In my thoughts and prayers...

There are two very special women who are in my thoughts and prayers today.

J. is a friend and fellow seminarian. We are both pastoral care and counselling students and so it is in the context of those classes that I got to know her. Last year during my pastoral counselling practicum, J. treated me as an equal even though her wisdom far surpasses mine. Just over a year ago her cancer reoccurred and she spent the year in intensive treatment. In November she asked me to worship lead a chapel in which we celebrated J.'s amazing recovery and God's faithfulness. Her scans were clear and we praised God, all the while acknowledging the toll this had taken on J. body. Yesterday I heard the news that the cancer that had started in her breast years ago and was in her liver last year is now suspected to be in her brain. We are all awaiting the results of further tests in utter disbelief. How can this happen to such a beautiful woman who has already been through so much, and has so much to offer in ministry? I am in awe of how J. maintains a hopeful attitude in the midst of yet another uncertainty.
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The summer before coming to seminary I had the opportunity to work with MCC, and more specifically with Wilma Derksen. As you may or may not know, Wilma is the mother of Candace Derksen who was murdered in Winnipeg in 1984. 23 years later a suspect was arrested and charged, and the trial is currently in progress. I can't even imagine what Wilma and her family are going through, though Wilma allows us a glimpse into her world through her public blog:My Lemonade (Click on "Bitter Sweet")
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Two extraordinary women who I feel blessed to know. Two women who I am keeping in my thoughts and prayers these days.

There was a time when the thought of such hardship would have devastated me, and I would have said, "How can you allow this to happen, God?" But I've noticed a shift. Though the thought of what these two women are going through saddens me, I am not given over to despair. Pain is a reality of living in this broken world and where at one time I would have asked, "How could God do this?" my prayer is now, "God, weep with us and bring about your Kingdom soon." I think my understanding of healing and wholeness has also broadened.

I've included here the words to the song we sang to close the chapel service last November:

We will walk with God, my brothers, we will walk with God.
We will walk with God, my sisters, we will walk with God.
We will go rejoicing till the kingdom has come.
We will go rejoicing till the kingdom has come.