Our Hope Endures

Well, it has been an interesting week in our house. Just as I thought I was beginning to feel better with the mono, my fever came back Sunday night. All of a sudden, my throat started hurting again and the exhaustion returned. I was so discouraged and I assumed I was just relapsing. But, as the pain in my throat grew worse, I thought I had better go in to the doctor, just to be sure.

So, this morning I dropped Lauren off at school and went in. After telling the doctor all my symptoms and showing her the now-visible bumps in my throat, she said she thought we needed to have blood work and a CT-scan done right away. She said the bumps in my throat were aphthous stomatitis, which is something you can get when your immune system is weakened. She gave me a prescription for that to help with the discomfort. The reason she wanted to run the other tests was because the symptoms I'd been having were consistent with certain types of cancer...specifically lymphoma and leukemia. It's difficult not to react when you hear those words. But, I did my best to stay positive throughout the morning as the tests were performed.

They should be calling this afternoon with the results of the CT-scan. And the blood work may take a little longer. Hopefully, before the end of the week, we will know what we are dealing with.

It's amazing to me, in times like this, how God chooses to reveal Himself and speak to us. As I was driving to the doctor's office this morning, this song came on the radio that I had never heard before. I felt like it was a message just for me from the Lord...and it was His way of reminding me that regardless of the outcome, He will be faithful to carry me through.

You would think only so much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume this one has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here
Oh, but sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear?

But our Hope endures the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our Hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend peace within pain?
Or joy at a good man's wake?
Walk a mile with the woman whose body is torn
With illness, but she marches on.
Because sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear?

But our Hope endures the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our Hope is unchanged

Emmanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
We never walk alone
And this is our hope