I’ve gotten a lot of feedback about the mouse-sized bug I mentioned last time. I just want to add a tiny bit. First off, I’ve only seen two of those big guys. The second one was just today. I was precariously sitting atop the floor joists in the new bathroom (no, the floor isn’t down yet!), and there, of course, was a bug. Big! I couldn’t run, since I was holding a board while Karl prepared to nail it in place. I yelled – just a quiet, somewhat brave yell to let the bug know I’d seen him. Karl’s solution was to hand me the hammer – since he was downstairs on the ladder and not feeling chivalrous. So I did what any self respecting Wyoming girl would do. I cowgirled up and smashed the sucker with the hammer. Ewww. Lots of insides became outsides. But here’s the thing – We have eaten every meal except one when it was raining – breakfast, lunch and dinner- outside. We have not seen even ONE fly! Yeah. I have seen a total of three mosquitos in that time as well. So, as far as bugs go, they may be bigger here and different, but there aren’t as many. Ok, good trade off.
But here’s what I really have to talk about today: Our friend Jeremy has been fighting cancer since last October. Ugly stuff. He has withstood several brutal rounds of chemo and some radiation. Then, they did it all again to kill off his bone marrow so they could give him someone else’s that didn’t have cancer. His wife, Michelle has pretty much never left his side. His kids, Caedmon and Jonny, haven’t been able to be with them for most of the last year since Jeremy’s immune system was so non-existent. If you were this family, it would be so easy to be mad at God. To blame God, the world and everything in it. It would be so simple to be angry or sad or feel sorry for yourself. If you were a teenager, like Jonny, going through all this it would be ‘natural’ to become rebellious and act out in all sorts of ways. The fact is, they haven’t done any of that. They have been happy and up. They have loved each other. They have laughed and kept their sense of humor.
In the dead of winter last year I was at church. It was a low point for Jeremy. He and Michelle had been gone and in the hospital for quite a while without a break and without seeing the kids. Oh, did I mention that in the middle of all that had been heaped on them, Jeremy’s mom died? Anyway, I have no idea what the sermon that Sunday was about. I am sure it was a good one, but I have no idea about it now, several months later. It doesn’t matter, because what I do remember is Jonny. During the singing portion of worship, Jonny joined the small group of people leading. He sat at the piano, playing and singing praise to God like there was nothing in the world he wasn’t thankful for. I watched his face, so trusting in the faithfulness of God, and I cried. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, Oh my soul. worship His holy name! That, my dears, is real ministry!
Oh there’s a P.S. here. There was only about a 40% chance that the bone marrow transplant would work. We’ve all been praying. Jeremy is being released on Friday to go home and resume his life! Happy Independence Day Jeremy and Michelle, Caedmon and Jonny.
