As I write, I am sitting next to my wife as she sits in a recliner in the Joe Arrington Cancer Center Infusion Lab. We are about an three and a half hours into her second chemotherapy treatment for pancreatic cancer. It will last four another 2 hours. When we leave she will be carrying a bag containing about 100 ml of a drug called 5FU (yes, that is the abbreviated name). It sometimes has bad side effects, none of which she experienced in the first round (Thank you, Lord). After this treatment we should have a good idea as to whether this drug regimen is working. If not, then a different set of drugs will be used going forward.

One thing we have learned in the last month is to “Trust the process.” (a phrase stolen (borrowed?) from Texas Tech Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Chris Beard). We have learned that the old cliche for drug addicts, alcoholics, and those undergoing long-term treatments for disease: “Take things one day at at time,” must be modified to be “one moment at at time.”

Since the first treatment, her energy levels were up and down for about a week, feeling very good one moment, not so much the next. We are very thankful that she has felt very good for the past 5 days and has been able to put in a few good days of work. She is caught up with everything she can do for the construction company for whom she is an accountant. Her energy levels are not at their normal high, but she has not been exhausted like she was at certain junctures during the first week.

We still trust that she is being held lovingly and close by our heavenly Father. The peace we feel may defy what would be in the minds of most, but regardless of what might take place down the road, we are confident that it is all part of the “process” that might at times make sense only in the mind and wisdom of THE LORD. His ways are so far above ours, so we yield it all to Him to use it all for His purposes and His glory.

I have been listening to the Mike and the Mechanics channel on Pandora while tickling the keyboard of my laptop. Mister MIster’s “Kyrie” just “happened” to come on. The phrase, “Kyrie eleison,” is a Greek phrase that is translated, “Lord, have mercy.” “Kyrie eleison on the road that I must travel, Kyrie eleison in the darkness of the night.” It is “ironic,” if not providential that this song played a few moments after I started writing. We have felt THE LORD’s mercy throughout this process. We have constant messages reminding us that we are being prayed for and that we are cherished and loved. The vastness of this network of family, friends, acquaintances, and people we do not know and probably will never meet is overwhelming. I have been saved by all the meals that have been provided for use in the last month. I am not a cook, have never been a cook, and never want to be a cook. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have and will contribute to our meal train.

We have a friend who has walked our path. His father died of a brain tumor when he was still in high school. We “providentially” met him when we rented a condominium next door to his mother when I started teaching at the University of Akron. He has been a great source of encouragement in our “process.” He proclaimed his amazement at how many people are on the Facebook page started by our daughter-in-law to inform everyone about my wife’s progress in treatment. One of my coaches for the diet program I am on (I have lost 35 pounds) stated that it was obvious that there are a lot of people who care deeply for and about us.

It just dawned on me as I write and listen that the mercy of the Lord (Kyrie eleison) has followed us, is with us, and will continue to go before us long after we have traversed the turbulent path we are on. Believer and unbeliever alike are seeing the mercy of THE LORD in action in the lives of two of his unworthy servants who in spite of and because of their own failings have cast their trust on THE LORD for salvation and providential care. All we can say at this juncture is, “THE LORD is always faithful to His promises.” “The steadfast love of THE LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. ‘THE LORD is my portion,’ says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in Him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24)