Today started off great.  My Mom, Dad, brother, sisters, brothers in law, sister in law, and 5 granddaughters started the day looking out across a peaceful LBJ lake.  We had been looking forward to this trip for months.  I am so blessed to be part of a family that loves getting together.  There are always plenty of laughs and just an enjoyment of being together.  Things began to change midmorning when my Mom got a phone call asking her to come in to get the results of an MRI she had last week.  The thought was that she had a disk problem in her back that had been causing pain for the last couple months.  When the doctors office asked that my dad come with her we knew things weren’t good.  For the next few hours we go about our day swimming, boating and trying not to think the worst.  If you try hard enough you can nearly convince yourself everything is going to be fine even though there is that small corner in your mind that you know something is not right.  Then the words that so many have heard, and yet they feel unbelievably personal came, saying; your Mom has cancer.   Never before has a vacation changed directions so quickly.  Life is forever changed for our family because of that word, cancer.

We have very little information at this point and we don’t know what the next steps are.  What we do know is that my Mom is now facing a life threatening disease and the path to recovery will not be easy.  Our emotions are all over the map.  Anger, frustration, fear, hurt, and a forced glimmer of hope are mixed together making a melting pot of emotional instability.  We were asked by my Mom to stay at the lake and “have fun and don’t let this ruin the vacation.”  We all know that we couldn’t do any good clogging up her hospital room, so we have stayed at the lake house together, at least for one night.  (We also do not want to get reprimanded by our mother if we went against her wishes.)

As expected, we are having a challenging time of following my mom’s desire for us to have fun.  We decided to do our best and all of us piled into the boat to cruise around the lake in Kingsland.  Two interesting things happened.  First, we were listening to a children’s station on Pandora and the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” came on.  I bet the song just came flooding back into your head and just like 20 years ago you won’t be able to get it out for hours: you’re welcome.  I had to laugh at the simplicity of the song and its simple message.  Worry is not going to help anything.  Then, as we are speeding across the water the sun breaks through the clouds for the first time today and we see a faint rainbow.  On top of that, rain begins to fall.  There is nothing more surreal than feeling the splash of rain in your face in the bright sunshine.  

It hit me as we dodged the raindrops and squinted into the sun that we have entered into a storm of life.  I don’t know the outcome and I know that the rain will increase before it lets up.  But just as the sun burst forth through the clouds today, despite the rain, I know the presence of God will burst forth in the darkest days of this battle against cancer.  The sun was so bright today that the rain became insignificant in its light.  Whether the clouds grow darker and the storm rages in our lives the light of Christ will render the storm powerless in the end.  Know matter the ending, the darkness of life will be forced out by the light of life that comes from Christ.  It is hard to see now, but my Mom and our family are going to get to see the radiant beauty of a God whose light penetrates the darkness.  I am scared to death and yet I can’t wait to experience the marvelous light of Christ. 

We appreciate your prayers and we will share with you how God’s light will overcome this darkness.