Isaiah 40:31
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;
they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.
will renew their strength;
they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.
This week I completed my last chemo infusion. I started the
chemo five months ago in January. At that time I had made remarkable recovery
after the West Nile Virus bout I contracted a year and a half before. Our dog Katie
and I would walk over the La Sierra Hills in front of and behind our home.
Katie would come home dragging her tail behind her and trying to duck into the
shade of every desert plant that looked like it might offer a bit of cool
respite.
Then I started the chemo. Within a scant fortnight I was
winded just walking up to the Pumpkin Rock nestled on a low point on the ridge
to the west of our home. Since then I have only once or twice made it up to the
saddle point—an even lower destination. Otherwise I have restricted my goings
to the almost level area in our valley. I walk with uncertain steps and brace
myself for any slight slip on the dirt. I feel this constant headache that
decries my actually being upright. Sylvia walks next to me gently pushing the
middle of my back on the uphill stretches.
Meanwhile Katie runs joyfully around and digs energetically
in every gopher burrow and rabbit hole she can find. I have pushed myself to
walking about 2,000 steps according to a pedometer program I have on my smart
phone. Then I return home and sit in the recliner and allow my heart and lungs
to catch up with my body. Usually I am too tired to even sleep, but if I do, it
will often be an hour and a half before I awaken. That is unless Katie suddenly
explodes into a barking session.
Now that I am no longer being infused with the chemo poison
that is supposed to zap the cancer I’m carrying, I eagerly await the renewal of
my strength in a very literal sense. The Lord brought me back from a much
closer brush with death during my West Nile episode. I fully trust that he will
again fulfill this promise in Isaiah.
I thank You, Lord,
that I can trust in Your promises and that You have seen fit to preserve me a
second time. Let’s go for it, Lord!
[i]
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I can personally testify that one day your strength will come back... And when it does, it's amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You do encourage me. I feel much better now--in January 2019--but a long way from where I was a year ago today!!
ReplyDelete