Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...(Hebrews 12:1)

Cancer has a way of infiltrating not just our physical bodies but also the soul and spirit. It is a stealthy adversary of the highest magnitude. We are tripped up, knocked down, and worked over.

...If we let it...If we give up....If we hand ourselves over...

Certainly the journey that G and I find ourselves on has brought deep sorrow. There are doubts and fears and discouragement scattered all along this path.

Yet we do not lose hope. We do not give up. We do not hand ourselves over.

We choose instead to "cast off" that which entangles us. We cast off doubt, discouragement, fear, worry, anxiety. We choose to focus on that which is lovely. That which is good. That which is noble. In doing so we find that cancer loses its power over us and our ability to live life...to really live life as God intended, bursts forth.

We find blessings in the small things of life...a kiss goodnight...a tender word...the touch of another reminding us that we are God's beloved...the soft nose of a dog burrowing into our palm...the beauty of a monarch butterfly moving among petunias...the power of a storm...the freshness of clean sheets...

We find ourselves surrounded by our family, friends, and community who become our "great cloud of witnesses". These are the ones who bear us up, providing care of every imaginable kind. These are the ones who see what we cannot see and remind us of what we have forgotten.

And thus we begin anew each day to run the race that is before us, the race that is "marked out for us". Unencumbered and free, hearts overflowing with gratitude, and persevering, we live our lives as God intended.

...lives marked by His presence, marked by His grace, marked by His beauty, marked by His goodness, marked by His blessings....

grace and peace....

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