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Ladies,
Just a note to let you know that next week, April 23rd, there will be no Coffeebreak sent out. Our web administrator is on vacation! We'll be back with you on April 30th! Until then, may you experience extraordinary moments with God in your everyday life!
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed.
2 Corinthians 4:16
Last week I saw the face of Christ. If I had not previously believed that Jesus was alive and at work here on earth in those who love Him, I would completely embrace that fact now.
I went to visit my cousin in Washington, who has been battling colon cancer for about the last fifteen years. She has had her highs and lows, but is now at a very difficult place. Several times the doctors have told her that statistically she does not have much time and they don’t know what more to do. This is one of those times.
I was slightly anxious as we drove to her house. I hadn’t seen her in awhile and wasn’t sure what to expect regarding her condition. I was also worried about saying the right thing. We were greeted warmly by her husband when he answered the door. She was right behind him, hugging us and inviting us in. She is tiny, so tiny--just a wisp of a woman. She can no longer eat, but is fed through a feeding tube. Because the cancer is affecting her liver, she is battling with an extreme case of jaundice. I had expected her to be in bed or lying on the couch, propped up with blankets, but she was dressed and up. After welcoming us, she cheerfully chatted while she served us coffee.
Life has not always been easy for her. Some very difficult things happened in her early childhood, one of which was essentially losing her mother who became ill and could no longer care for her or her brothers. She made poor choices in her adolescent years and lived a risky life for awhile. In her mid 20’s she and the man who is now her husband started going to church. They met Jesus, with whom they fell in love and to whom they wholeheartedly gave their lives. Skepticism arose in the extended family about their faith, but my cousin and her husband clearly and consistently lived out their relationship with Christ. And never so clearly than in their battle with her cancer.
We talked about many things that day: the goings on in our extended family, their children, my cousin’s condition, the Lord, plans for a family reunion this summer if she was up to it, the possibility of them going to Hawaii again soon so she could “just relax on a warm beach.” I was impressed with the tangible peace and joy they radiated, while acknowledging the pain and difficulty of her illness. I prayed with her as I hugged her goodbye.
My cousin lives a transformed life, and although “outwardly [she is] wasting away, inwardly [she is] being renewed day by day.” I know she and her husband would not want to be glorified, but would instead want to assure everyone that it is Christ in them who sustains them. It encouraged me afresh to think on the fact that Christ is in me also, and is available for all who desire to know Him.
Written by
Chris Bushnell
