Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Happy to Be Alive

My son used to play a song by Reliant K that went like this:

Sunny with a high of 75
Since You took my heavy heart and made it light.
And it’s funny how you find
You enjoy your life
When you’re happy to be alive.

I haven’t heard that song in quite a while ~ and I didn’t think of it at all during this longest-of-all-winters that we’ve just come through in Canada! But the last few days those words have been running through my head. Yes, even today . . . ’though we received an inch of fresh snow on our just-cleared lawns!

I can’t forget that a year ago today I started chemotherapy. I was so scared. Had I made the right decision about treatment? What side effects would I face? What if the “cure” was worse than the cancer? Would I get sick? What if I took the wrong dose of steroids at the wrong time? And on and on . . .

God sent me a special friend that day ~ a wonderful nurse who literally linked her arm through mine and ministered to me along every step of the way . . . from patiently pushing the drugs intravenously to covering me with a warm blanket to bringing me a cold pack when a sudden headache set in. When I told her how scared I was, she looked me in the eye and asked, “Do you believe in God?” I said, “Yes,” and she replied, “Then that’s all that matters.  Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.”

She was such a blessing to me. I hoped that she’d be there for the next five rounds of chemo. She was; and I still stop in to visit the chemo clinic whenever I get the chance. Who dreamed I’d actually look forward to going there!

Today as I enjoy the beautiful snow and prepare to watch The Passion of the Christ with some friends as we approach Easter, I am reminded just how good it is to be alive. Thank you, Jesus!

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