Friends For The Journey

Psalm 71:20-22 (New International Reader’s Version) 20 “You have sent many bitter troubles my way. But you will give me new life. Even if I’m almost in the grave, you will bring me back. 21 You will honor me more and more. You will comfort me once again. 22 My God, I will use the harp to praise you because you are always faithful. Holy One of Israel, I will use the lyre to sing praise to you”

Lately, life has been more difficult than I can ever remember. I have chemo every 2 weeks and the day after I have the chemo infusion they give me a shot called Neulasta. When you see the commercials on TV, they show people laughing and playing and saying they are ready for chemo, making it seem like they are ready to go on vacation, but that is not how it is for a chemo patient (at least for this one). Each time they give me this shot, I must take strong pain meds to kill the pain and knock me out for about 5 days in order to cope. The shot is given for good reason (to force the bone marrow to produce more white cells to fight infection), but I am one of the people that has a painful reaction to it.

I hit an all time low about a week ago and the Lord sent my son-in-law, Carlos, over to share a dream and a word that he thought was for someone else. He said, “As I was dreaming I saw an image of a woman standing in front of me looking sad. I heard her say to me ‘I want to stay here, I don’t want to leave.’ Then she began to weep. I reached out and hugged her.” Carlos woke up. wide awake and tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. He had to get up and began to write down the words: “You are a wonderfully talented woman who must learn to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. The time has come to put away childish ways and embrace your new life. Though mother and father have forsaken/abandoned you I will never abandon you. The work I began in you I will complete if you allow me, says the Lord your God, your Father, your Friend.”

Isn’t the Lord good and faithful? He sent someone at the very moment I needed to hear from Him. Just when I felt like I could go no further, He sent someone to tell me He would never abandon me. A friend of ours prayed for me recently at a conference and he said, “Debbie, if it were up to your faith or “our” faith you would already be healed, but this is about His faithfulness!” So, we must wait and watch patiently for Him to move. This is for His glory!

I had blood work done today and it appears that my red blood cell count is down. The red cells carry oxygen all over the body, so that is why I am feeling very tired, light-headed and short-of-breath. So far everything looks good and the tumors are shrinking. So, we are looking for good things ahead, but for this week I am free to enjoy Thanksgiving with ALL of my children and grandchildren. John is flying down from Ohio Wednesday night to join us for Thanksgiving, family pictures and even decorating the Christmas Tree. We are going to have a great time and giving thanks for the many blessings we have received and I hope you and your family do as well.

Blessings, Debbie