Hope ... one of my favorite words. However, my "Hope" has been tested over the past few weeks as I have watched a young friend’s cognitive and motor skills diminish, more and more each time I see him, due to that nasty disease called cancer. Oh, I fully realize that John is a walking miracle! To have lived over five years with the most deadly form of brain cancer is truly a gift from God. But how difficult it is to see someone you love struggling to walk, talk and even eat because their brain can’t send the proper signals to their body. And equally difficult knowing how heartbreaking it must be for his parents to watch it happen. My heart goes out to them, to his brother, and to all his family members and friends. But, even though my heart aches, at the same time I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity these past five years, to spend some quality time with John, to get to know him better, to experience the joy of seeing that beautiful smile of his on a fairly regular basis, but most of all to share his journey of hope ... his hope that someday he would beat this disease and be healed. And you know what, John will be healed ... either God will choose to miraculously heal him in this life, or He will grant him a much greater healing. And while I selfishly hope for the miracle, I'm confident that John's hope is in the Lord and he's ready for whatever God has in store for him!
