My wife Cindy and I have been married for almost 45 years.
She is the love of my life and has been from the moment when we met.
She is a fountain of love and care for the people around her. She is highly entertaining……a lot of fun to be around. If you know her, you’ve heard the ring tone on her phone……”Girls Just Want to Have Fun!” There is only one sure way to get on her bad side…….and that is to hurt someone she loves and cares for……..and she loves and cares for just about everybody.
Cindy has breast cancer.
Invasive
Metastatic
Terminal
Breast cancer.
This came at us right out of the blue. It turned up on a screening mammogram. One day we were looking at vacation/retirement homes…….the next day we were shopping for a surgeon and an oncologist. You would think that this turn of events would be devastating. The thing is……….the cancer hasn’t changed her much at all.
How can you be joyful, loving, generous, and most of all at peace………when you have invasive, metastatic, terminal breast cancer?
It’s not as difficult as you might think.
Cindy is a Christian. That means that she has accepted Christ as her saviour…….and along with that, his promises: That he has her in his hand…….that he has prepared a place for her…….that he has a plan for her well-being. That she is loved and cherished…….not just by me………but by the creator of the universe.
In a word……….Cindy anchors her life on trust. She trusts that we were put here on purpose by a creator who has a plan……a plan for our well being……..even when we cannot see it or understand it. She trusts that behind that plan is a father who loves her……..and me……..and you…….with a love that is completely beyond our understanding. She trusts that he will take care of her………that he has her in his hand.
If all that you have to hold on to is your own wisdom……..if all that you trust is what you understand……..then it is no wonder that you live a life of quiet desperation……..because you…..and I…… can only see a tiny bit of reality. And what we can see is not very encouraging. The greatest hope for any of us is, to a large degree, hidden from us.
This is probably not an accident.
That hope centers on the love of our creator.
Our greatest hope in this life is the love of our creator.
If you reject that hope…….all I can say is that I disagree with you………and that I admire your courage. I couldn’t make it through a day without the hope that comes from my father……Abba.
Cindy is my guide on this journey.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul, NIV
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Paul, NIV