It seems that for the past two years and two months my prayer has been the same. “Lord, please heal this cancer”. Sometimes the words have changed to “kill this cancer” or “remove the cancer”, but the gist is the same. I wonder if the repetition means that I lack faith or does it mean that I am the old lady going to the judge and begging to be heard. (Luke 18:5) Sometimes it might even be a little bit of both. Either way, I pray Psalm 86:3 “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.” and into the night. God is faithful to hear my cry. He shows up with the perfect scripture at just the right moment to encourage me. He takes care of all the details months before we even need Him to as we’ve recently learned.

Surgery is scheduled for July 8. So next week will be busy; Pre-op blood work and CT Scan to assist the surgeon in making sure he gets the right lymph nodes will all be needed. The original date for surgery was going to be in August, but was moved up when chemo stopped working as effectively as they hoped. So now surgery is scheduled for the same week as camp for my older two kids and for Hayden who will chaperone one of the camps. Here’s the God part. For the first time in five years we decided to change the locations of the camp. It is less than an hour from the hospital. We are also taking one more chaperone than the camp required so the children will be well covered. All of this took place before this cancer was even discovered. God knew in advance that the surgery would need to come early and he took care of all the details for Hayden to be able to go to camp with Grace and for Hayden to be able to be with me for the surgery. My mom and dad are coming up to be with us. So I’ll have help before and after surgery. One of my dearest friends, who is also a nurse, is going to be able to spend the night with me in the hospital. I will receive double the great care while in the hospital. God is in the details especially when life is hard. He shows mercy even before we ask for it. Our God is so good!

What about you? Could you use some of God’s mercy? undeserved favor? grace? love? forgiveness? Are you crying out for the same thing over and over? I hope you will choose to focus on Jesus and not the circumstances of life. Look for His mercy in the midst of the trials. What has God already given? Where is He at work? God is bigger than the greatest struggle and He is able to bring mercy to any situation.