Celebrating more signs of spring in Tokyo “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise” (Psalm 96:1-4).
As I was walking from Showa Hospital to the train station after seeing my doctor today, the Lord reminded me that he is worthy of praise—no matter what. It was a gentle reminder, but pointed nevertheless. The news the doctor had for me wasn’t all that good: my CRP continues to rise (it’s now as high as it’s been since I first began taking the anti-cancer drug, Sutent, in September); a CT scan yesterday shows that the tumor that has grown in the vacuum from where my kidney was removed is now advancing again (3 mm. since my last CT scan on February 9); and my doctor believes the Sutent is no longer being effective enough in fighting the cancer in my body.
I would have preferred to hear much different news. But in the short five-minute walk from the hospital to the train station, the Lord reminded me that he is yet God, yet in control, yet omniscient, yet omnipresent, and still the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is indeed most worthy of praise!
As such, Bernie and I do praise the Lord even as we ask for your prayers for wisdom in the next two weeks as we need to decide what to do from here. Now that I have doctors both in Japan and Houston, Texas, it seems even more complicated to know what to do. Consultation with “both sides” is required, and I’ve not been having good luck at all with making contact with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston during this past month. Please pray that the Lord will cut through all the bureaucracy that seems to be binding everything so tightly and shine his light clearly on the path we should follow.
Thank you for fighting this fight with us.
