July 26, 2020: I had just texted my friend, Bob, per his request, a link for a journal to help him enhance his personal productivity.
Bob’s reply: “Thank you. I’m meeting with a running coach to help me with a plan to run a marathon in the fall of 2021. Thought it would be the best time to start journaling after I read today’s EagleLaunch blog.”
August 25, 2020: Bob sends me a text, “Hey Jay. I was wondering if you had a few minutes available today that I could give you a call?”
My reply: “Sure, I have a couple of minutes now if you can call.”
August 25, 2020: Bob calls and informs me he had just barely survived an attack on his blood by a type of cancer called Acute Myeloid Leukemia. It was only through his physicians’ quick actions that allowed him to live to see another day. I have to admit; I was in shock as Bob explained his situation to me. He said more than once, “I guess I have a new journey that I am embarking on.”
Several times over the past 102 days, I have written about Bob and his journey. I so appreciate those of you who’ve been lifting him, his wife Amy, and his sister and mother in your prayers. Bob appreciates it too!
This past Tuesday evening, I received the following inspirational message in an update from Bob:
I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past 97 days. After spending 21 days by myself over the holidays (Bob was quarantined in the hospital going through his bone marrow transplant), I learned it’s OK to cry, it’s OK to be scared, but giving up is not an option.
I remember Amy asking back in August when I was in the ER if I would make it. The doctor said that we need to buy him 24 hours. I had no idea what that meant. Twenty-four hours later, that same doctor told us it was time to tear the band-aid off and start chemotherapy.
I know that God works in ways we don’t understand, but I know that I received a miracle. If God were done with me, I wouldn’t be alive today.
A lot of people wonder why bad things/terrible things happen to people if God really does exist. I believe God uses people to show that he does exist.
The doctor this week reduced my anti-rejection medicine by one-third. That’s a big step. I also stop taking the CMV medicine on Friday. It might not seem like a lot to most people, but to me, it’s 5 fewer pills to take and progress to my new normal.
As far as my exercise goes, my doctor says she doesn’t know what to do with me. I’m pushing the limits on exercise. I want to do more than the body can do. She hasn’t had a patient like me. She told me this week that last September, when we met, she said I would never have thought you would be able to run a marathon. But now I know you’ll run one. It might not be on your schedule yet, but you will.
Mic Drop for Jesus and Bob’s perseverance and willingness to lean on Him.
What things is the world telling you you can’t do?
He has risen, so we CAN rise and have life–a new life where the Spirit of God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, lives in us.
He has risen so we may live in a world of CAN where…
1. We CAN love even when we don’t want to love.
2. We CAN forgive others and ourselves, even though our spirit is saying, “No! Don’t do it!”
3. We CAN give when we don’t feel as though we have anything to give.
4. We CAN open our eyes, ears, hands, minds, and hearts after years of keeping all of them closed.
5. We CAN have peace when the world around us is in turmoil.
6. We CAN break free from our dependence upon people, places, and things for our happiness.
7. We CAN break the bondage from an addiction or a past life-event that has held us hostage for years.
8. We CAN look our illness right in the eyes and trust God has our back no matter the outcome…can you say Beyond Our Belief, i.e., Bob?
9. We CAN see God in a tragedy that once held us captive in hell.
10. We CAN find ourselves living in a world of opportunities, solutions, and fortunes instead of problems, turmoil, and poverty, a life with freedom, infinite possibilities, and no end.
If.we.choose.to.live.in.the.light.
“I know I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13).
John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
I have no words. Just literal happy tears running down my face. â¤