I haven性视界传媒檛 met a movie by M. Night Shyamalan that I didn性视界传媒檛 want to invite into my living room and ask it to stay for a while 性视界传媒 性视界传媒淭he Sixth Sense性视界传媒 and 性视界传媒淯nbreakable性视界传媒 among other movies.
And then there性视界传媒檚 性视界传媒淪igns.性视界传媒 If you haven性视界传媒檛 seen it, I highly recommend finding a couch and a streaming service near you soon. In the meantime, here性视界传媒檚 a summary: the movie centers on the family of a priest who lost his faith after his wife died. Then aliens invade the world. The family survives because of challenges in their lives that were actually perfectly God-orchestrated to get them through the alien invasion.
For years I have pondered a conversation the priest had with his brother, when his brother asked him to say something comforting, like he did when he was a priest.
The priest says there are two kinds of people in the world, essentially people who believe a higher power is watching over them and working on their behalf. These people believe that the good things that happen to them are more than luck. They are signs and miracles, and there are no coincidences. Then, there are people who only believe in luck 性视界传媒 they do not believe in a higher power, working on their behalf. They believe we are alone whatever happens in this world.
The priest asks his brother which he is, and the brother replies enthusiastically that he性视界传媒檚 a 性视界传媒渕iracle man.性视界传媒
When this movie came out, in 2002, I would have answered the same way. I remember thinking, 性视界传媒淵es. I性视界传媒檓 a miracle man.性视界传媒
This year, though, as the calendar moves from Year 4 of living with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer to Year 5, I can say God has spent the past four years showing me in some of the simplest, most beautiful ways the truth in my belief that there are no coincidences, just miracles.
I do not, in this space, have room to write about all the incredible things God has done for me, times when he has shown me that he性视界传媒檚 here, here for all of it, the big stuff, the little stuff, the good stuff, the bad stuff, the things that I would feel bad about asking him for help with because they seem so trivial. He cared, though, so much that he made sure I saw him caring.
He loves me so much, he sent me beanies, and yes, I mean beanies that I wear on my head to keep it warm. I love when it性视界传媒檚 cold enough to just wear cute beanies on my bald head. They make being bald fun. One Sunday just as it was turning cool about a year ago, I told Mr. Answer Line I needed new beanies. Then, in my head, I wondered, 性视界传媒淗ow much do beanies cost now? How many can I afford?性视界传媒 And then I moved on.
The next day, a sweet friend called me and asked if she could come over. She and her husband had visited a working monastery in Vermont and she had something for me.
At my house she explained that the monks性视界传媒 mothers make items to sell to help support their sons性视界传媒 work. Then, she reached down into a bag she brought with her and pulled out crocheted beanies, seven of them, to be exact, one for every day of the week 性视界传媒 all unique, different colors, different styles, unlike anything you could find in any chain retail store.
I started laughing in wonder of our God, who had planned all of this, who put it in motion before I ever thought about needing new beanies.
And that, is not a coincidence. That is a God who loves me and who has shown me that over and over as I have navigated living with cancer.
I have lots of other examples like that, but really, the most important one is this: I have been in perpetual cancer treatment of some kind for about four years, including more than 50 chemotherapy treatments.
My body is tired, and when I expressed concern to my providers at Texas Oncology about the deepening neuropathy that chemo was causing, we agreed it was time for a break. My cancer is stable, they said, it性视界传媒檚 asleep. It will never go away because it性视界传媒檚 in my bones, but I am now on an extended break from chemo, while continuing to take Herceptin, a protein blocker that fights my specific cancer 性视界传媒 and that doesn性视界传媒檛 have the side effects of chemotherapy.
I don性视界传媒檛 know how long of a break it will be. If anything changes, I性视界传媒檒l start chemo again.
But for now, as I start my fifth year of living with cancer, I feel better than I性视界传媒檝e felt in four years.
For four years God has made it possible for me to still take my kids to school, still cook dinner, still be there for all the soccer games, halftime shows, successes and struggles.
And that is a miracle.
