February sees a Café Church closely followed by the Messy Half Term event a few days later; the theme for the 11th March Café Church will be “What does it mean to follow Jesus”. One of the things that this means is trusting in God’s love and provision for us.
As some of you know, our family got an unexpected surprise in October when my wife, Beck, went into to A&E in Gloucester with sudden chest pains and came out the following day with a diagnosis of cancer. At first, it was thought to be lung cancer quite possibly of a dangerous type that could have meant that Christmas 2017 may well have been her last.
Three biopsies later and further tests eventually determined that it is a somewhat less dangerous lymphoma, possibly of a fairly unusual type that has manifested itself, at least in part, as quite a large tumour.
Anyway, another scan just after Christmas showed that it was growing at quite a rate so she was immediately put on chemotherapy and last Friday morning her hair started to fall out and what little remained by the end of the day was shaved off as it just looked scruffy. She is now part way through six cycles of Chemotherapy which will be a big part of her life until the end of April and possibly into May.
Because the chemotherapy badly messes up the immune system, Beck has had to step back from many of the activities that heavily relied upon her input.
So where is God in all this? Well she is not feeling too bad in spite of the treatment and has been able to spend more time praying, reading, thinking and doing other stuff that previously she would not have had time to do. Knowing that people she knows and some she doesn’t, some from all over the world, are praying for her is a great encouragement. Others have stepped in to help fill the gaps caused by her absence.
The point is that we all have a choice of facing our challenges alone or with God alongside us – we have opted for the latter and in doing so are finding blessings in the face of adversity.
Ken Burgin – Senior Steward
Ken, Beck & Liz Burgin 01453 827414
www.EastingtonMethodists.org.uk
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