Words of Hope in the Midst of the Storm

I have been given permission to post snippets from distribution emails sent by Betsy Caram who is, by Gods grace, persevering through her intense bout with cancer. I appreciate her struggle, my girls and I are also experiencing a deep and dark trial as well and during this time I have found these update emails ministered grace and were very encouraging. I asked her permission to post some portions of these emails because I believe there are plenty of people going through personal struggles and trials who I feel might benefit from some of these heartfelt writings of Gods grace. My trial is different from hers and yours will be different from mine but one thing is common in every trial…suffering! Those who suffer can relate to others who are suffering and so consolation received by one can, when shared, I believe distribute comfort to others…

From: Betsy Caram
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011
To: Frank Anderson
Subject: Latest update

2/17/2011
Dear Friends and family,
Well, folks, the hair is gone and my hat and wig days are now my only reality for a short season. The last two Sundays at church the ladies put on a hat with me, and we got some great pictures. It was fun. Since vanity is no longer an option, I am finding positive ways to rejoice in my situation. How do I love this new adventure—let me count the ways! My "get ready to go time" has literally been cut in half, and my hair product expenses have vanished. Monday is chemo treatment number three, which means I will have only five more to go after this one. Someone said recently, "Just blink and this whole thing will be over before you know it." I've been doing a lot of blinking and it is not over yet—but all I can say again and again is that God is faithful! While the second round of chemo was not without its issues, I was not down as long this time, and we are praising the Lord that my body is proving it is able to "fight the good fight of faith" during this onslought of unwelcome drugs. I am so aware that there is a real battle going on in my body, as in the natural I am constantly having to address one issue after another in order to keep healthy and fit during this unpleasant but necessary process. The miracle of the human body is a wonder that we so often take for granted. It seems only when we are in a weakened state that we come to appreciate so much how God in His wisdom has created certain aspects of our body to miraculously come to our rescue when it is under attack. This is to me just one more way that our faithful God proves He loves us totally—body, soul, and spirit.

Since the beginning of the news of my diagnosis, God has been challenging my heart with the thought of hope. When I first heard the word "cancer," I felt I needed to grab hold of hope; and yet I didn't fully understand how to go about it. Soon after, I heard two different messages on hope and did a study on it myself. From all these various sources, I learned to appreciate hope like never before. For example, I learned from Scripture that hope is "an anchor to my soul" (Heb. 6:19). Many are going through difficult experiences, but in
these difficult times God wants to give us something. It is called "hope." We all know that the opposite of hope is despair. To despair is to see the situation we are in as if it is bigger than God's ability to do something to change it. It is to believe that we have been forsaken or abandoned in our situation; that there is no solution, no way out—no hope. Yet hope always causes us to rise above the storms of despair. As a ship in the midst of a stormy sea is firmly held to the sea bed by it's anchor, so too "hope" is the anchor of the soul that keeps us steady when the storms of life come to test us. Hope accomplishes for us the same thing that an anchor does for a ship—preserving that ship (our soul) when the waves and the winds beat against it. This picture of an anchor helped me understand hope so much better, and even gave me more reason to "hope" in God's mercy in my particular situation.

In my last update I had asked for prayer regarding the need to keep a song in my heart so that it would not be taken away by any form of problems that could arise because of my current challenge. The answer to that prayer came in the form of a poem by Emily Dickenson sent to me in a card of encouragement. I quote it here for your encouragement as well. "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops—at all." May these two pictures of "hope" cause your hearts to be strengthened as you face your own particular struggles in this very precious, but temporary life. And while we still covet your prayers for my continued chemo treatments, we trust that many who read this will be able to grab hold of hope in a new way. We also pray that you be able to see God doing something good and even eternal right in the midst of your own difficult situations. Thank you again for your faithfulness to us—it means so much.
Love,
Paul and Betsy