Just a few hours after the confirmation of Michelle’s cancer diagnosis last year, this song popped up on my Apple Music feed. This was the first of an avalanche of blessings we are experiencing and a lesser miracle. I don’t listen to this genre of music. I’d never heard of the artist. I rarely let Apple or Spotify or Pandora pick music for me. The algorithm should not have put this song on my playlist. Preschool music selections would have made more sense! I have grandchildren whose parents occasionally ‘pollute’ my music feed while they visit and those songs do hit occasionally, much to my chagrin. This song didn’t ‘belong.’

This intrusion serves as testimony from the first that God was present, active, and in control.

Initial interactions with the cancer care doctors were bewildering at best. However, Michelle’s first nurse was a woman who lives in the same town and attended the same congregation I served as a pastor. Our assigned social worker is a woman I baptized as a child and whose mother and father I also served as pastor. These were familiar and compassionate faces amidst all the in and out of medical team members. Blessing!

Michelle’s assigned medical team were confident that they could help, even arrest the spread of an aggressive and ‘deadly’ cancer. They focused in on the fact that even though there was no question that Michelle had cancer, her bloodwork results were that of a healthy person (minus the cancer markers). The first set of treatments Michelle tolerated well, the second set resulted in level 3 liver toxicity. The treatment to reverse the damage restored her cancer-ridden liver to full functioning. What could have, and often does, result in hospitalization or death, was simply an uncomfortable episode. The planned cancer treatment failed, but Michelle stayed in good spirits and was still even working outside our home. Difficult days, but full of blessing.

The cost of the initial treatments neared $300,000 in first 3 months. No surgery, no hospitalization, just tests and immunotherapy drugs. Our portion after insurance, drug company assistance etc., was not only small but we were able to pay in cash. This blessing is ongoing to this day even as the total cost of her medical care currently has $1,000,000 on the not too distant horizon.

The immunotherapy regimen the doctors felt held great promise failed. Michelle was referred to and accepted into a clinical trial. The trial assisted in covering ongoing costs of medical care and provided us with an entirely different medical team and treatment venue. This change was a blessing of immense proportion.

Jesus-family stepped in and helped fill gaps in travel and support for Michelle allowing me to fulfill the responsibilities of my job while knowing Michelle was under loving capable care. My boss restructured our group to provide some extra space for me to be away to take care of Michelle and to be a bit less stressful while at the job. Jesus-family who had specialized expertise gave sound counsel and also assisted us in negotiating the legal and medical labyrinth into which most people are placed in similar circumstances. Our pastor and his wife and son, some of the worship leaders Michelle worked with over the years and our small group members came to our home and sang with Michelle and prayed over her. Mega blessings.

The cancer continued to spread and do its damage. Michelle developed a fracture in her vertebrae. The drugs prescribed to manage the pain eliminated Michelle’s ability to work outside the home or to drive. She became deathly ill: a combination of side effects of a test drug and the pain medicine. We alerted the medical team and they made necessary adjustments. I didn’t expect Michelle to survive May, but she did. Her overall ‘quality of life’ rebounded better than a superball dropped off a roof. An amazing blessing received.

Our daughter who lives in South Korea was able to visit for an extended period of time with one of our granddaughters this spring. Our daughter in central Kentucky arranged to spend an afternoon/evening with us weekly to help out and just encourage her mom. Our son helped complete the bunkhouse building which he and our grandchildren have available to them during their bi-weekly weekend stays. Blessing, blessing, blessing.

My sister came in from North Carolina and helped with doctor visits and lifted the general mood. My mom took up several responsibilities in order to free up time for me to serve Michelle. My brothers and their spouses are continual encouragements. Blessing.

We received cards, phone calls, texts, financial gifts and other thoughtful encouragements locally, throughout this nation and even from overseas. People we have not met or only know as acquaintances have shared the love of Jesus with us in truly meaningful ways. Blessing, blessing, blessing, blessing and more blessing.

I should write more, for there are even more blessings to celebrate. I’ve missed chronicling many significant gifts from the Lord. There are so many more ways God demonstrates us unmerited favor in this challenging season.

Michelle’s pain is incrementally becoming harder to manage. Her ability to go out is becoming more difficult as car-travel hurts her and being away from home for more than a couple of hours can be exhausting. Still, we’ve been able to go out and do some things together. We enjoyed a summer full of family. My brothers and their spouses even travelled into town to celebrate my mother’s upcoming 80th birthday (another lesser miracle-no one lives close to us).

Yes, he already knew how He would bless us and we are indeed truly blessed.