Joy Comes in the Morning (Dad)

03/04/2010

Today I talked to an old friend from my hard storming oilfield days. Bob and I have been close for years and I used to stay with him and RaeDale when I went to Denver on business. They are concerned for Janice and wished to stay in touch. We have similarly heard from many old friends. Bob asked me if I had called Carlos, our old boss in North Dakota., as I had promised I would. I had not. I didn’t intentionally fail to call Carlos, it’s just that I’ve had a lot going and I totally spaced it. I promised Bob I would call Carlos, knowing I needed to do that. You see, Carlos was diagnosed with colon cancer. Whereas Janice’s news has been good after the original diagnosis, Carlos’ has not. His cancer had spread to the liver and his blood markers were high. I did call Carlos, and I’m glad I did. It was good for him and it was good for me. In fact, he had good news that his cancer seemed to be responding well to chemo and there was a lot of hope going forward.
I say all this because it highlights something that has occurred to me lately. Cancer is intensely personal. People are so great in their caring and their prayers, cards and calls. But at the end of the day, they have their families and lives and life goes on …… as it should. When you lay your head on the pillow at night, that’s when those old enemies try to stick their heads out. They say, “What if? … Maybe it won’t…. It could be, etc.” Then you are left alone with yourself and your God. Is it enough? In our case it has been more than sufficient, and for that we are thankful. For Janice and me, we have each other. That is an added blessing and a tremendous support at the end of the day. But so many of our friends who are going through this, and worse, don’t have that person lying next to them at when the sun goes down. It is for them that I pray Christ will make Himself especially known. He is able.
“Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.” Ps 30:5b
One way or another, the morning will come.
rks