In this sinful world, God allows us to experience pain, sickness, and death. Through suffering, though, we are comforted that we are destined for a place where God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Introduction from William H ‘Bill’ Smith:  Calvin and Kim Smith with their sons, Josh and Jackson, live in Roanoke, VA. Calvin is an attorney and Kim coordinates field work for occupational therapy students at a medical college. They helped to plant and are members of Christ the King Church PCA (Calvin is inactive from the Session at this time). In April of 2010 Kim was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She is currently participating in a clinical trial. Below is a Monday, August 26, post by Calvin. Permit a personal word: As father I am very proud of them. As a Christian I am in awe of the work of God’s grace in their lives.  –WHS

As a short recap from the last two posts, Kim had scans of her chest and abdomen on Thursday, we met with Dr. K and the researcher on Friday, and then Kim had a lower dose of the chemo. However, despite the lower dosage, she had little energy on Friday evening, Saturday, or Sunday, and was unable to go to an early birthday lunch on Saturday that some of her friends had planned for her or church on Sunday. She threw up Saturday morning but was able to eat some Saturday evening and Sunday. Friends kept Josh and Jackson on Saturday evening and on Sunday afternoon after church. I spent the weekend working in the yard, doing laundry, running errands, going to church, and sleeping, and I am a little exhausted as I start the week.

Kim has a little more energy this morning and is going to work to teach her class, and I suspect that will pretty much wear her out for the rest of the day.

The somewhat encouraging news on Friday (that the tumors in her liver were slightly smaller and there did not appear to be any new growth) was largely offset by how hard even the lower dosage of chemo kicked her tail over the weekend.

As I was telling a friend yesterday morning, I am reminded of a scene from The Perfect Storm. Late in the movie, the crew of the Andrea Gale has given up on trying to go through the storm to Gloucester to deliver their large catch of swordfish, and they instead turn away from the storm and try to ride it out. After hours of being pushed by the wind and waves, the sea calms and they see the sun breaking through the clouds (almost like the eye of a hurricane – I have actually been in the eye of a hurricane once, and it is a little surreal, but that is a story for another day).

Within a minute, though, the sky darkens and the waves begin to build again, and George Clooney’s character turns to Mark Wahlberg’s character and says of the storm, “She’s not going to let us out.” Within a few minutes, they are capsized by a giant wave and drown. (Clooney also says some less PG-rated things about the storm that have reflected my response on occasion, too.)

That is the reality of Stage 4 cancer. We find periods of rest and ease, but the storm always is surrounding us on the horizon.

While we know God can heal Kim, that is not how he normally chooses to act. We can and do pray for healing, we must do so with the same attitude as Christ, who, when facing his imminent death on the cross, prayed that “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”

In this sinful world, God allows us to experience pain, sickness, and death. Through suffering, though, we are comforted that we are destined for a place where God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”    We also are comforted by the promise that “for those who love God all things work toegther for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” However, this does not mean that the suffering is not realm, that cancer is a horrible thing, or that we always understand God’s will.

We thank God for all of you, and he uses you to provide help in the storm and to remind us of his grace.

@Copyright 2012 The Aquila Report – all rights reserved