Never, Lord

 Never, Lord, let me take your miracle for granted. 

Two years ago, medical science said that I wouldn’t live past the next five years. But God got all up in the mix. 

MD Anderson is now happy enough with my last scan that I’m stopping treatment. Not cured, not even in remission. Those typical labels don’t stick to me. 

My “tumors” still show up on the scan. They’re smaller now and shrinking. My doc’s best guess is that the “tumors” are really dead scar tissue. 

Good. We’ll go with that. It’s a win!

It didn’t have to go down like this. Odds were against it. So yes, I’m calling God’s work for what it is - an unmitigated miracle. 

From here, we scan me every three months. If something grows, we hit it with the same treatment. It should shrink back again. 

While God worked on my cancer, he also worked on my heart. He’s given me peace. And patience. And focus. And abundant life. And joy. And an even greater thirst for his Word. And an active prayer life. And a painful awareness of where I sin. And a keen gratitude for the grace offered by Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection. And a heart willing to work hard for his Kingdom. 

Our family is forever changed. 

Massive thank you to all our prayer warriors. My wife and two girls are top-of-the-heap among them. Another buddy faithfully texted me a simple message every doggone day, “PrayN4U.”

What you won’t see in this bell-ringing video still chokes me up. It’s the huge crowd of nurses who insisted on taking a break to watch. 

My nurse that day was new to me, but I overheard him telling two more nurses about it. They said, “That guy? Oh yeah, we’re there.” God did something with my nurses at MD Anderson that I don’t even understand. 

What else will God do?

Holy Father, never let me take it for granted. You worked a miracle here. Let me live in light of it. 

#bthocancer

#straightupmiracle

#foreverchanged

- Alan