Learning to Think Theologically
March 31, 2011
Dennis finished chemotherapy on March 4. After about a week of recovery, he has been feeling pretty good overall. His hair is a bit thinner, but he doesn’t look like he’s had 12 weeks of chemotherapy as you might expect. He has met with both the oncologist and the surgeon and his surgery is scheduled for one week from today - April 7.
The surgeon feels everything looks good and surgery should be routine. Dennis will be getting two surgeons for the price of one as he is a good candidate for robotic surgery. A top robotic surgeon will be joining the UCI staff tomorrow - April 1. Robotic surgery allows for more precise cutting, which is a rather important part of surgery I suppose! The surgery will last about 3-4 hours and Dennis will need to be in the hospital for 5 days. One main concern for surgery is the possibility of a temporary ostomy bag. This would only need to be done if the surgeon felt he could not reattach the colon without the risk of leakage. The bag would be in place for 4-6 weeks to allow for healing followed by another surgery. While there is a small percentage that this would occur, it is obviously an area of prayer as we would prefer Dennis not have to have this done.
Dennis will spend a good 3-4 weeks recovering from surgery. Then he will begin chemotherapy again. The protocol for treatment is six months of chemotherapy. Since he has already had four months, he will only need two more. This will be done like the last round - every other week for three days at a time. The oncologist also said that he would lower the dose of medicine that caused the tingling in Dennis’ fingers and toes and may even omit it all together near the end. Although we are a bit disappointed his treatment will go so far into the summer, we are grateful that it will be a bit modified to lessen symptoms for him. He should be ready to go back to work by the end of August. (Which I might add will be quite an adjustment for all of us!)
Otherwise we have really been enjoying the past couple of weeks. Dennis was able to go out to celebrate both Josh’s and my birthday. He has been able to attend church and we went to a play as a family. We were able to attend two family gatherings and he has been able to mow the lawn. The only bummer was that two weeks ago Dennis stepped off the walkway wrong at my parents’ house and hurt his foot pretty bad. There is no fracture, just a bad muscle strain. He’s been staying off of it as much as possible and icing it during the day.
I have mentioned I was reading “The Mystery of God’s Will” by Charles Swindoll. I found the end of the book to be particularly good as it really summed up a lot of his ideas. In the book he talks about how we need to learn to think “theologically”. Charles Swindoll writes about how “our lives are full of stories” that sometimes have no explanation. “We don’t know. And it’s okay. See, it’s the ‘okay’ part that requires thinking theologically. It’s also where the peace comes from, because we can relax as we leave it with God. Which is another way of saying that we leave it with Romans 8.” He writes about four things we can find comfort in when we learn to think theologically.
1. “We wait and persevere.” “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” (Romans 8:25) . . . “When you get the results of your physical exam from the doctor, you wait, you persevere through it. . . Mentally you connect with your Lord and express your willingness to trust him entirely. . . That takes faith. . . We risk trusting Him, not knowing how it’s going to come out. He’s trustworthy, so the ‘risk’ is minimal!”
2. “We face the test head-on but on our knees.” “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
“To wait and persevere takes faith. Confident faith. To face the test head-on but on our knees takes humility. Submissive humility. Humility says, ‘I’m willing to surrender.’ I’m willing to surrender my (husband). I’ll weep as long as my grief lasts. I’m doing all I can to get the medical help we need. But ultimately, I am surrendering it all to you, dear Father.”
3. “We rest in our sovereign God and His plan.” “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) “This is for my good and for God’s glory, even though I cannot begin to explain it. . . I am learning that if you think theologically, you won’t put a border around ‘all things’. You’ll let it be ‘all things’. Your loss, your gain. Your prosperity, your bankruptcy. . . The disease, the disappointment. And yes, the relief, the success, the healing, the cure. . . We rest in our sovereign God. We rest in his plan, in what He considers best for us.”
4. “We remember we’re being conformed to the image of Christ.” “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)
“Waiting and persevering takes faith. Confident faith. Facing the test head-on but on our knees takes humility. Submissive humility. Resting in our sovereign God and His plan takes flexibility. Unguarded flexibility. And being conformed to the image of Christ takes sensitivity. Willing sensitivity. ‘It’s your plan that’s important, Lord, not my desire. . . Make me sensitive to the reality that You are in control, and You are using this - even this - to conform me to the image of Your Son. I want that most of all.’”
“If you’re going through a trial, go through it theologically. Train your mind to acknowledge God’s hand in whatever it is you’re living with. . . . Let’s . . . begin practicing words like, ‘I don’t know,’ ‘I will trust,’ ‘I can’t explain,’ ‘I release it all,’ because the star of the show is God. He is the beginning, He will be the ending, and in between, by His grace, He lets us be part of His perfect plan. . . for our glory and for our good. In the meantime, expect a mystery.”
Hope that offers some food for thought. I know it did for me!
Here’s how you can pray for us in the coming weeks:
*For Dennis’ foot to heal; for him to be able to get the things done in advance that he needs to do before surgery; for his prep the night before surgery
*For surgery - specifically for God’s protection over Dennis in regards to anesthesia; guiding the doctor’s hands (and the robot‘s arms!) during surgery; for reattachment to be able to take place without complications to avoid an ostomy bag; and for little blood loss
*For recovery - in particular for no infection; for pain management; for healing of surgery and incision site
*For the kids and me to have safety in traveling back and forth to Orange County
*For the kids to remain at peace; for their faith to deepen as they learn through this to trust in Jesus to care for their dad
*For for my parents as they help me with the kids during Dennis’ stay in the hospital
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Resting in Romans 8,
Carolyn
Dennis finished chemotherapy on March 4. After about a week of recovery, he has been feeling pretty good overall. His hair is a bit thinner, but he doesn’t look like he’s had 12 weeks of chemotherapy as you might expect. He has met with both the oncologist and the surgeon and his surgery is scheduled for one week from today - April 7.
The surgeon feels everything looks good and surgery should be routine. Dennis will be getting two surgeons for the price of one as he is a good candidate for robotic surgery. A top robotic surgeon will be joining the UCI staff tomorrow - April 1. Robotic surgery allows for more precise cutting, which is a rather important part of surgery I suppose! The surgery will last about 3-4 hours and Dennis will need to be in the hospital for 5 days. One main concern for surgery is the possibility of a temporary ostomy bag. This would only need to be done if the surgeon felt he could not reattach the colon without the risk of leakage. The bag would be in place for 4-6 weeks to allow for healing followed by another surgery. While there is a small percentage that this would occur, it is obviously an area of prayer as we would prefer Dennis not have to have this done.
Dennis will spend a good 3-4 weeks recovering from surgery. Then he will begin chemotherapy again. The protocol for treatment is six months of chemotherapy. Since he has already had four months, he will only need two more. This will be done like the last round - every other week for three days at a time. The oncologist also said that he would lower the dose of medicine that caused the tingling in Dennis’ fingers and toes and may even omit it all together near the end. Although we are a bit disappointed his treatment will go so far into the summer, we are grateful that it will be a bit modified to lessen symptoms for him. He should be ready to go back to work by the end of August. (Which I might add will be quite an adjustment for all of us!)
Otherwise we have really been enjoying the past couple of weeks. Dennis was able to go out to celebrate both Josh’s and my birthday. He has been able to attend church and we went to a play as a family. We were able to attend two family gatherings and he has been able to mow the lawn. The only bummer was that two weeks ago Dennis stepped off the walkway wrong at my parents’ house and hurt his foot pretty bad. There is no fracture, just a bad muscle strain. He’s been staying off of it as much as possible and icing it during the day.
I have mentioned I was reading “The Mystery of God’s Will” by Charles Swindoll. I found the end of the book to be particularly good as it really summed up a lot of his ideas. In the book he talks about how we need to learn to think “theologically”. Charles Swindoll writes about how “our lives are full of stories” that sometimes have no explanation. “We don’t know. And it’s okay. See, it’s the ‘okay’ part that requires thinking theologically. It’s also where the peace comes from, because we can relax as we leave it with God. Which is another way of saying that we leave it with Romans 8.” He writes about four things we can find comfort in when we learn to think theologically.
1. “We wait and persevere.” “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” (Romans 8:25) . . . “When you get the results of your physical exam from the doctor, you wait, you persevere through it. . . Mentally you connect with your Lord and express your willingness to trust him entirely. . . That takes faith. . . We risk trusting Him, not knowing how it’s going to come out. He’s trustworthy, so the ‘risk’ is minimal!”
2. “We face the test head-on but on our knees.” “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
“To wait and persevere takes faith. Confident faith. To face the test head-on but on our knees takes humility. Submissive humility. Humility says, ‘I’m willing to surrender.’ I’m willing to surrender my (husband). I’ll weep as long as my grief lasts. I’m doing all I can to get the medical help we need. But ultimately, I am surrendering it all to you, dear Father.”
3. “We rest in our sovereign God and His plan.” “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) “This is for my good and for God’s glory, even though I cannot begin to explain it. . . I am learning that if you think theologically, you won’t put a border around ‘all things’. You’ll let it be ‘all things’. Your loss, your gain. Your prosperity, your bankruptcy. . . The disease, the disappointment. And yes, the relief, the success, the healing, the cure. . . We rest in our sovereign God. We rest in his plan, in what He considers best for us.”
4. “We remember we’re being conformed to the image of Christ.” “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)
“Waiting and persevering takes faith. Confident faith. Facing the test head-on but on our knees takes humility. Submissive humility. Resting in our sovereign God and His plan takes flexibility. Unguarded flexibility. And being conformed to the image of Christ takes sensitivity. Willing sensitivity. ‘It’s your plan that’s important, Lord, not my desire. . . Make me sensitive to the reality that You are in control, and You are using this - even this - to conform me to the image of Your Son. I want that most of all.’”
“If you’re going through a trial, go through it theologically. Train your mind to acknowledge God’s hand in whatever it is you’re living with. . . . Let’s . . . begin practicing words like, ‘I don’t know,’ ‘I will trust,’ ‘I can’t explain,’ ‘I release it all,’ because the star of the show is God. He is the beginning, He will be the ending, and in between, by His grace, He lets us be part of His perfect plan. . . for our glory and for our good. In the meantime, expect a mystery.”
Hope that offers some food for thought. I know it did for me!
Here’s how you can pray for us in the coming weeks:
*For Dennis’ foot to heal; for him to be able to get the things done in advance that he needs to do before surgery; for his prep the night before surgery
*For surgery - specifically for God’s protection over Dennis in regards to anesthesia; guiding the doctor’s hands (and the robot‘s arms!) during surgery; for reattachment to be able to take place without complications to avoid an ostomy bag; and for little blood loss
*For recovery - in particular for no infection; for pain management; for healing of surgery and incision site
*For the kids and me to have safety in traveling back and forth to Orange County
*For the kids to remain at peace; for their faith to deepen as they learn through this to trust in Jesus to care for their dad
*For for my parents as they help me with the kids during Dennis’ stay in the hospital
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Resting in Romans 8,
Carolyn
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