Expect Healing and Remain Positive

I often tell people, “All my days are good, but there are some days where a little sadness is sprinkled in, and they are tougher than others.” A number of days ago was one of those difficult days in which I needed to push through tough emotional barriers. However, I have learned that on many of those rougher days, God drops me an unexpected blessing if I will just pay attention.

One of those unexpected blessings came last week. When I arrived home from work, I checked the mail, and at the bottom of the pile I found a blessing from God. I received the most incredible letter, and it was just the thing I needed. I did not have to look far for this blessing—it came right to my mailbox!

I read the return mail address and saw that it was a card from Lyn’s neurooncologist. We loved this doctor, and he is one that I referred to in an earlier post. I opened the letter and started to read it. It was heartfelt, and very expressive how he felt about Lyn and her trust and faith in God. He stated that her death was “devastating,” and he felt she would be the one that would beat the cancer. There were many other personal items he went on to write, but the thing that stood out was how Lyn impacted him through her hope and positivity.

Almost immediately after Lyn’s stroke and cancer diagnosis we were galvanized as a team because of our faith in God’s ability to bring healing, peace, comfort, answers, and hope. Whenever we went in to get bloodwork, a hospital stay, or a doctor appointment we always took with us an authentic positive attitude. We were not putting on a fake smile or spinning a story that we were happy. We were truly happy!

We were happy, because we had our relationship with God, the peace that He offered, and the assurance of eternal life after this life is complete. We also had medical care that utilized amazing technology, and cutting-edge medicine. Between God, the doctors, and the medical treatment, we were almost always positive, and we expected healing! In fact, the recent card, and the message the doctor wrote reiterated how he saw us, and how it impacted him.

I realize some might think, “What good was your faith in God, the prayers, or even the treatment, because your wife still passed away?” Yes, it is true that Lyn passed away, and we had hoped and prayed for a different outcome. However, the fact is that everyone is on a path that leads to death. No one escapes death—it is just a matter of when that might happen.

As stated previously, we realized that we had zero control over the cancer, and therefore the best we could do was to rely on our faith. God was the North Star on our journey, and that Star guided us each day until the very end. God still guides me each day and I am thankful for His presence in my life.

While we expected healing, we knew it was up to God to bring about that healing. Lyn had extremely serious, and life-threatening moments during her journey, however, she also had some amazing and positive moments where she was within a whisper of death, but God brought healing. There were moments in which the only hope at that time was God. There were dozens of times in which I prayed, “God she is in your hands, and you are the only one that can bring her out of this.” On nearly every occasion, within minutes, there were miraculous improvements. We experienced the power and provision of God, and therefore it was impossible not to expect healing, and to remain positive.

The doctor pointed out in his letter, “I believe she had a great quality of life. She improved and went back to work. You had time away together.” These words from the doctor came at exactly the right time. His words reminded me that we had an incredible life, and there were amazing memories built while walking through the valley of suffering and sorrow. Even though Lyn was walking through this valley for more than two years, she would constantly grab hold of God’s hand to be hoisted to the mountain top of happiness. She remained positive all the time.

Never once did I hear Lyn complain about the cancer. The only thing I heard her say, and I was reminded recently in her journal, was that speaking more clearly would make things easier. However, even in her difficulty in speaking, we saw amazing things happen.

Lyn was incredibly gifted in the facilitation of organizational strategic process mapping. She specialized in facilitating groups to identify problems, and to breakdown the processes and to arrive at a more functional direction. While Lyn’s work role had to change somewhat, because she talked slowly after her stroke, it allowed her to impact people in amazing ways as they saw the courage to lead even while struggling. Lyn remained positive and used her difficulty in speaking as a strength and inspiration for others.

I was also reminded in the letter from the doctor how much Lyn wanted others to see the faith she had in God. The doctor picked up on this and wrote, “You both stayed positive to the end,” and “I appreciate your deep faith in God, and I also know we are in God’s hands.”

BINGO! This was Lyn’s desire. If you look back to the first blog I wrote that “Life + Faith” was central to Lyn, and there was no way to avoid talking about both (September 8 blog). I know for a fact that having others recognize her faith in God was her number one goal. I would like to say her number one goal was to be healed, however, as stated, healing was something we could not control. We knew healing was in God’s hands, and therefore, we needed to walk through life and decide how to respond to the cancer on a daily basis.

It was God’s job to heal. It was our job to respond in a positive way due to the hope we had in God. If our faith in God did not help us respond in a positive and hopeful way, why have faith in God at all? Our faith should have guided us, and it did.

Lyn expected healing and remained positive. However, her main goal was to see others think about their lives and see the trust she had. She wanted others to come to the same faith in Christ that she had. She often said if someone comes to faith in Christ through my cancer, then it is worth it. While I too have this faith in Christ, it was still hard for me to hear this from her lips because I wanted my wife to be healed.

However, for Lyn she was going to remain positive, and be present in the moment to bring God’s love to those she encountered on a daily basis.

Lyn wanted to help write this blog, and in many ways, she is participating in this because I am the messenger and explaining how she lived life, how her faith guided her, and how she wanted all that knew her to experience the amazing God-filled life that she possessed. I am thankful that through her life, she even spoke to me. Through her life I learned to expect healing, and to remain positive in all things.