Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Tomorrow we go in to receive round three of the new chemo infusion called Iretocan (or something like that). With my shiny new Purple Power Injectable Port, the process is fairly painless and easy. I get a blood draw first thing, by the time I move up to see the doctor, the blood panels are on line, and the good doctor can give me the go ahead on the chemo, or hold off if we need to. So far, thanks to the goodness of God and your prayers, we have been doing well. We then move over to the infusion suites, and get the juice. The whole process takes about three hours or more, but they treat me pretty well, and the heated chairs are comfortable for napping while being infused.

I have found after the first two treatments, that I am pretty well shot for about four to five days after an infusion, then it is like a switch is flipped, and I feel pretty good. I am thankful for that reason to be on a two week rotation. That allows my body to recover between doses. I have not had too many major bad side effects yet – a few, but nothing serious. The worst thing is my loss of taste. Not a loss of appetite, oh no, those steroids help that hunger stay high, just can’t taste as well as I used to. I have thinned the hair a bit, and Margaret thinks it is going more gray and less white these days. Not too bad for an old grandpa.

These past few weeks, the daily scripture readings have been about Jesus’ early days of ministry and how people are approaching him from different towns and walks of life with completely different levels of Faith and belief in Him. He demonstrates a lot of patience and compassion for those in need of His healing power. He also shows some frustration at those many who will not believe in Him. He says several times over these weeks, that those with ears ought to hear. That would lead me to believe that we should be listening when He is speaking.

He starts out in February telling the story of the farmer who sows the seeds, and then, while the farmer sleeps, the seeds grow up into ears full of grain. The farmer cannot make the seeds grow, but God does. Jesus also tells us that faith is like the tiniest of seeds, the mustard seed. When sown onto good ground, it grows into a large plant with much shelter for birds and provides a lot of shade.

We move onto the Presentation of the Lord at the Temple. This is his Jewish naming ceremony, wherein His earthly stepfather, Joseph, gets to name his step son and so become a true part of raising this young man in the Jewish faith and becoming an example to all of us as to what a good father should be to his son. The Priest Simeon is allowed to see Christ here at the Presentation and now knows he can die in peace. Simeon had been visited by the Holy Spirit and told he would not die until he saw Christ the Lord. Can you imagine getting up every day and looking at everyone you met to see if he or she was Christ? How differently would we approach everyone we met?

Jesus then speaks in several local synagogues with great authority, amazing those who hear him. Yet, each time, the people end up angry at Jesus because they think they know who He is and they question how He can know so much and be only the son of a carpenter. Are we not just as quick to judge others many times. You can tell by Jesus’ words that he is saddened at the hardening of the hearts of his own people.

Jesus has been traveling around the area visiting small towns and preaching His word. A crowd follows Him wherever He goes, but they seem confused as to why they are following Him. A demon-possessed man falls prostrate in front of Jesus and calls out His name, recognizing who He is. Why is it that a demon is the first to recognize who Jesus is?

Next Jesus is walking along, and a man comes to Him to ask Him to come and cure his dying daughter. Jesus agrees to go with the man, whose faith will end up saving his daughter. On the way, a woman with an illness touches only the tassle of Jesus’ cloak and is cured. Jesus can feel the power leave Him and wonders who touched his cloak, while the reality is that he was being bumped and touched all the way along. He knew the woman had faith and was healed, and recognized her for that.

Are we looking for Jesus with an open mind and an open heart? Do we make it seem a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Jesus tells us to have the faith of a little child, and the kingdom of God will be ours. We need to believe in God’s love for each of us and His desire that we love each other. We need to see the face of Jesus in our neighbor. Try that tomorrow and see how your day goes. I would guess that your outlook on life will be a bit brighter.

God Bless, and thank you all for the continued prayers and support. It means a lot to all of us, and brings me great peace. God’s Love.