[This is the abridged version of a cancer update I emailed to friends yesterday.] It’s a strange thing—writing of “suffering” in our first-world American context. What really qualifies as suffering? In your own life, what would you categorize as merely a difficulty and what would you consider full-blown suffering? I feel like I know so little of suffering… Read More How do we suffer well?

Dear blog readers, Below is a link to a collection of emails I’ve recently sent to friends regarding my newest cancer diagnosis (stage 4). I’ve edited out the more personal information so that these updates can be passed along freely. My prayer is that the beauty of Jesus shines brightly into many hearts out of… Read More Cancer Updates (2021)

Three years ago today, my phone rang with terrible news. My doctor’s office called to inform me they finally had the results of my three-and-a-half months of medical testing. When they wouldn’t disclose the results over the phone, I knew exactly what they were.  This past week I revisited my journals surrounding that phone call… Read More Three years ago today

In the past decade, going to the doctor has felt a bit like guzzling apple cider vinegar while walking barefoot on hot coals. Not exactly my idea of fun. Thursday’s appointment was no exception—bad news again. Not necessarily cancer, but a complicated cocktail of issues my doctor believes first set my cancer into motion. And… Read More The good news about bad news

Remember how the Spirit clearly told me that this cancer would be a gift? Well, that gift has taken on a thousand forms—one of which came last fall as I recovered from a year full of surgeries and chemotherapy. I was incapacitated, sitting on my butt in a recliner for weeks on end, thinking about… Read More Out of the Shadow World