I met with my oncologist this week: No treatments, and none scheduled until I get my next scans on December 10. We will see what we should do after that.

The consult was a little confusing. My doctor said that I could start treatment again, or I could choose not to. The decision was mine, and he didn’t think one choice was better than the other. He started to make a case for taking another treatment, but then said that since it has been more than 2-1/2 months since my last treatment and since we are only 4 weeks away from my next CT scans, that it makes sense not to start again for at least another month.

Given a choice, who in their right minds would choose to take more infusions! I happily declined, a little in disbelief. The doctor said if he were in my shoes, he would do the same thing. (I love my doctor!)

Victoria was with me. Forty-two years of marriage have earned me a reputation for sometimes reporting things with a slight bias. But she heard the doctor with her own ears, and agreed that there seemed to be no good reason to take another treatment. So I left happy, and went back to work.

I attended the NAFCC conference in Atlanta, where 3 ladies from Heal The City Free Clinic prayed for my healing. It was not that kind of conference, but 3 groups of people prayed for me there! https://www.healthecityamarillo.com

I am excited about not having more treatments until after the 10th. That gives us an opportunity to prove that God is really healing me. I have said from the beginning that the evidence that God is healing me would mean a reliable CT scan showing No Evidence of Disease (N.E.D.). From the beginning our plan was to do immunotherapy, and change my diet to reduce the amount of bad things I eat and focus on eating things that are healthy and that support my immune system. Those were important, but the thing we have relied on the most has been prayer. “These things have happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead!” (2 Cor 1:9-10)

So if you have been praying for me, please pray that between now and December 10 God will destroy all of the cancer in my body, and that the scans will be a testimony of His faithfulness, mercy and power. My birthday is a few days before my scans. I will be 63 years old. Pray that I will be “Cancer-Free at Sixty Three”!

Why is that so important to me? Well, I have asked people to pray that God would give me seven more years of fruitful, cancer-free ministry. (I still haven’t shared why I am asking for seven years. I will soon.) But next month is significant for two reasons. As I have already said, I turn 63, which is the beginning of a seven-year stretch to 70 – for whatever that is worth. But next month is also the last month of this decade. January 1, 2020 is the beginning of a new decade, one that I am convinced will be significant in many ways. I believe it will be significant politically, economically, socially and spiritually. God is Lord of times and seasons. There is something unique about turning over a new decade.

Friends from New Life Community Health Center (NYC) surprised me by air-freighting 2 New York cheesecakes. It wasn’t my birthday - just a reminder that they were praying for me. What an encouragement!

All that is to say that turning 63 and entering a new decade of history seems like a good starting line for the next phase of my life – a life that was seriously in doubt last June. So “pray for me to be N.E.D.”, to be “Cancer-Free at Sixty-Three”. Pray for God to glorify His name by confirming His power over this terrible enemy. Pray for Him to get me and you and everyone else ready for a new season, a season to advance His good purpose and unshakable kingom, to see justice and peace, life and meaning, mercy and compassion triumphing over fallenness, stubbornness, greed and self-interest. Pray for us to all be ready to enter a new season of healing for our world like this summer/fall have been for me.

I hope you are encouraged by what God has done in response to your prayers on my behalf. I hope that as you see God working in me, that you will be emboldened to ask Him to work in others who also have great need.

Please keep praying for me.