Sabbath, a Day of Rest

Every cancer patient needs a break. Almost all health care providers acknowledge that cancer patients need to set aside dealing with cancer occasionally and just enjoy the blessings and fullness of life. For many, cancer is hard work and a full time job when recovering from major surgery or undergoing radiation or chemotherapy treatments.

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Isaiah 58:13,14


Isaiah 58:13,14 is God's call to me to set aside my work of cancer treatment and recovery and delight myself in the Lord. Unlike most cancer patients, I don't need to grab mental downtime whenever I can, nor am I limited to an hour or two here or there. My Personal Physician prescribes 24 hours every week. It's called "Sabbath" and it begins Friday evening at sundown and closes Saturday evening at sunset. It is the best prescription for coping with cancer ever written. My Physician wrote the original prescription when he created this world.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Genesis 2:1-3

Early in this journey, the Lord impressed upon my heart that Sabbath was to be my day of rest from cancer. For us, those first eight weeks were difficult. I couldn't talk about what was going on without crying and I dislike crying. I had to intentionally take my cancer package and on Friday evening, put it on the top shelf of my mind with a sign that read "Do Not Touch!" That is so hard when your mind is swirling with treatment options, decisions to be made, what ifs, and the emotions of it all. God called to my heart,

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Psalms 46:10-11

I praise the Lord for friends who knowingly or unknowingly helped us carefully guard the hours of the Sabbath and made it a delight! Those times of fellowship and spiritual refreshment are precious memories for our whole family. We still treasure our Sabbath times and do our best to put cancer and health issues on the shelf unless there is an urgent need to address those issues.
What about those Sabbaths when you are hurting or sick? When it's all you can do to breath and the pain is intense and you're dealing with the side effects of treatment. What do you do then? Christ longed to free those afflicted by disease. Read the story of Jesus healing the woman afflicted by disease for 18 years found Luke 13:10-17. He longs to heal us too!

You won't always be able to ignore cancer on Sabbath, there are physical needs which must be met. I learned that by caring for my physical needs and trying to be prepared before Sabbath allowed me to better focus on the spiritual and mental aspects of Sabbath. I chose to try spending portions of those Sabbaths reading God's Word until I fell asleep (yes, your body needs rest to heal). I enjoyed the occasional visitor as I was able and reveled in the quiet of a home stilled by the Sabbath rest. Beautiful soothing music or scriptures songs created an atmosphere of worship. Harpist playing her harp or the piano lifted my spirit heavenward more than she will ever know. Reading stories to Cat Lover and Rocket helped take my mind off my discomfort and drew our hearts closer together.

Depending on the intensity of your treatment, you may be unable to fellowship with others for extended periods of time. DVDs of your local church sermons or audio recordings may be a blessing. Try to get a friend to help you Skype in during a class or fellowship time if possible. I have a couple of dear friends with whom I started a conference call. We try to talk every couple of months or so. Fellowship is a blessing and you need it! On those really bad days, it may be all you can do to review portions of scripture you have memorized or have a family member or friend read the promises of God to you. Don't be afraid to start your prayer chain seeking God's direct intervention in your particular situation, there can be no better day for others to pray!

My Sabbaths are returning to normal rather quickly. But for those whose journey is much longer than mine. I pray specifically each week that you will experience the Sabbath blessings the Lord has for you.

Cancer Break

Well I'm enjoying my freedom for a few weeks and looking forward to our trip south. We spent part of this week with Grandparents and extended family a few hours away. When we returned, it seemed spring decided to show up early. Even our resident moose greeted us. Last evening Cat Lover stood on the garage roof and howled up a wolf pack. Yes, it seems they liked his deepening voice. We could distinctly hear their different voices answer his call from somewhere in our valley.

I was reminded to be careful this week as I managed to pull a muscle lying on my side reading a book. How's that for hurtingnyourself while doing nothing? It felt like one of my incisions totally burst open. We won't do that again for awhile. Scar tissue is now my medical issue, that pesky lymph node biopsy site needs to be stretched and massaged daily. It feels like the tissue is in knots. My cousin, who is a hand therapist, told me that scar tissue takes 2 years to mature. If I want those knots to go away, I'll be stretching and massaging for a long time. While one incision is in knots, the others are doing well. After a surgery like this, the tissue is very traumatized and swells, it is also very firm and not the soft natural feel you'd expect from breast tissue. Dr. N. told me the tissue would eventually soften and its finally starting to happen.

I also tried to schedule an appointment to see a physician regarding natural cancer therapies and followup. He called me back today and gave me the info I needed on the phone. Praise the Lord for Christian physicians who still consider themselves medical missionaries. We deeply appreciate his kindness.

Yes, I'm using this quiet time to further research my natural remedy options. If I was dealing with just the breast cancer it would be easier, but this is becoming a puzzle given my family history and a couple of other nagging issues. I pray for wisdom to identify the best course for me to pursue. That's the challenge of medical issues, you often can not see the full view of what needs to be addressed. But praise God, He does!

Living Breath by Breath

Recently I relistened to a message that always resets my image of God and who He is and where I live. (Louie Giglio, "How Great is Our God"). After hearing it twice in the space of a couple of weeks, the following insight dawned on me. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote and have shared with some of you who walk this road with me.

Is 40:27-31 is a promise that I specifically claim for those of us who walk this road called cancer. Just remember that whatever your life crisis, God's promise is for you, too.

"Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

I had always viewed that last verse as Christ's victorious promise of restoration at his second coming, when our wait will be over. But Louie explained that the Hebrew in this text gives the connotation that the renewal of strength is breath by breath.  My thoughts went to my own cancer experience and the experience of others whose journey is much more difficult. I realized that when you think you can't go on, God gives you strength to take that next breath (diagnosis)...
and the next one (telling family and friends)....
and the next one (emergency treatment or more tests)...
and the next one (making decisions)...
and the next one (surgery) ....
and the next one (recovery)...
And the next one (followup treatment, radiation, and chemo)...
And the next one (dealing with cancer mentally)
and the next one to live for him in spite everything that comes your way.  

This living, breath by painful breath, totally dependent on the strength of the Lord becomes a new song that we, marred by cancer, may sing each step of our unique journey for our Creator.