There are some wonderful people in Cancerland.  Many strangers turn to friends along the way when there is a common bond of pain and heartache.  It is not unlike the mommy phenomenon that joins all who are mothers.  I remember being stunned that I could stand in a line at Wal-Mart, and talk to a total stranger about constipation or ear infections.  The same holds true in Cancerland…the words are different, but the idea is the same. I could hold a conversation about blood counts or nausea with someone across the country and we are bonded. 

In my graduate class, there is a woman whose son is battling brain cancer…again.  He has had a recurrence, after being declared cancer free.  This nightmare is one that those in Cancerland live with…that you may never truly leave Cancerland. This mother is in my online class and lives across the country from me, but my heart breaks for her as they undergo treatment again.  She was rejoicing over my blood count the other day when she wrote a line that struck me deeply, “Congratulations!  Enjoy your freedom and the extra time you have been given.”  These simple words have a profound meaning.

 Considering what she is currently facing, I take them to heart.  Every day I live without doctors, hospitals, and drugs means freedom.  I want to forget those days, and even though it has only been a couple of weeks, I have found that they are easy to delete from my memory.  She reminded me not to let them go but rather, to appreciate what they gave to me…extra time.  To think about it as ‘extra’ is unsettling.  However, in reality every day we live is an extra day.  We rarely look at it that way when we are complaining about work, or arguing with our kids.  It seems a burden on those days.  Yet, it is one more day we get to live this life.  We can use it to love our children, or make some kind of difference in the world around us.  On the other hand, we can choose to be bitter and unforgiving by holding on to our hurts or blinded to his love by our own faults.

  God made each and every day, and there is a purpose for each one.  We only have to remember to ask him to show us and then look for it.  That is what it means to be truly free…choosing his purposes over ours.  Peace instead of revenge.  Forgiveness over bitterness.  Life and love over death.  Our physical bodies may not cooperate, ahh but our hearts…our hearts are what matter. He only wants our hearts to be bonded with his.  The amazing peace that follows surpasses understanding.  Fears fall away and doubts take a back seat to his incredible redeeming love.  Our little pea-brains cannot fathom it, that is why it is called faith.  One step off the abyss and we are caught in the arms of Abba father.  He swings us around and looking into our eyes, he smiles…he laughs…and dances like a father with his child.  Amazing Grace…how sweet the sound.   How will you spend your extra time?