I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 
Psalm 34:1 KJV

Our appointment last week was almost exactly six years to the day since Nancy’s cancer surgery. The prognosis back then for stage three ovarian cancer was not great, and as her chemo treatments began the following month, we knew we were sailing in uncharted waters. But day by day, as we walked together through the long years of changes and challenges God has been with us. That afternoon as we sat in the doctor’s office, we were hopeful but still nervous as we waited for his report. What would those numbers from the latest blood work be? What would he say? Then the door opened, the doctor walked in exchanged pleasantries, and then asked. “So how are you feeling? Any pain here? Any changes since our last visit?” He poked, prodded and listened to Nancy’s heartbeat and breathing with his stethoscope, then sitting down and pulling up the results of her tests on his computer, he spun it around for us to see. “You see, you have been staying in the normal range all this time (five years), he said pointing to a graph. “Sometimes they are a little up, sometimes down. Your Cat-scan back in December looked normal. You’re doing great!” Then he gave Nancy a reassuring smile, and we both breathed a giant sigh of relief. Though he had told us the very words we had prayed for and longed to hear, it was still so unreal.

Then I asked, “So when will she have to come back for the next Cat-scan?”

Looking back at me as if I hadn’t understood, the doctor shook his head, still smiling. “No – no more Cat-scans. Why should she get all that radiation over and over again when everything is normal. We’ll just keep an eye on the blood work and take it from there.” Now, six years since her surgery, after five months of chemotherapy, dozens of tests, images of all sorts it all came down to one phrase: “No more Cat-scans!” We both held back tears that afternoon as we walked out of the office, thankful for the goodness of God that has carried us through. Then as we stopped to check out at the desk, I saw that the lady at the checkout had put up a little sign that said, “Stressed spelled backwards is desserts!” After six years of stress, that has drawn us both closer to Jesus and closer to one another, we certainly were ready for desserts and understood a little of what David meant when he said, “I will bless the Lord at all times.” Some of our times had been good, some bad and a few, even downright terrifying. But through every moment, God has been with us. Of course, not every journey ends with the earthly results we hope for, and not every prognosis is rosy, but we have learned through every situation, that we can trust the Lord. He is faithful and kind, and our lives are in His hands. He knows what is to come and we trust Him because of all He has brought us through. “His praise shall continually be in my mouth!”