Beauty will rise...

Well, it has been quite an interesting two days in ole cancer land. And to be frank (although if i were to chose to be someone, I dont think I would choose to be frank. Maybe joe, or Carl. No offense to any franks that are reading this :) ), whats going on with me might not really be interesting to someone who's gone through all this chemo stuff and what not. This might all just be old news. And fair enough and kudos to you for getting through it like a champ. But nonetheless it's all new to us, so each new thing is interesting and unknown and exciting.

So, yesterday was the second of my blood tests to check white cell counts and fun stuff like that. The first one went very well. They had given me a shot after chemo that boosted my white cell count, so it was like 3 times what they normally should've been. Sweet. Well second test, not so good. My white cell count was extremely low. So they prescribe some antibiotics (funny enough, the same that we're not sure whether I'm allergic to them, but that's another story), and send me home. Right about that time I start feeling really crummy and get a fever. Not really something you want to get while low in white cell counts. So we're not really sure what's going on. My temperature eventually climbs to the point where they say to call in. So we call the doctor and pack up thinking we might have to go back into the hospital. Well, he says that the fever is all good, just keep eating and drinking and the antibiotics will kick in. We're just to call if it gets worse. So we sit and wait. Chill, eat and drink and pray the fever goes down. And sure enough, this morning it finally got back to normal. Needless to say we were kind of unsure what was going to go down last night. But God was good and the antibiotics did their thing!

God continues to be faithful and good to us in this difficult and somewhat scary time. That being said, I wanted to share something that has been of great encouragement to me. Not only during this time but also during many other really trying times in my life (although I have to admit there haven't been too many). But it was a particular point a few years ago where this really impacted me. Many of you know who Steven Curtis Chapman is and many of you know of his story especially the tragedy him and his family went through a few years ago. Im not going to be specific out of respect for him and his family, but how he responded was very impact full for me. Being a songwriter, he began composing songs out of this tragedy, and a album came out later that kind of chronicled his struggle with the Lord and how he trusted God through one of the most difficult times imaginable. The album, my personal favorite of his, is entitled Beauty Will Rise. It is an honest look at working through trials and tragedy, at the same time you are trusting God, knowing who he is. I highly recommend this album to anyone and everyone, especially if you are in the midst of going through some difficult times.

I went ahead and posted a link to the first track on the album for you all to enjoy. I hope this album is as much of an encouragement to you as it was to me. And in the words of S.C.C., "out of these ashes, beauty will rise."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JTwJ_1lzE&sns=em