The Tortoise and the Hare

Who doesn't remember this famous fable by Aesop.  The moral of the story of the Tortoise and the Hare is of course: slow and steady wins the race. 

Battling cancer, like life and the race the Hare ran, is truly a journey. There are always mountains and valleys, fields of green and deserts, blizzards and warm sunny days. And while overall Julie is doing very well, this portion of our journey is particularly challenging. Not necessarily for physical reasons, although there are lots of physical challenges. (And memory challenges for me, there are so dang many medicines she is, and can be on, its really hard to keep them straight). 

  

But, emotionally, this is a lot like "The Waiting Place". Do you remember the waiting place?  Its from Oh, The Places You'll Go! (for more on why I love this book, see this post: Seussisms). The waiting place is..."A most useless place...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go, or a bus to come, or a plane to go, or the mail to come, or the rain to go, or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow, or waiting around for a yes or a no or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants, or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting.

In our case, it's waiting for the pain to come, or waiting for the hair to go, or waiting for a dose of drugs, or a walk to help, or the nausea to slow. Waiting for the prayer to lift, or the weight to shift, the fatigue to stop or the next shoe to drop.

The process of breaking the body down, then allowing it to build back up only to break it down again is extremely wearing on the emotions.  We have both felt like we as a family have been under emotional spiritual attack and would very much appreciate prayers in that area.

To help in "the waiting place", Julie is trying to do several things.  The first it that she is spending a lot of time in prayer and study, and really leaning on the Lord. She has several books that have been very helpful. The second is that we have purchased a decent camera and she is going to learn more about photography and how to use iPhoto. In addition, she has been starting to exercise more, and is going to physical therapy. And the last is, somewhat sadly, retail therapy. The packages are starting to arrive. Be very afraid.

This is an exciting weekend.  We are going away to a marriage conference - it's at a retreat center in Cimarron, CO. 1/2 way between here and nowhere.  It's nestled in the mountains and we are very much looking forward to getting away for a few days.  Please pray for our time away, and for the girls who will be in the care of others.

The next chemotherapy treatment is September 29th. I will just be returning from an out of town trip, and a friend will be taking Julie to chemo on that day.

We are prayerfully living in the reality of "slow and steady wins the race". We are greatly encouraged by friends (especially the visits by friends that have been so encouraging to Julie), by prayer and the presence of the Lord. Thanks be to Him is able to do immeasurable more than we can ever ask or imagine.