"The Lord is my Shepherd"

Journal Entry-September 6, 2009

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23

I haven't read this Psalm in awhile, but it was brought back to my mind yesterday at the funeral for my Great Uncle Mont. It was one of his favorite passages of scripture. Rev. Shirley mentioned that this Psalm falls between Psalm 22 which speaks of the Cross and Psalm 24 which speaks of the King of Glory. In between them in Psalm 23 are the green pastures and a dwelling place with the Lord forever. Uncle Mont is dwelling in the house prepared for him now and no longer suffering from cancer! He and I both had our chemotherapy treatments at the same location. A couple of times we were there on the same day, but more often I missed seeing him by a day or so. The last time I spoke with him at length was the snow day we had in the spring when I went by for a visit. We talked about the chemo. and its effects on us. We talked about the Lord's grace and I prayed with him. I always remember him as the uncle who called me boy names and pretended to not realize I was a girl! I will always see him in his overalls and boots, walking around the farm and letting me help him gather the eggs from the hen house. Please pray for my aunt Louise, my grandmother, Janie and her other brothers and sisters in this great loss.

I have 3 more radiation treatments this week. I will "graduate" on Thursday! It should take about 6-8 weeks for the skin to heal and for my energy to return. I always felt like my cancer treatments were coming in order from the toughest to the easiest, and I still do. Chemo being first, surgery second, and radiation third. But none of them are a walk in the park. The level of exhaustion is incredible. I'm constantly fighting drowsiness and trying to keep up with work, homework, and housework. I went to Dr. Rippon this week for her to check the lymph node that is swollen. She said I should probably have an ultrasound in a few weeks if it is still hurting. I will talk about it with Dr. Gococo next Tuesday when I go for my Herceptin treatment. Thanks so much for your prayers, cards, and the meals that have been such an encouragement to us.