Jack returned home from seeing his first hockey game last night to find me asleep in his bed.  His brother Luke, so used to having big bro in the room at bedtime, asked if I would stay as he tried to find sleep.  I am pretty sure I found it first.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, buddy!   How was it?”

I scooted over and patted the bed.  Jack climbed in to share the single person space, our heads side by side on his Star Wars pillow.  He’s almost as big as I am now.  The aroma of the sports arena still lingered in his hair.

“It was awesome. Those guys can skate probably twice as fast as I can.”  (Jack has never ice-skated.  I love the confidence.)

Jack told me stories of fights, body checks, and getting tossed a puck as he and our dear friend, Manning, watched from the front row.  This was her birthday gift to Jack, and in the words of our boys, it was epic.

And then, as he often does, he checked in with me, “Mom, how’s your cancer?”

“Jack, I’ve waited all day to tell you some good news.  The doctors took special pictures of inside my body and the tumor is gone.  They can’t see the cancer anymore.”

Smiling, Jack slipped his arms around me and snuggled in close whispering, “This has been a really good day.  God is good.”

“God IS good.  Bad days or great days, God is always good,” I whispered back.  And once again, I think I found sleep first.

In the next few days we will tell the kids about my surgery.  Would you pray for wisdom as we tailor the conversation to each child?

And would you pray for the road ahead?  The two steps of treatment remaining – surgery and radiation – are the clean-up crew.  The ninja medicine certainly worked!  Hallelujah!  The tumor disintegrated, and the assumption is that the cancer cells anywhere else vaporized too.   As we all know, cancer is a war at the microscopic, cellular level.  Surgery will remove the areas where the cancer was visible, but it will also provide the tissue needed for the pathologist to determine if any cancer cells remain.  Radiation is the special-ops forces with gamma-ray laser guns to zap any lasting hold-out cells.  We’re gonna blast those suckers into smithereens.

While the war goes on, we are rejoicing that the hardest part is done and was so effective. Thank you for rejoicing with us!   Your messages and comments have been like throwing a party this weekend.  And thanks be to our good and mighty God, the Great Physician, who has tended to me so well, body and soul!

Pressing on with hope,

Anne