Together

What comes to mind when you hear the word togetherness? I used to want to live in the mountains like a hermit, then I decided I never wanted to be alone. I realized in those moments that I would have to be married, and have a family instead of being the hermit. I believe I was about ten years old when I thought that through.

We can handle things so much better when there is someone to go with us. With a companion we can rejoice in the victories and have help in our trials. Even the Bible says two are better than one because if one falls the other is there to pick him up. Families are one of God's greatest plans for togetherness. They are not the only way, but the greatest!

In August of 2006 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. What a shock! I should not have been too shocked I guess. I hear that our warranties run out at 40. In the beginning of my cancer experience, I thought I was alone to fight my battle; it is my body after all. It didn't take long for me to understand that it affected many people and I was not alone to fight.

Dawn and our kids stood by as I had my ups and downs. We chose to openly share the details with them, so we could help them with their thoughts and reactions. One of the kids asked if I was going to die after my next treatment. They prayed for me, hugged me, made me many pictures, and told me they loved me.

Dawn gave me lots of rest, guarded my diet, cried with me, urged me to get up and get going, sat with during treatments, and prayed for me too. Of the 20 years we have been married this was the greatest test of our relationship. Dawn proved to have the grace of God in her life to be all that I needed and more.

I had a dream early in the cancer experience. I was in a school bus being chased by a guy that was also driving a school bus. There was a dirt road through the woods next to the paved road and I thought I could lose him on the dirt road. Sure enough I looked back and the guy chasing me had become stuck. However my bus broke down just before I got to the paved road. I woke and asked God what that was supposed to mean. God spoke to me saying that the disease that was after me could not come any further, but I was not out of the woods yet. I laughed thinking that was pretty funny.

What I did not realize was that although I felt so alone, the woods were really full of people. My family, extended family, friends, church family, doctors and nurses were all there in the woods with me. God gave me such great encouragement through so many. So with others, together we make it through the victories and trials of life.

The video at the side is a memory of some of the people that helped me through my cancer experience, but not all. My children, wife, our parents, friends who shaved their heads with me, people from our community and all over giving us love offerings, and those who drove me to the hospital. I thank God that I was not alone.