I was reminded today that it's been three years and three days since the doctor told me there was no evidence of cancer.  That is the term used to describe my specific illness.  We don't think of being cancer free but rather there is no evidence of disease.  Let me be honest and say it totally slipped my mind.  Part of me knew perhaps something was going on.  But it never penetrated my conscious mind.  My first thought is that is both a bad and a good thing.  The good part is just living life without keeping track of such occasions.  The bad part lies in the temptation to forget all of the lessons learned along the way. 

Seems hard to imagine that three years ago I had no hair but also no evidence of disease.  There are a few photos that serve as a reminder but thankfully there isn't many.  Just over three years ago the doctor told me my disease was of the stage four quality.  No amount of bedside manner eases the shock of that pronouncement.  We started right away with an extremely powerful mixture of chemicals that would poison my body.  Six times I went into the clinic to sit waiting for them to flow through my system.  It is an odd thing that such an occasion can almost seem ordinary after awhile.  I never missed a Sunday.  My schedule remained much the same except for a little more time to rest.  Even my trips to the gym never wavered.  I would go take chemo for about six hours then go home, change, and head to the gym to exercise.  I sometimes wonder what I was thinking.

My prayer then was to get well whether my miracle, medicine, or a mixture of the two.  The turning point was after my doctor told me this is an incurable but treatable ailment.  You may remember that my response to her was she should be the first person to come up with a cure.  We saw eye to eye after that exchange.  Polio was once considered beyond a cure but now we are years past that diagnosis.  I continue to hope science will make even more discoveries to treat this disease in any form.

One of the drawbacks for me is that cancer is part of my view on life.  There are many things that just not nearly crucial for me any longer.  I also know what it is to deepen a spiritual walk in the midst of trials.  That does not mean I am anywhere near perfect.  It does mean that you can be sure God is not limited by what happens to us.  You can be sure than anxiety still creeps in from time to time.  And yet God allowed me to face a horrible diagnosis and come out on the winning side.  Being thankful is extremely easy after something like that.

Bro. Trey

It always comes down to Monday for me.  It is the best and worst of days to paraphrase Charles Dickens.  Monday.  Everyone has it on their calendar.  Many dread its appearance each week.  The day is not quite the same since more and more people work odd schedules.  But it does still all come down to Monday.  Right now my body aches while my mind is a bit of a blank.  I am pretty sure that is part of the natural progress of aging.  Sunday evenings are a good time to think little and to move less.  Reality is that Monday is still coming.

Everything done last week in preparation is now a thing of the past.  Next week is a blank slate awaiting a new set of ideas and ministry.  There is a worship service to plan.  I already have a list of people to try and see.  Many pastors already know what next Sunday will bring for the sermon.  My approach is not nearly as well planned out.  It's as if the boulder made it almost to the top of the hill only to roll back again to the bottom.  That is not a cause for depression.  It is no excuse for discouragement.  Perhaps the best way to describe it is a numb feeling.  I still have Monday.

Mondays get a bad reputation more times than not.  Emotions of dread start creeping in that we have to start all over again in the morning.  Could it be we look at that day completely wrong?  Monday is a time of new beginnings.  It is the occasion for a brand new adventure.  It greets us without trampling or wearing down.  God meets us on Monday just as He does on any other day of the week.  That one fact makes all of the difference in the world.  He is always there taking all of the good or bad of the past to make it work to His best.  Our best option is to repent over the wrong then walk in the new blessing of the Spirit.  There is nothing you will face that God cannot handle much less control.  Tomorrow is yet another Monday.  Just remember that God is in your now as well as your then. 

Bro. Trey