“Mr. Moore, we have the results of your biopsy and it’s Stage 4 Melanoma. We suggest surgery as soon as possible.”
That was the voicemail we received 2 days into our beach vacation in March of this year.
My husband had gone to the dermatologist a couple weeks prior to get a barely noticeable fibroid removed from his eye. In the midst of the procedure he casually asked the doctor what he thought of a place on his arm. Though it had grown in size, our family physician had said not to be concerned. Harmless, right??
Turns out that this particular doctor was VERY alarmed, enough to schedule a biopsy as quickly as possible.
That was the beginning of another of those stretches of time in our lives, commonly referred to as “Seasons!”
It’s a fact of life. Everyone has them. You’ve either just had one or about to have one.
There are happy ones, like the birth of a new granddaughter named “Hazel” (Yeah that’s me!) There are ones where the results take longer than we wanted or expected. Then there are ones that devastate us and we wonder if we’ll ever breathe normally again.
The last 6 months, for our family, have been a “Trust Me, buckle up, and hang on!” kind of time.
The Lord dropped the title of this post into my Spirit one day. Frenzied??
Isn’t that like a feeding time at the local Alligator Adventure park, where they drop a raw chicken into the water and….well you get the picture. One chicken and 10 hungry alligators. That’s Frenzied!
Or the scene on the beach when you drop just ONE Cheese Puff in the sand. I have yet to see one polite bird with manners willing to share that orange delight. That’s a Frenzy!
Even though our particular experiences had nothing to do with alligators or seagulls, the Lord just kept bringing this word to my mind, so upon further study I found the definition that applied.
The word frenzied, according to Your Dictionary, means “something done in a hurried or distracted way” An example being “Someone weaving very quickly back and forth between lanes on the freeway.”
Yes, that cancer diagnosis was the “ON” ramp to our last six months.
Let Me Clarify
But doesn’t Colossians 3:15 say, “And let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts?” Absolutely! So if Peace is in our hearts, we won’t be hurried or distracted? There’s NO….SUCH….THING as no distractions.
Whether you’re out for a leisurely Sunday drive, or weaving in and out of traffic at 70 mph, God’s still IN the car.
To be honest, I really don’t like driving so I’m all for Jesus taking the wheel. He doesn’t yell at people when they cut you off. But if I’m really really truthful, I sometimes get aggravated and tell Him I’ll take over for a while. Usually tacks on a detour or two until I scoot back over to where I belong.
The doctor approached me with great news. “I was able to remove all of your husband’s cancer. I don’t anticipate any more problems. He’s good to go!”
“Praise the Lord! Thank You Jesus! Just what we believed!”
Time to move on…..plant garden, open pool, do some landscaping……or is it???
Over the last several months, there have been times that we’ve taken the “OFF” ramp, thanking Him for getting us through, only to find out that we were there just long enough to go the bathroom, buy some snacks, fill up the gas tank, and get back right back on the road.
Mom’s I Know
What I’ve typed so far may seem elementary. There isn’t a Mom that this blog is intended for that isn’t in the season that never ends…the loss of a child. Our child’s loss will always distract us. It is frenzied.
I know people at this moment whose seasons are so much more heartbreaking than my own and my prayers for them are constant.
There’ve been countless opportunities over the last few months to boldly declare with confidence, “God got us through the death of Josiah, He’ll surely get us through this!”
Why do we say this? Because, as Mother’s who’ve lost children, we’ve experienced the most pain we could ever imagine. Yet, here we are weaving in and out, getting from one “Off” ramp to the next, by the Grace of God.
We’ll finally arrive when we’re able to hold our son’s and daughter’s again.
After our family received some devastating news last week (Yeah, we’re back on the highway) I told my husband, “Boy it sure seems like the mountaintops are few and far between the valleys lately, aren’t they?”
Or to follow this scenario, “Is it just me or are the rest stops farther and farther apart on this trip?”
In times like these, I just have to shout, “God, I KNOW you love us and our trust is in You!”
So, I’ve had to look at the last frenzied 6 months in the light of the work that Jesus did on the cross.
The finished work that will get us through season to season, from Glory to Glory.
“My Prayer For You”
God, I don’t know what season each Mom finds herself in at this moment, but You do. Whether they’re weaving in and out of traffic, filled with distractions and hurriedness, or whether they’re at an off ramp stretching and resting, please give them Peace in this moment. More than likely, whoever is reading this has lost a child, so Lord please remind them that You’re going to get them through the frenzy of life. In the powerful name of Jesus! Amen