Only Hope

The last few months, I've become very aware of the use of the word "hope." It's a word I probably say quite a few times a day, often over fairly trivial things. "I HOPE the weather is nice today. I HOPE the grocery store isn't crowded. I HOPE the delivery man is on time." You get the point. However, sometimes our "hopes" carry more weight....."I HOPE my friends have safe travel." I HOPE my niece's biopsy comes back negative." "I HOPE my friend is feeling God's peace in the loss of a parent."

When the Dr. told me it was IBC, being the computer nerd I am, I spent HOURS surfing the net looking for information and hope. Although it offered a ton of info, it didn't offer much hope. Site after site said people with IBC have a 50% change of making it five years. Those stats were depressing. That meant I had a 50% chance of seeing our youngest graduate high school. As a parent, that broke my heart. I'll admit, I probably cried more than slept that evening. Since then, we've learned new drugs have changed the outlook but they haven't been reflected in the stats. Our doctor assured us IBC can be cured. Recently, a board I frequent on-line of all IBC'ers counted it's members who were long term survivors. As I scrolled down and saw name after name of women who had made it 10 years, 20 years and even one 31 years, I cried. This time, the tears were those of hope.

However, after I thought about it, I realized perhaps I was putting my "hope" in the wrong things. Just because someone on that board survived 10 years, doesn't mean that is God's plan for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not being a pessimist. I've just come to understand that what will be, will be. It's all in God's hands. He is our ultimate Hope. Even when things in our lives seem hopeless, in the end, we have the promise of eternal life. As it says in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things HOPED for, the conviction of things not seen." As Christians, when our earthly hopes fail, our Heavenly Hope prevails!

Surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday. And yes, I'm HOPING for a good outcome! I'd be grateful if you could take a moment and pray that things will go smoothly. Specifically, please pray for peace for Dave and I, that the cancer will be gone, for minimal lymph node removal and a good recovery. It's unclear if I'll be in the hospital for one or two nights. It depends on how I'm doing and what our insurance decides.

We hope that you and yours have a Blessed Easter, celebrating the HOPE we were given at the empty tomb and our risen Lord!!

In His Strength,


Cindy and the VK's

P.S. Good news...I finally got some of those closets cleaned out! :-)