BIG anniversary coming up!

Sooo... it's only been, what? a little over a year since I last posted??? It's been an interesting year... maybe I'll get around to writing about it someday!

In the meantime... I've already passed ONE significant anniversary, but the BIGGIE, and most significant one, is yet to come - though soon!! And I've had my eye on it for months!

What, pray tell, am I talking about?

April 6 marked 2 years since my first tongue cancer surgery... and May 4 will mark the official 2 years since the end of my treatment (ie, 2nd surgery)! God has graciously kept me cancer-free during this time, sooo - Lord willing, and if nothing happens between now & then... I will be considered CURED!!!

I just saw my oncologist last week, and he was reminding me how it goes: If a person is going to have a recurrence of this type of cancer, MOST people get it within the first year. 95-98% of people who are going to get it will have had it by the end of the 2nd year. So even after 24 months, there's still a small chance of recurrence, but he said at this point, I'd be more likely to develop something new entirely. So they consider the 2-year mark to be the most significant, and call people "cured" if they've made it that far without anything coming back.

I was in a higher-risk category of folks for recurrence, due to the size of my tumor - so the fact that I've been clear for 2 years is very sweet news indeed!! (And my Dr. says I've healed up really nicely!) I am VERY thankful to God for His mercy and kindness, and it is my heartfelt prayer that He will CONTINUE to keep me free of cancer the rest of my life!!

As "good news" as this is (and trust me, this makes me very happy indeed! - though I'll be even happier putting another year's distance between me & this disease!), there's an even BETTER "Good News" from which I gain my joy - one that's not dependent on circumstances, and is eternal. That's the Gospel ("good news") of Jesus Christ!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. - John 3:16-17 (ESV)

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. - Johns 17:3 (ESV)

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. - I Peter 3:18 (NIV)

I am a sinner, saved from God's wrath by His grace, brought into eternal fellowship with the Father and the Son He loves. He is my Portion, my Treasure, my One Chief Delight! To quote a song - "Hallelujah, what a Savior! " :-)