I Get To Do This

On the tearful drive home after dropping Mazy off at school yesterday before heading back to U of M for chemo treatments, God reminded me of one privilege I do have in all of this: I GET to have chemo. If I lived 100 years ago with leukemia, I doubt I would be alive. I GET to take anti-nausea meds to help lessen the side effects. I GET to be in a hospital that has world-class care and be carefully watched by 3 different teams of doctors.

It’s easy to get frustrated about all of this happening, but when I walk the hallways of this hospital, I realize the gift that the care I have received is. There are treatment options for leukemia AND heart failure and I GET to fight this, thanks to the knowledge God has given his people. Even though leukemia treatments are hard and intense as my oncologist said, they are treatments that are saving my life. We don’t know what the future holds with either of them, but all I know is that today God has given me breath to speak of who he is.

Throughout this whole journey, my desire has been to speak what I see. Sometimes I see God acting in big and mighty ways, and others may seem like such small ways, but to me, they are worth telling about. Even though having chemo is one of the last things I want to do in life, I also have to see it is a privilege. In many other countries, this wouldn’t even be an option. Even with my heart failure, I GET to have procedures done and have access to incredible medications that again, are saving my life. Talk about spurring me on to continue to speak of His goodness!

What do you GET to do, even amidst the struggle, pain, and suffering? How can you speak loudly of what God is doing in your life? What are some of the challenges and triumphs you get to give him glory for?

Again, not that I would ever choose cancer or heart failure, but realizing what I GET to do despite of them, makes it all the more motivational to keep living these moments not in self-pity, but in thankfulness to him. That I GET the opportunity to fight this, with the body of Christ surrounding us. I can’t speak loudly enough about that here at Michigan. Thank you for supporting us through this journey!