CANCER. It’s a word you hope you never hear, yet it’s all around us.

It seems like every other day someone else has a family member who is fighting cancer in some form. We pray for these people. We grieve when they lose the battle. We rejoice and praise God when the cancer is defeated.

My father-in-law is now facing a battle with this terrible disease, thanks (no sarcasm intended) to a heart problem. In the quest to discover why he wasn’t getting enough oxygen, doctors found a spot on his lung. Further testing revealed a mass on his pancreas.

PANCREATIC CANCER!!! One of the most deadly forms of this disease has our family on a roller coaster of emotion. What do you do when the godly patriarch of a family is stricken with disease?

While not fully armed with all the information we need (doctors have yet to deliver further test results), we are looking into various alternative remedies. Prayer is a given. Getting the body into a state where cancer cells CANNOT thrive is our first defense, and many of us will be by his side following the same plan.

This family is spiritually grounded in a faith in God, but our human (flesh) side is still fearful. He’s not just Dad, or Papaw, but our spiritual leader! For some, he is the ONLY spiritual leader they have ever had. With a heart as big as you can imagine and patience beyond belief, this man has given his life in service to others.

LORD, give us strength to face this disease. We ask for healing of his body, and peace in his heart. He is ready to join you in heaven, but we are (selfishly) not ready to give him up! Yet your will, not ours, be done.

Psalm 41:1-3 (NASB)
1How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble.
2The LORD will protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;
And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You restore him to health.

UPDATE
IT’S NOT CANCER!!!

Dad had an ultrasound & endoscopy, and guess what they found? The “mass” is nothing but a “splenule” or extra spleen tissue that is on the outside. Dr. Cai (God bless him abundantly!) said it didn’t look serious at all and that there was no need for surgery. WHEW!!!

We don’t know what dad’s hometown doctors saw. There is nothing on his lung or pancreas. What was being treated as an emergency (aggressive cancer) comes down to what feels like nothing. We believe that God performed a miracle. Perhaps part of that miracle was pointing us toward the supplements, alkaline water, etc. that we employed. However it was accomplished, I KNOW that God’s hand is in it!