Nine years ago today...
From When You Can't See The Shepherd, Chapter 3, pp43-44
"October 28, 2013, was a cold, dark
morning. Around 5 AM, we bundled Casey into the van, still in his pajamas, and
made the trek to the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center at Loyola University in
Maywood, IL. With great apprehension we sat with him, waiting for him to be
taken back for a biopsy. Nervous laughter punctuated the tension as he began to
humorously respond to the medicine they give before surgery. Finally, it was
time to let him go.
While the biopsy only took about an
hour, it seemed like days. Finally, we were taken to the consultation room to
wait for the oncologist. The door opened, and my heart was in my throat. The
oncologist walked in, still in his surgical scrubs and the mask still over his
face. He removed the mask, and a big smile broke out on his face as he
declared, “It’s a good day!” Overwhelmed with emotion, I wept with gratitude
for God’s goodness.
The growth in his bone that had
appeared to be a tumor turned out to be a benign fibrous dysplasia. Subsequent
follow-ups over the years have showed no change, and as I write this, Casey is
an amazing sixteen-year-old high school junior, terrorizing the roads with his
learner’s permit.
To this day, I cannot even think
about that moment in the consultation room, much less talk about it, without
the tears beginning to flow again. Moments like these are why God told Israel
to set up monuments and not remove them; their children could then look back,
hear about, and see the faithfulness of God.
Trials hurt. The valley gets dark.
Testing is never easy; but, if we look back, we will see that God has always
brought us through and will continue to do so. If we don’t quit in the middle
of the story, we too can come forth shining like gold."