August 24, 2018

This is a long post!! You've been warned. 🙂

“A cancer is said to be in stage 4 when it has spread far away from the origin into other areas of the body. it usually means that the cancer, although treatable, will no longer be curable with localized therapies.”

That is a standard definition of stage 4/metastatic cancer. When she was about my age, my mom was given a stage 4 diagnosis - treatable but not curable. In her case, she lived for about three years and in that time, she truly LIVED. Knowing that she had a disease that was not curable made us aware that her time was limited. Our first reaction to hearing she had stage 4 cancer was distress but it was ultimately a wake-up call to use our time wisely. 

Now I face the same diagnosis - stage 4/metastatic cancer. Treatable but not curable. We have come a LONG way in treatment since my mom was given that diagnosis, and many people are now living much longer than my mom did. I will always need treatment but the prognosis is not as dark as it was in the past. And all of that does not even bring God into the equation! I truly believe that He can do anything He wants! He will either heal me or He will use this journey to accomplish some other purpose that He has planned. 

All of that being said - in the last few weeks, I have definitely been thinking about a bucket list to see what are MUST DO items!  🙂 And that is a good thing. I feel like I am using my time so much more wisely - because I have an appreciation for the fact that it could be limited time. 

That is a GIFT - that knowledge is a BLESSING. Why do I say that?

Because we are ALL terminal! We have a limited lifespan on this TEMPORARY earth. It’s just easy to forget that. We think that we have unlimited time to do whatever we want, to live however we want, and then we are so SURPRISED when death comes. But death IS a part of life. A part to be expected and to prepare for. 

I have found that having more awareness that my time is potentially limited, I am more careful about how I spend it. I don’t want to waste it - I want to make each moment count. I want to be careful in my conversations, I want to make sure I am telling my family and friends that I love them. I find my relationship with God is even more a priority - because eternity doesn’t seem quite as far away. 🙂

Some people might think that is an odd perspective, or is sad - I don’t. I think the best thing we can do is to live with eternity on our minds. 

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom." Psalm 90:12 (NLT)