The Righteous Cry Out...and the Lord Hears...

Psalm 34:17-19  "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.  The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."

Today was not the best day of my life.  For those of you who have been following our journey over the past few days, you know that we have been praying for our son Matthew, who had a biopsy on enlarged lymph nodes in his abdomen on Friday.  The preliminary report on Friday was that it looked like "lymphoma".  However, the actual biopsy report today was much different, and took us all by surprise.  According to the report, Matthew has something called "Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor", which, according to what we've been able to discover on the web is a rare, highly aggressive tumor.  It is more common in males and usually affects children, adolescents, and young adults.  Matthew is 37...which seems a little beyond this age bracket, so we have a lot of questions. 

In thinking about all of this we thought of some positive things in which God has already prepared the way to help:

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  Matt has been taking Tae Kwon Do lessons for the past year, and has gotten into very good physical condition as a result.  Actually, a week ago he performed in a tournament and won 1st place for his age.  This regimen and discipline has helped prepare him physically for the ordeal ahead.
• 
  
  His wife Nicole has a very responsible position, and her work is pretty demanding. However, her boss has already told her that they are standing behind her 100%, and whatever she needs to do, they will work with that.  They even gave her the option of working from home if necessary. (She is a computer "guru" for a large insurance and banking corporation in New England).
• 
  
  Nicole has also been building her strength as she has become a volunteer firefighter, and has been taking training and classes for the past couple of years, which has been very good for her physically.
• 
  
  Noah, Matt and Nicole's 10 year old son, is at an age where others can help take up the slack regarding his after school activities.  This is going to be challenging, but they may find that they have more friends and neighbors than they realized before.

I had been wondering what direction this blog writing was going to take...and I certainly never dreamed or thought it would be like this...but even this is a blessing in disguise.  I believe that God has already established a strong support group here for us, through Facebook and other means, that we didn't have a few months ago. Even my new job is providing a source of encouragement and prayer support that I didn't have a month ago. 

So, the Lord works in mysterious ways...we don't always understand the why's and wherefore's of the circumstances that are beyond our control...but we are thankful for the ways in which God provides for our needs even before we knew we would be needing such support. 

We are trusting God for the very best possible Doctors, Hospitals, and new acquaintances who will become a part of our family's life in the upcoming days.  This is going to be a different kind of journey...certainly not one that any of us would have chosen, but if we have to embark on this journey, at least we know we are not alone.

"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God."  Psalm 43:5 

Amen