To God Be The Glory

On Thursday of this week (July 15, 2010) two things will happen.  First of all, I will turn 59 years young and sometimes being this young physically hurts.  Nevertheless, I will be just 365 short days away from the BIG 60.  The other thing that will happen on that day will be the 5th anniversary of the date I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  Scientifically speaking, the life span of a person of my age bracket with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma has from 1.3 to 7.9 years of life (at least that is what the science books tell us).  I have been to 4 Support Rallies over these 5 years and every time, stood in the crowd and listened to the speaker say "Every 5 seconds someone in America develops a blood cancer like NHL or Leukemia, and every 10 seconds someone loses their battle with that disease. 

For 5 years now I have carried around an "issue" with that statement because it is not a statement of encouragement or faith, but rather, an admission of failure in human life.  As you may well imagine, I have continually "rejected" that statement because I have read the "Book" and I know what it is that my Father in Heaven has in store for me.  You see, the Bible explains to us that our time here on earth is "fixed" by the Father Himself, and it is He alone who decides which person lives 1.3 years and the person who lives for another 15 years with this disease.  By faith, I have never "picked up" that mantel and simply listen intently to the Father and obey His requests for me.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, naturally my children wondered "Dad, what is it that you wish to do with the rest of your life?"  My answer was, and still is very simple..."Live for Christ" (and travel as much as possible).

To date, my faith in Christ has kept me whole and I continue to use His desire as a "yardstick" for my time here on earth.  Over in El Mirage, Arizona sits the brand new 31 foot Homestead 5th Wheel travel trailer by Starcraft, that I was fortunate (no, blessed by God) to be given to use as my home here until heaven becomes my home.  Tonight (in fact at the time of this writing it is 2:44 AM) will be the last night I spend in the home that my son and daughter-in-law have provided for me, and my precious wife, Barb and I, will begin tomorrow, to embark on yet another journey in life along with our little 4-legged friend "Capt' Jack".

We will begin to see what it is that we can see of America from the steering wheel of a Chevy Silverado Truck and our new "Bed n' Breakfast" on wheels.  I could not be more excited about this new challenge.  A few paragraphs ago "Every 5 seconds someone was diagnosed with NHL and every 10 seconds someone dies from this cancer."  I choose to follow God's directions and allow Him complete control of how much we get to see out there on the road ("To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Hath Done")!

Some people feel sorry for me because I have an incurable cancer.  There are those who worry about my treatment on the road.  And then there are some who say "Atta boy, Dave"!  Five years ago I told my daughter Amy, "It Is What It Is."   Today that statement has developed into "It Is What It Is...Now Whut?"  (http://www.nowwhutaz.blogspot.com/).

Now Whut?  Now we "live".  We live as God intended for us to live.  Simply based on our faith in Him to take care of "every single need" we have until Jesus Christ pounds the last nail into our mansion in glory.  If you can, try to keep up with Barb and I, as we "live" for Christ and drive our little bedroom on wheels down the road..."To God Be The Glory"!

You can track us on "CarePages" and http://www.nowwhutaz.blogspot.com/.  My email address is papadave3@gmail.com and Barb's is grammybarb2@gmail.com.  We each have a cell phone, both listed below.

God bless you all and I hope and pray that your faith continues to strengthen in Christ as you continue to follow Him.

Dave