Day 13/14/15 Things are more quiet today. This is the first day after Sis’ initial radiation treatment on her head. I’m keeping my eye on her. They told us all kinds of things about what would happen to her while this was going on. It all seems to have blurred together in my mind. I remember bits and pieces of it; pace yourself, drink lots of water, don’t let any direct sunlight hit your head, don’t lean over, snack during the day, eat a well balanced diet. Sis is able to sleep in this morning. She has a habit of waking up every morning at 3:30 AM, and then going back to sleep. She’s been doing this for about the last year and a half. She’s still doing it, only now she struggles to get back to sleep, so when she’s sleeping it’s good. Sis and I have been planning some home renovations and this seems like an excellent time to work on them. We’re fixing up a room that will accommodate visitors. We keep ourselves busy with t his. As the day wears on Sis starts to get tired and decides to lay down for a nap. I’ve got some tapes and CDs that have bible verses and sermons that are focused on receiving healing from God. She likes to listen to these, so I have them playing in the background all the time, even while she naps. After she’s napped for a while she gets her bible out and we just listen to the tapes and pray the rest of the day, and into the night. The more we do this, the more our faith grows (“faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”, Romans 10:17); the more peaceful we become. There is no such thing as “false hope” when it’s mixed with faith. (“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”, Hebrews 11:1) Even if you have no faith I personally see nothing wrong with “false hope”. I’ve experienced the alternative, “true despair”, first hand. It didn’t seem to help at all. You know, I don’t understand one thing. All the doctors are quick to say that attitude is everything, and I agree, but If it’s SO IMPORTANT why is a pamphlet the best they can do? Why did it take nearly two weeks before anybody offered any “attitude” help at all. It’s there, it’s available, but it seems to be a bit too far down the list of “treatments”. As we’ve said before, we’re in it to win it, and we find more and more confirmation in the bible that God is the healer who “forgiveth all thine iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases” (Psalm 103:3). He’s in it to win it also. This is something we’ve always known ... now more than ever. Day 14 We went to church this morning. It’s an interdenominational church we’ve been to many times. I’ve always liked the inviting, open atmosphere at this church. I’ve always believed that you can’t help anybody if you run them off. They’ve always had a swanky, hi-tech service with a band in a full concert stage setting, lights, multi-media, etc. It’s quite impressive. I’m always distracted. I know a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in a situation like this and all I can think of is the details; somebody’s monitor’s feeding back; the guitar mic’s not on, stuff like that. Anyway, there’s an older gentleman sitting next to Sis who’s come to the church for the first time, just to check it out. In the middle of one of the louder, up-tempo numbers he leans over to Sis and tells her, “I saw the Lawrence Welk show last night, you know, the one with Elvis on it!” he was grinning from ear to ear. Maybe we’ll visit some other churches. After church we had lunch. When we got home we started listening to healing tapes, reading the bible, and praying. This lasted all the rest of the day. This is becoming our pattern. We pray, we read , we study, the peace comes. It’s how we fight. ... and having done all to stand ... stand. Day 15 Today is a glorious day. It’s starting to get hot here in Nashville, which means it’s also starting to get humid, so for the most part we’ve been driven indoors. We’ve been spending almost all of our time reading the bible, praying, listening to healing tapes, talking about the bible, and talking about being healed. I have become somewhat of a chef lately. I’m determined that Sis is going to eat right. We have an appointment with a nutrition person in a couple of days, but until then I’m focused on fruits and vegetables, the more raw the better. Every night I whip up my special plate of sliced organic tomatoes, carrots, spinach, dried apricots, dried nediterranian black figs, and organic raw cashews, for protien. Sis eats it, but I don’t think she’s very impressed with it. She doesn’t have much room to criticize though because she can’t cook a lick. She’s taken a lot of good-natured ribbing over the years about her cooking ... but deserves every bit of it. I’m not kidding, she can’t cook. <back