John Franklin John Franklin32

John here!  My beautiful wife takes such good care of our family.  How did I get so lucky?  Loves God, smart, beautiful, hard-working, gives everything she does her all, loves to care for others and, on occasion, even can put up with me!

I love her so much.  Love my family.  Love my friends.  The hardest part of some of the news we have received given the nature of the cancer is the 'spooky' unwritten future of imagining having to say goodbye.  I have been so blessed.

Saturday is when I saw the test results and came to an understanding of how serious this is going to impact my family.  A heaviness that I am familiar with began to settle in around my neck, sitting on my chest.  

That's when God reminded me of an event in my travels that has helped me through so many ' adventures' in our life.

Years ago I was on assignment in Pakistan.  I was following a group of special people that will go to the ends of the earth to help their fellow man.  To just go there and prep for our journey into the mountains to the tribes in hiding there, was filled with tension.  The day before we were to go out from Islamabad a team of doctors in Afghanistan, some of which our teammates knew as friends, were caught and summarily executed.  We prayed for them and our mission.  On those assignments one of our biggest concerns is causing greater harm to those we are helping by unwanted exposure to those who would hurt them.

I was concerned about many things, taking care of my family being the foremost in my mind.  We left in our jeep early the next morning.  Our plan was to drive as far as possible without being noticed.  Then we would stop and park somewhere away from the community and then hike until we felt no one was watching us and head in to where these families were hiding.

I can remember being quiet for most of the trip.  Watching the sun get higher, things in my heart were growing darker.  I vaguely recall the sound of tires slowing on the gravel as we parked to begin our hike in country.  My heart was in my throat as I sat.  Things were moving in slow motion.  I was having a hard time moving forward.  I've been doing this sort of thing for many years by now.  Earthquakes, famines, disease, poverty and warring gangs but, at this moment, my mind was deciding to shut the whole thing down.  "Oh God", was all I could eep out in my mind.  Immediately I heard or saw God say, "I will be the light unto your path."  I did not hear any promise of survival or success but a sure promise that He (All His love) will give me the present light in the present darkness that I will need to move forward.  Immediately, the air came into my lungs, sound into my ears and I was out the door.

This is what I share to my children in times of trouble when we don't know what is around the corner.  This is where we are right now.  I feel so blessed in how He has faithfully walked with my family on so many journeys giving us the light we need to take the next step. 

My Mom and Dad would always write this in their notes to me. 
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Their last gift to me was the Bible I carry with me today.  It is The Message.  I believe they hoped I would at least read this version!
I have...  

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.