I Tell You the View, is Truly Amazing

Well the last couple days we had a chance to get out and enjoy the wonders of God's creation. The kids got a chance to play in the Pacific Ocean  and feel the power of the waves. Dana got to walk on the beach and feel the sand and water between her toes. On the drive east to Riverside we saw snow-capped mountains through the palm-tree lined streets. Sky so blue it defines the color's name. I'm sure lots photos will follow later, one or two here won't d it justice.

Yesterday after church we met up with some more new friends. Maggie has been corresponding with a pen pal that she found through Focus on the Family. Again, it is just like God to prepare the way for us and provide a Christian family to visit with and share life together - their daughter suffered from leukemia a few years ago and the same questions we are asking about not knowing why we're on this path they had already gone through. (Hoo-hoo)

So all the wonders of God's creation has got me thinking about giving you another historical snippet. After the events of the diagnosis from the radiologist (see "Second Glance" from last week) it was time to find a Neurosurgeon. It was plain we were going to see a real specialist, cuz darn it we Delnor, St. Joe's and Sherman Hospitals are very nice but there was no way they were going to operate on my wife's brain.

Rush Univ. has a great reputation so she called there. "Well, our Chief Neurosurgeon has open clinic hours this afternoon, can you come at 2:00?" What?? The number one guy right away? It takes 6 months to see my dentist!! (Hoo-hoo)

So we dropped the kids off at Grammas and plowed through traffic to bring the MRIs to Dr. Byrne. Right away he looked at the scans and looked very concerned. It could be the Meningioma as the radiologist guessed but he thought very strongly it was an Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) which "if we catch it this early, you're very fortunate. And don't go looking it up on the internet, it'll scare the crap out of you."

"I could have cancer?!?"

Right away after leaving there she wanted to go to the lake. As a young girl she would spend every summer day at the pool, or ride her bike to Lake Michigan. Water was always her thing. She wanted to see something bigger than herself, and Lake Michigan was the biggest around. She went out on a pier that goes out into the Lake to talk to God alone, because she knew I wouldn't follow her out there (there's sharks and giant squid etc in the water...)

How exactly is this part of God's plan? My daughters are still so young, I'm home-schooling, there are things to do and see, why is this happening??

It's just like God that she got a phone call from a dear friend that was having family stuff going on she needed to talk about. So there they were sharing life together (hoo-hoo) And it is so great to be a part of something when it all comes back full circle; that same friend called yesterday while we were walking on the beach. There is no question in our minds that God is still there walking with us.

It is foolish for us to praise Him only in the "good times" merely because the road ahead seems a little foggy to us. We can only walk by faith, not by sight, strengthened by His glorious might. What joy it will be to look back at all this and say "what were we worried about?"

I really don't know who's reading this and where you are at spiritually, but I encourage you to take the time to look at this natural world that you can see, hear, taste, smell and touch and know that it was not put here by mistake. It was made by Someone who loves you and wants you to enjoy it. Something bigger than yourself, no matter what you're going through. Even when we don't praise Him, the earth cries out His glory.

I'm going to close today's post with excerpt from one of my favorite creation songs, "Truly Amazing" by The Waiting;

Well, the same Big Hands that made me made the biggest skies I've seen. And the same Big Eyes that cry for me are watching every living thing. So the skies they never argue and Creation won't complain. Though She's been victimized and brutalized she shudders only at One Name

                                                            

And I know I've been afraid of every little thing. But today I join Creation when I raise my head and sing

She's opened my eyes, and now I'm where I belong, joined in a song. You're truly amazing!

I'm looking at You, I tell You the view is truly amazing!

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