trip would have been difficult, if not impossible because of this cancer.
Not only has God been kind, but His body has worked exactly as scripture describes. Galatians 5:13 says “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” John 13:35 goes on to say “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
My parents live several hours away from my husband and our family, and several of their friends have been living epistles of Galatians 5:13 and John 13:35. Isn’t that just like God, no matter whether we’re in Canada or at camp or fighting cancer, to prove that His Word is true? And isn’t that just like God, that even in our in moments of greatest concern, He sends tangible, human reminders of His care?
Summer 2009 turned out to be crazy. But no matter whether we were in Canada, at camp or dealing with cancer, God showed us over and over that He is here, He is kind, and He cares.
nini wrote:
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