It's been a long time and a long year for most of us in many different ways So anyway, let's open with a word of prayer Father we're so grateful for your goodness and your grace to us. We thank you for your blessings We thank you that no matter what we go through in life Lord that you are with us. You will never leave us nor forsake us Thank you for the promises in your word. Thank you for your great care for us, and I pray that you would be honored and glorified today as we look into your word and as I share some thoughts of the journey that you have had me on. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Well, I was asked to share today about the last few months of my life with you, and today is April 27th. Exactly eight months ago today, August 27th, my 70th birthday, I was having my first chemo treatment. And I'll just tell you how that all got started. It was during the summer months when I started having pain in my left arm. I couldn't raise it about that high, absolutely nothing up here, and certain movements just started causing me a lot of pain, sharp pain. So I went to see my MD here in Lamars, Dr. Jiha, and they took x-rays, and he said he was concerned with what he saw. He said the bone kind of had a moth-eaten look to it. So he wanted me to see an orthopedic doctor who came to Lamar's every week, Dr. Sakharov. So while I was waiting for that appointment to happen, I was talking to my sister-in-law, Marcella. She's Cecil's sister. She lives down in Missouri. And she has been a cancer nurse for decades. She's finally going to retire this summer. And as I was talking to her, she said, you know, I don't want to cause you to panic. She goes, I don't want to alarm you, but I want to prepare you. She goes, oftentimes doctors will say when a bone looks like it has is moth eaten, that's a sign of cancer in the bone. And she said, I'm going to pray that it's not. And we and my kids are praying that it was not either. But she goes, I just want you to be prepared. So when I saw Dr. Sakharov, he suspected that it was cancer. So he was going to send me to whom he considered to be the best of the best, he said, the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. So that appointment was made for lab work and for a PET scan and to visit with a cancer doctor, Dr. Vose. Because of COVID, this one consultation appointment and my first chemo treatment were the only appointments that Christy could go in with me. For this consultation, Marcella also joined us by phone, and it was really helpful to have her on the phone since she's a cancer nurse. She could think of questions that I obviously didn't give any thought to. So it was great to have her with that, too. Dr. Boas showed us the PET scan, and the bone was affected with cancer from about the shoulder almost to the elbow. It was a very large area. What was a good thing, but it was also a real mystery to her, was that I was clean everywhere else. She said, usually this cancer has a source somewhere in the kidney, in the liver, in something. But she said, your cancer is only in that bone, which is really unusual. She goes, I don't understand that, but that's a good thing. So anyway, we had to deal with his arm. And that was a tough day for me on a number of levels. First of all, you just never expect that you're going to be the one to get cancer. You just don't go around thinking, I'm going to get it. Especially when your family has no history of cancer, which mine hasn't. And then some of you may not know that my husband, Cecil, had passed away from cancer about five and a half years ago. He had leukemia and he went through so much. And I had told myself that if I ever got cancer, I didn't think that I would go through treatments. So when I questioned whether I would, both Dr. Vose and Marcella assured me that this was totally different than what Cecil had. The treatments would be totally different. The outcome, the cure rate was so much higher than what he had had. So in my mind through all this discussion, I was asking myself some tough questions, ladies. I was saying, what do you want me to do, Lord? Give me wisdom. I don't know what to do. And, excuse me, there are going to be many of us today. I thought, do I want my grandkids to see me giving up on life without a fight? Is that really what I want for them? And then I thought, is there something more you want me to do with my life, Lord, even through this process? Lord, I just need wisdom. So obviously, you know, that I decided to go through the treatments. And now I want to make clear that if I ever have a next time, God may give me peace with a totally different answer. You know, you just never know with my age and on if it keeps coming back, I'm not going to battle that fight forever. So, you know, it's just one of those things where you just have to trust God for your decision that you make. Another thing that was hard for me that day was calling my other kids and telling them that I had cancer because they had already lost one parent to cancer and now the other one had it. So there were lots of tears that day. And I think this is a good place to share with you something that I had to grapple with And if you ever are in something like this, you will have to too. Lots of people have an opinion. We all do. And they're happy to share it with you. And I'm happy to listen to them. There are people that love you, that care for you. They're not pushy, and they're not overbearing. They just have an opinion of what you should do. Some people are like, you should go to Mayo. You should go to Sioux Falls. You should go to Sioux City. What do you have to go clear to Omaha for? And even doctors. have different opinions. My doctor, I had a port in for treatments, and my doctor, after treatments, wanted me to keep it in for a long time just in case it was needed again. Well, I chose to get it out, and she was fine with that. She said, it's your body, you do what you want to do, which I'm very glad I did, because I would have never been able to stand the stress with that port there. So I got it out, and the doctor that was taking out the port This was in January. He was explaining to me, like they do, what's going to happen. And he said, how long have you had that poured in? And I said, since August. He goes, oh, yeah, it's time for that thing to come out. Hello? My doctor wanted me to keep it in. He goes, it can get infection. It can get scar tissue around it. You need to get that thing out of there. OK. And then another thing, my doctor, when I was done with treatments, told me, do not get the COVID vaccine. She goes, I just don't know how that would react with somebody that has chemo. So I just assumed you didn't get it, which I was fine with. And I know other cancer doctors, as soon as their patients are done with treatment, they say, go get the vaccine. So, you know, there's all these different opinions that get thrown at you in a variety of ways. And it can get a little crazy, and it can get a little overwhelming. But what really helped me through this time was God's Word. And God reminded me of something one day that I just had to get my Bible out and study it more. But I noticed that in Matthew chapter 9 there were two blind men and Jesus touched their eyes and they could see. In Mark chapter 8 there was one blind man Jesus spit on his eyes and then touched his eyes and Then asked him if he could see and the man said I can see but not real clearly You know, the people are kind of like trees and so Jesus touched him again, and then he could see in John chapter 9 there was one blind man Jesus spit on the dirt he made some mud he put that mud on the blind man's eyes and he said go wash in the pool of Siloam and And then you'll be able to see. So the man did and he could see. Three different records of Jesus healing the blind. And every time he did it a different way. And I don't know why he did it that way. But it does teach me one thing that, gals, we do not have a cookie cutter God that is going to do the exact same thing for everybody all the time. If he wants to heal you, he can use various treatments. He can do whatever he wants to so I just recommend that if you are faced with a medical issue Do listen to the advice of others? but then just pray for God's wisdom his leading his will and Then just trust him. You know, there's nothing else you can really do but just trust him You know, sometimes I would lay in bed at night and I would rub my arm. I And I would say, Lord, you created this arm. You know every cell better than any doctor. So just help me to trust you through this, no matter what you have in store for me. Now, I'm going to throw out a little something extra here, as long as I'm on the idea of opinions. This is kind of a sidebar in my talk. It's not about my journey. So just think of it as an extra. Remember, I haven't been in church for months because of COVID. I was told to stay away from big gatherings so that I could stay on track with my treatments. So I'm not talking about any of you because I don't know how you reacted during this time. But I just know all the debates that are going on to this very day about vaccines, about masks, about everything. that I'm pretty sure that when our church leadership came out with ways to open up the church again, according to the governor's recommendation, that there were probably some opinions out there that were different than theirs. I'll just bet you there was. And I believe, ladies, that our leadership was in a no-win situation. No matter what they said, there was going to be somebody that was upset. You know, I just heard of a church this last week, it's not local, it's in a different state, a good church that has almost split because of the mass thing. And ladies, that is so sad and it is so wrong. Does God have anything to say about that? Well, actually he does. In Hebrews 13, 17, it says, obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you." That verse says that whatever decisions the leadership makes for the flock that they shepherd, they are going to have to answer to God for those decisions that they make. Now, that's pretty serious stuff. We need to pray for them, because I don't think I would want that responsibility. But also look at what it says. It says to us, obey your leaders and submit to them. So I am going to have to answer to God for how I did that, how I obeyed them, how I submitted to them. Now, I'm not talking about if it's a serious biblical issue. And I am not saying, ladies, please understand me. I am not saying that you can't have a different opinion than them. You can. And they know that. But what I'm asking you is, if you have a different opinion than them, how do you handle it? By grumbling? By complaining? By listening to or telling anyone who will give you a listening ear how wrong they are? You know, this verse says we are to obey and submit. So if you have a different opinion than them, Go to them privately, whether as a group or one of them at a time. Tell them your opinion and why you think that way. And then, whatever the outcome is, whatever their decision, obey and submit. I know it's not always easy, but it's something to think about. That verse says, do you make their work a joy or a burden? I just think it's something to think about. So anyway, like I said, I don't know what you were doing because I wasn't here. So back to my journey. My first surgery was an open bone biopsy. They wanted to see exactly what kind of cancer they were dealing with. So what they did was cut into the arm a little bit and they explained it to me. They took a little scoop, like a little ice cream scoop, and took out some bone marrow and tested that to see what cancer it was. The second surgery was to put in a port, and that's a thing that they put under your skin. A little tube goes into your blood vessel, and then they can just stick a needle in the port and take out blood to test it, and then they can put treatments in there so you don't have to get poked with an IV every time. And then on August 27th was my first treatment, like I said. My second treatment was on September 16th. And the morning of September 15th, I decided that the hair had to go. There were a few tears that morning with that decision. It was hard. But I was tired of hair on my pillowcase and my clothes and my furniture. And, you know, I remember praying that morning, Lord, this is hard. You're just going to have to give me strength because this is just hard. So that evening, Christy came out with her clippers and shaved my head. And ladies, I didn't shed a tear. God came through big time for me. I looked in the mirror and rubbed my head and said, well, there you are. I'm ready to buy a wig in Omaha tomorrow. And then while she was doing that, Christy quoted 2 Corinthians 4.16, which says, though outwardly we are wasting away, Yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day. And that verse certainly held true for me. And I just wish I had words to tell you all just how precious God's word has been to me through this process. It has been my anchor. And excuse me, I have to get a sip of water. My mouth gets so dry still. Well, there are many verses that I'll be sharing with you today, and you can just write down the references because we won't take time to turn to them all. But if you want to turn to this one, we're going to start out with Psalm 119, verses 49 to 52. Of course, Psalm 119 is a great psalm about the Word of God. And I'm reading from the New Living Translation, so it might be a little bit different than what you have. Verses 49 to 52, it says, remember your promise to me. It is my only hope. Your word revives me. Your promise revives me. It comforts me in all my troubles. The proud hold me in utter contempt, but I do not turn away from your instructions. I meditate on your age-old regulations. Oh, Lord, they comfort me. And that has been so true for me. And I want to read. Chuck swindles study Bible that I'm using and he gives devotional thoughts Throughout the Bible and this is what he says here it says and I quote the Word of God will help you have a better mind a Student of the Word someone who faithfully meditates daily on the Word and sets apart time with the Lord receives tremendous insight Just being old doesn't mean that you're going to be wise being an attentive student of the Word of God promises that you will be and Knowing this book makes a difference in your emotions, in your reactions, in how you view life, in how you handle difficult people. It makes a difference in how you handle stress, how you anticipate the future, and whether or not you worry about the past. You need this book open regularly so that it will shape your thinking, guard what you say, and guide what you decide." And I just love that because it's so true about the Word of God. So I hope, ladies, that all of you are daily in the Word of God. If you aren't, I implore you to start. Just do something. Do whatever works for you. I'll share what I do just to give you some ideas. You know, on the internet you can find one-year Bible reading plans, you can find two-year Bible reading plans. For myself, I've learned to prefer the two-year Bible reading plan. I am not a fast reader, and if there was a big chunk, I would think, oh, this is going to take me a long time, you know, and just it became more of a to-do thing to check it off that I had done it. But with the two-year Bible reading plan, it's a smaller section, and I find myself meditating on it more than if I have a big chunk to do. So that's what I prefer. Some of you might be doing what the church does. We have, I think they're going through the New Testament this year, right? You know, so there's tons of plans out there, but just get into the Word. You know, the Bible says of itself that it is living and active, and that has to be true because it's the only book that I am excited to start all over again when I finish it. You know, when I'm done with Revelation, I love, oh, I'm good, I get to go back to Genesis. I am currently using Chuck Swindoll's Study Bible. Like I said, he gives devotional thoughts through it, and he has articles through it about different topics, which I really like. I like to use different translations. Sometimes just a different wording of a verse will make it stand out to you a little bit more than what you've been used to. And I'm not going to get into different Bibles that you could consider, but if you'd like some ideas, I would be happy to share with you. But just choose, if you use like a devotional Bible, make sure you get a solid Bible teacher. That's the one that's writing it. Here is a quote from David Jeremiah about the Bible. He says, and I quote, if you want to know what I consider to be the most exciting thing about studying the Bible, it is the constant newness of it, unquote. And that is what I found to be true. You know, like I said, I enjoy the thoughts of different authors. But make no mistake about it, ladies, it is the Word of God itself that is going to penetrate your heart and the Holy Spirit is going to use in your life to make you see certain things. I never know when the Holy Spirit is going to take a verse that I have read many times before and all of a sudden, He just uses it powerfully in my life. And it's really exciting that way. And there is a verse that God gave me early on that was so important to me on this journey. I just can't tell you how important it was. I looked back in my scheduled reading, and I was in this passage on August 29th, two days after my first treatment. And my reading was in Proverbs that day, and I read this verse. And I read it again, and I read it again, and I just camped there, and all of a sudden tears just started flowing down. The verse was Proverbs 18, 14. And it said, the human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit? I can't tell you what that verse meant to me. I made a little thing. It wasn't fancy. I just printed out my verse and put some stickers around it. I put this on my fridge so that I would see it every day, so that I could memorize it, and that became my daily prayer. Every day I would say, Lord, please keep me from having a crushed spirit. I do not want to have a crushed spirit through this process. And he came through big time. Ladies, I can think of maybe three times when I had a day that I was so down that I just felt like crying all day. Just three times through this whole journey. God came through powerfully for me. And I'm sure he was just answering that prayer for me. And just when I needed that verse, He gave it to me, and I am just so grateful to him. All the glory goes to God. Did discouraging times come? Absolutely. Yeah, they came. And when I would start to feel my spirit sinking down, I would again ask God to please keep me from having a crushed spirit. And then I would really work on the command in 1 Thessalonians 5.18, which says, In everything give thanks, for this is God's will concerning you. And notice that it says, in everything, not for everything. And there's a big difference there. This was an unwanted journey for me. Nobody wants to go through cancer treatments. But in this, there were so many things. When I concentrated on that verse and asked the Lord to give me things to be thankful for, there were so many things that I could be thankful for. I was thankful that it was me and not my kids or my grandkids. I was thankful that it was my left arm, not my right arm, because I am so predominantly right-handed. Just on and on it went of things that I could be thankful for. And when I started thanking the Lord for those things, It helped lift my spirit up. Now, and I don't want to give the impression that it's been a piece of cake. It hasn't been. I can remember Three days after a treatment, I would be so weak for a few days. You know, it just totally wipes you out. I would go from the bed to the sofa, maybe out to the kitchen for a cup of tea and a piece of toast, and back to the sofa, and you just feel so weak. And, you know, I just tried to keep my mind positive, but those were hard days. And I remember going to bed some nights and saying out loud, and I meant it, I said, if you want to take my spirit on home tonight to be with you, I am just fine with that. And I really did mean it. You know, I was I was just so weak and tired. And I remember one night I added with a chuckle. Besides, I need to see what Cecil's been up to anyway. But, you know, it's the Bible says that laughter is a good medicine. And I believe that with my whole heart. And there was one time last fall, I was having one of my weekdays, and I got a call from my daughter Kayla. This is just a funny story. Kayla has three girls. Ellie is nine, and Gemma is seven, and Lucy is five. And Lucy is one of those what you never know what's coming out of her mouth. And they live out in North Platte, Nebraska. They had gotten a new pastor in their church, so they were having the new pastor and his wife over for supper one night to get to know them better. And making conversation around the table, the pastor said to Ellie, the oldest, so Ellie, what do you want to be when you grow up? And she said, I want to be an astronomer. And he said, and Gemma, what do you want to be? And she said, I want to be a ninja. And then the pastor's wife, not so Lucy Rokefield, left out. The pastor's wife said to Lucy, so Lucy, what do you want to be when you grow up? And she goes, I want to be a murderer. And Taylor said, my mouth was dropped open. I didn't even know she knew that word. And the pastor's wife, bless her heart, said, did you mean musician? And Lucy goes, no, I mean murderer. Kayla said, Lucy, do you even know what that is? And she goes, no. It turns out there was a little boy they play with outside and he wanted to be the bad guy so he was going to be the murderer one day and she wanted to be the bad guy so, you know, she's going to be the murderer. So it was good for me to laugh that day and I told Kayla, you know, when she starts her career, let her start with Grandma. I'm ready to go. Oh dear. Well, another verse that came to my mind once in a while was the verse that says, I shall not die but live and will proclaim what the Lord has done. And one day I realized that that had never been one of my memory verses. So I looked it up and it was Psalm 118 verse 17. And I want to make it clear, ladies, that even though that verse kept popping in my mind once in a while, I didn't take that as a message from God that I was going to survive this. I just didn't. I didn't know what he had in store for me. I wasn't claiming it as a prophecy. I thought of it more as a reminder to me that as long as I had life, as long as God gave me life, I needed to proclaim what the Lord has done. So I really tried to do that during my treatments. You know, the nurses are kind of stuck with you in that room for a while. And I would mention my faith, and most of the time when I mentioned my faith, I heard something like this, yes, it's good to have faith, and then they'd change the subject so I knew they didn't want to talk about it. But during my fifth treatment, I had a nurse named Heather. And when I mentioned my faith, she just latched onto that. And she had so many questions for me. And I found out that she's a new believer, and she and her husband had started going to a good church. But she was still just struggling with so much that she had in her past of, you know, that she had to do do do this in order to go to heaven. And she was still battling that. And one time, she said, you know, I just can't be good enough. And I said, Oh, Heather, I said, None of us are. None of us are. That's why Jesus had to come and die. The Bible tells us that Christ gives us His righteousness. So it's not our righteousness that gets us to heaven, it's His when we receive Him by faith. Well, we talked about that some more, and when I left, she said, you know, I think you were here for me today more than I was here for you. You know, and meanwhile, Christy had driven me down to Omaha that time. Three times my sister Barb drove me down, and three times for treatments Christy drove me down, and this was one when she drove me. And after she dropped me off, she was in the van. She had pushed back her chair, had her feet up on the dash, and was looking at her phone, looking for coffee places that maybe she could go and get some coffee while she was waiting. And all of a sudden, there was a wrap on the window of the van. And she looked up, and there was an older gentleman standing outside the car door. And he said, you look bored. She started talking to him. Long story short, they talked for over two hours. His name was Roger, and she did get out of the van and stand by him, so she wasn't doing that all. But anyway, he started telling her the story of his wife. She was in getting a cancer treatment, and he was waiting for her to get done. And he said he and his wife had married at a young age. They raised their kids. And then all of a sudden, his wife decided that she didn't want to be married to him anymore. She divorced him and married this other guy. Well, after a while, that other guy got tired of her. So he divorced her and married someone else. And Roger told Christy, and that was when I started trying to win my wife back. And he said it took a while. But after a while, we remarried and we've been married ever since. And Christie said to him, she goes, wow, you're a modern day Hosea. And he goes, a who? And anyway, they got to talking about biblical things. And Christie told him who Hosea was in that story. And he didn't know some of the Bible. But at one time, he said, you know, I believe God is love, and that everyone will go to heaven no matter what they believe. And Christie said, no, Roger, that's not what the Bible says. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one will come to the Father except through me. So anyway, it was quite a day and gals, I was just amazed at what God did. I had always gone down for treatments on Wednesdays, but they had called me the week before and said, you know, the doctor, has a conflict that day. Could you come on Tuesday instead of on Wednesday? So that's what we did. If it hadn't gotten changed, I wouldn't have met Heather. Christy wouldn't have met Roger. And so, you know, I just stood back amazed at what God did, does, you know, do we really comprehend that God orchestrates even the smallest details of our lives? So the next time God changes your plans, just think, you know, he might have a divine appointment in store for me. You never know what he has in mind. Another day, my Bible reading was in Daniel, and I was in chapter 10, and the angel was giving Daniel God's answer to his prayer. And in verses 11 and 19, the angel said, you are very precious to God. And after reading that twice, my tears just started flowing because it's just what I needed that day. It was as if the Holy Spirit was just speaking them to my heart. I really can't explain but I just wept You know sometimes ladies. I think that we take The general truths of Scripture and and say them with authority you know that everyone is precious to God we know that But sometimes we need to make it very personal We need to tell ourselves. I am very precious to God and just let that sink in and Well, ladies, I suggest that when God gives you a verse that's special to you, you write it down somewhere or you will forget eventually. Now, where was that verse? And, you know, Do it in a notebook, maybe do index cards, maybe a note on your fridge. I don't care what it is, but be sure to write them down so that you have them ready for a place where they're available to you. I had a packet that I used of just some promises from God that I just needed to go through constantly and remember what he had promised to me. So onward with the treatments. On December 8th, I had my sixth and final chemo treatment. Then in early January, they did a PET scan, and I knew I was going to have to have radiation, so that was no surprise. In early January, I had the port taken out, and then on January 28th, I saw the radiation doctor in Omaha. He, too, was saying how this was such a mystery to him. He just couldn't figure out how this could be. And at one point, he said, you know, it makes me wonder if that bone was broken. at one time or another, and it tried to heal itself like the body does, and that's what caused cancer. So anyway, he also said that it would be fine for me to have radiation treatments in Sioux City instead of Omaha, which was a real blessing, because radiation treatments were Monday through Friday, and so I would have had to get an Airbnb in Omaha if I'd have had them down there. But he said, they can do the same thing for you in Sioux City. We're in communication with them. So that was great that I could go there. So then I go see the radiation doctor in Sioux City, Dr. Naden. He's a really nice doctor. And to get you ready for radiation, they do a CAT scan. Of course, for me, it was on my arm. And they put your arm in this stuff to make a mold so that it's in the exact same position every time you have the radiation. And they were doing that when all of a sudden, Dr. Naden comes running in and says, stop, stop. He goes, the bone is broken. And the technicians are going, we've been moving her arm all over the place. And I thought, you have got to be kidding me. I just couldn't believe it. So when the radiation doctor in Omaha asked if it had ever been broken, it was broken. I just couldn't get over it. And ladies, I was doing physical therapy at that time to strengthen that arm. I was doing pulleys. It makes you cringe to think of what I was doing to my poor arm. So Dr. Naden calls my doctor here, Dr. Jaha, to get me referred to an orthopedic surgeon. It was kind of funny when I saw Dr. Jihad during this time for just a regular check. He said that when they called him, he said, I already did that. And they go, yeah, well, this is something new. And they told him what happened. He said, I just couldn't believe it. So I was back to Dr. Sakharov, and on February 19th, he was doing surgery on the arm. It took over three hours, and I found out later that they put in a big pin and 12 screws. It was quite a major deal. And that was a hard day, too. I tell you, ladies, I really miss the days when they let you stay in the hospital for a while and let the nurses take care of you. But no, it was same-day surgery, so as soon as you're coming out of the la-la land, you know, get you ready to go home. And the nurses laughed at me because, ladies, I took my pajama top along. And I said, just put this on me because I'm not going through this again when I get home. And they thought that was so smart. No more people do that. But, you know, they're sending me home and they say, don't move your arm. That's kind of hard to do. That's kind of hard to do. So anyway, I was sent home. Christy stayed for me on the farm for a while and took good care of me. And I won't tell you how many days I was in those same pajamas. All day, all night. It got to the point where this really has to come off. Well, during one of my follow-ups with Dr. Sakharov, he said, he mentioned that the bone had been broken for a while. And I said, Are we talking days, weeks? And he goes, oh no, I'm talking months. He goes, the bone was polished over on both ends. He said, I had to drill little holes into each side of the bone so the blood flow would start up again. And I asked him how that could be missed on the PET scan. And you know, he really wasn't sure whether it was the color of cancer or whatever. He just didn't know and none of the other doctors seemed to know either. So, you know, and all the doctors said to me, I wonder, how did you function all those months with a broken arm? I go, I don't know. You know, it's just a crazy, crazy story. Last week when I was down in Omaha, one of the technicians says, lady, you are going to end up in the science journals. I was trying to figure out what in the world happened. Well, during those days of recovery, I was so grateful to you, church ladies, for the help you gave me with cleaning and with meals and the cards that were sent. That was such a blessing to me. And Phyllis isn't here today, but I had to laugh. Every once in a while, she would just send me a long typed letter of news of her family and news of the church, and it was just really nice to get to have something to read. And in one of those letters, she said, She said, and with all your treatments, I suppose you're really thin by now. And I told her, don't start that rumor. And you know, I know that was another thing I was very grateful to the Lord for. I know some people when they go through chemo get so, so sick. I was not one of those. I did not get nauseous. I did not have that problem. So I am very grateful to it. I'm not grateful that I didn't lose any weight, but, you know, I'm grateful that I didn't get sick. And the doctors all said, you know, you've really handled these treatments really well. So I just praise the Lord for that, because I know you guys are praying for me too. So thank you so much for praying for me. One day I read some thoughts on Hebrews 12 too, that says, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And it's said how easy it is to look at the mountain we have to climb instead of looking higher to Jesus, and I found that to be true. And I don't know if you're facing a mountain in your life right now, whether it be a health issue, a relationship, or finances, or whatever, but I just encourage you to look higher, look to Jesus, even though we do have a mountain to scale. Then three weeks after surgery I started radiation and I had four weeks of that and finished on August 9th. And then last Wednesday I had a PET scan in Omaha and saw Dr. Vose and she said that there was no sign of cancer anymore. So I am very grateful to God for that. And now we just need to get the bone healed. Dr. Sakharov said it was obviously going to take longer with all that the bone's been through to really get healed up. And I need to get stronger too. I still get really tired, more tired than I'd like to admit, but, you know, at my age a nap never hurts anyway, so there you go. And I want to close with another scripture that really spoke to my heart. The first follow-up with Dr. Sakharov after surgery was when they first took the bandage off, and it was a big bandage from clear up here down to my elbow, and it was pretty saturated with blood. It had been dried by then, but it was pretty bad. The nurse took it off and sent the doctor in, and that was the first look I had it in my arm. And the first thing that came into my mind was, whoa, that arm is butchered. And ladies' tears came to my eyes. It wasn't because of my arm. But I remembered Cecil teaching one time on Revelation 5-6. which says, then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain. And I, that lamb is Jesus, and I remembered Cecil saying how that word for slain could actually be translated butchered. Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been butchered. That was Christ. You know, ladies, I had something in my arm that if left untreated would eventually kill me physically. But I have something far worse in me. Sin. That if it's left untreated, would kill me spiritually for all eternity. And so do you. But you know, God loved us so much that he sent his son to be butchered. Think of that. To shed all that blood. So that I could live in all eternity with him. You know, someday, unless the Lord comes back soon, something is going to cause me to die. I don't know if it's going to be cancer, or old age, or a car accident, or Lucy's going to murder me. I don't know what it will be. But I have an expiration date, and so do you. The Bible says in Job 14, 5 that man's days are determined. You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. The death rate is 100%. But heaven awaits those of us who have trusted Christ as our Savior because he was butchered and because he paid the penalty for us. My question to you is, have you trusted Him? Have you admitted your sin, acknowledged that Jesus took your payment, and asked Him to forgive you? You know, I talked earlier about needing sometimes to make the general truths in the Bible very personal. And that is a necessity for salvation. You can't just think, yes, Jesus died for the sins of the world and be saved. It has to be personal between you and him. It has to be your sin that you are confessing to him. It has to be your life that you're inviting into. And if you haven't done that, please do. And if you are a believer, be in the word. It is so important. Recently, I read this in my devotional book by Selwyn Hughes, and he writes, I quote, enemy forces surround us. We are under threat. Marriages are crumbling and the moral ropes that once held us so fast and firm are now afraid or burning. We have a book called the Bible which contains the wisdom the world needs. We must draw more attention to it. People may listen or they may not, but that is not our responsibility. We must speak so that God can work." Well, I know I don't need to tell you ladies how big a mess our world is in. It desperately needs the Word of God, so we need to pray, we need to be in the Word, and then we need to share it when he gives us those opportunities. Let's pray. Father, I just again thank you for...