Thursday, March 12, 2015

Results and Riding


Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Victoria. The scan process on Monday went extremely smoothly, in fact each step happened early! Victoria was her normal cheery self, choosing to wear her Onesy which bought many smiles to staff and patients traversing the corridors of the John Hunter Hospital.

Thank you to everyone who sent messages of support and encouragement, and to my Mum and Dad who were here to support us at all the hospital visits. 

The MRI indicated that the tumour is stable, which means no more treatment is necessary at this stage. The next scan is booked for July 22, 2015. We are so grateful to God for this result, and for another four treatment-free months! We are also grateful that Victoria experienced virtually no anxiety leading up to the scan. The rest of us travelled well until 'results' day, and then I, in particular, fell apart! Next time, I will have to follow Victoria's example.


The goal of riding the 50km section of the Loop the Lake served as a fantastic distraction for me in the lead up to the scan. We crossed the finish line with much satisfaction. It was great to ride the last couple of the kilometres with the family, including Marshall on his skateboard. Thank you to Jenny who rode with me on the Loop the Lake, and to Kris, my weekly riding partner who helped me get to a level of fitness that meant I had no sore muscles anywhere after the ride.  And thank you to my parents, Ken's parents and Robyn for coming to welcome us across the finish line. It was a fantastic family event, and hopefully raised a lot of money for the John Hunter Children's Hospital.

So, getting back to Victoria, we are still on this roller coaster ride, with the blessing of larger 'straights' now. We will continue to trust God in this journey, knowing that He loves Victoria even more than we do. I have been reading the book 'Emotionally Healthy Spirituality' by Peter Scazzero, and have just started Chapter seven - Enlarge your soul through grief and loss. Today, I wanted to share these couple of paragraphs,

'Our culture routinely interprets losses as alien invasions that interrupt our 'normal' lives. We numb our pain through denial, blaming, rationalisation, addictions, and avoidance. We search for spiritual shortcuts around our wounds. We demand others take away our pain. 
Yet we all face many deaths within out lives. The choice is whether these deaths will be terminal (crushing our spirit and life) or open us up to new possibilities and depths of transformation in Christ.' page 135-136

For our family, we are choosing the latter. We are choosing to stand on Christ our Rock, and let Him transform us through this circumstance.

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging in us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. 
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:22-28 The Message

Thank you for standing with us, supporting us through prayer, messages of support and practical help. We are so grateful to have you in our lives and on this journey with us.

2 comments:

Ruth Lawless said...

So thankful for the great results. You are an amazing woman Wendy and God is using you to reach many. Praise God for His great goodness and mercy!

Mark Bridgewater said...

Eastcoast is standing with your family. You are not alone on this journey. Mark & Bron