In the midst of all of our surprise at the realization that Amy's cancer was far more advanced than any of us thought, my sister has never ceased to amaze me. I remember the day after we were told that her non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was in stage four and very aggressive; she was neither anxious nor upset, but rather completely at peace and full of joy. Not that this has not been hard for her, but her eyes are not focused on the temporary things which we cannot control, but rather on the LORD and on those things which are of eternal value.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says it best.
"16Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
17For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
18while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
It was last Friday that she received the call from the doctor with the news, and the following Saturday morning of her birthday we had been discussing the results and I was trying my best to be strong for her and not cry. I was not so successful in my attempts, and I remember her looking at me and saying there is no need to cry; that she sees all the positive things in this. "First of all", she says, "I have been wanting to lose a few pounds, and I'm pretty sure that with all of the treatments, that that will probably happen." (Amy can always find a bright side to any situation). "Secondly, if I lose my hair during chemo, I can get some wigs and change up my hair-do whenever I want. And, to be honest, I just see all the wonderful things that God is going to do through this. I'm really not worried." Leave it to Amy to be the one comforting me when it should be the other way around. She is always encouraging, always positive, and always trusting in the LORD, knowing that our lives are not our own, but all for God's glory!
-Julie
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so so thankful for Amy's faith!
ReplyDeleteI love you Julie and am so thankful for you my precious sister!!!
ReplyDeleteI do not know any of you personally - but I am a friend of Wendy Shonk's and I love her very much (I am also in the mom's club that Amy used to belong to - but we have never met!) I just wanted to let you know that you are constantly on my mind and I am thankful to read about your faith in God - I feel inspired and challenged and reminded of all of his promises to me - although I would have to say that I am upset that you are going through this. I will be forever praying for you - every day - thank you for your incredible faith - I LOVE one of the songs you have on here - I will praise you in this storm - beautiful - thank you for sharing - Love,
ReplyDeleteKerri Frick
I can't imagine how I would handle going through this myself any more than I can imagine how it would affect me if it were one of my sisters. Sisters are a very precious gift...I have two that I can't imagine my life without! The tears were pouring down my cheeks as I read this post with so much sympathy for you both. Julie, you are blessed to have Amy and she is blessed to have you...I will be thinking of you as well as I pray for Amy and her family! Know that you are surrounded by so much love and support.
ReplyDeletelove
Bethany
I wish I had they relationship with my sister that you two share. Life would be so much richer. You two are so sweet and cute together. :)
ReplyDeleteKari B.