Thanksgiving Eve 2014.  Here we are for yet another evening in the hospital in Dallas.  I never spent a holiday cooped up in such a place.  There were a few times when I made visits to people but never once did I have a reservation.  It really is a not so bad experience so far.  No doubt it helps that my disease is in remission and that the treatment is going well as it draws to a close.  There are others on my floor who are in far worse shape than myself so there is that to keep in mind.  I can really be thankful for my stay rather than let it bring me down.

I wrap up the treatment phase of the journey tomorrow.  The last chemo therapies will be behind me with the healthy time around the corner.  Saturday is the occasion for receiving the stem cells we collected last week.  They will be infused into my body in what is often called a second birthday around here.  Doctors will monitor me for a few days as they adjust life giving medicines within me.  It very well may be that within two weeks or less that my life takes on its new normal.  The goal of all of this is a cure for this type of cancer so it never returns again.  That sounds so unreal yet all of the science says it is also very much possible.  The power of medicine and faith coming into union as a whole is far beyond amazing.  One can only hope this will someday be not a rare thing but a given each day.  There really is no reason for the two approaches to not be in harmony.

I am thankful on this evening for each of these ongoing discoveries.  We have breakthroughs each and every day in the scientific field.  Medicine keeps moving forward though we really are in the early stages of so much that can be revealed.  My opinion is that our God desires us to make such steps as He shows us what the human body is capable of doing.  We are so incredibly created that it would leave us breathless to begin to understand all of our wonder.  What scientists often refer to as great studies just may often be God giving us a peek of what He knew all along.  It is easy for us to be so stubborn in our education we are blinded to that reality.  When we open our eyes it is to find out He waited for us to have the humility to see God in reality and truth.

It is also wise to carry along a maturing faith that is beyond panic and does not let speculation run rampant as we move along.  We tend to accept too often limits that God did not ever place on our faith.  People tell us miracles are impossible or way too common on the other extreme.  Our intercession lowers to the level of wishes without a reality to ground us in truth.  Not everyone gets the really big or miraculous stuff to come through their life.  But neither do any of us have to live devoid of the divine while facing any daily obstacle to come our way.  Never let your faith dwindle down to the level of the world around you.  You might have to claw and fight your way to keep your trust but it will always be worth it.  What you gain in drawing near to God never is an empty endeavor.  You may find it is not an escape from science or medicine but that it reminds you of God's greatness above what man knows or considers.  Each day brings new miracles by God's hand or as He guides into fresh truth about His world.  One or the other can change your life in ways beyond imagination.  My hope is you never need to learn this by difficult ways but that you learn it somehow by His grace.

Bro. Trey