A short-lived but significant reality

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

Clinic yesterday was uneventful, which is always a great thing. We are in countdown phase now as this is the last week of current chemo treatment. As of next Tuesday, we will be giving N a full week of rest from medicine!

At this point, I just want to speed time up. It's the looming reality that awaits us and it's like that same feeling you get in the pit of your stomach as the roller coaster slowly inches uphill, knowing that the imminent drop awaits. That's where I'm at right now. On that roller coaster chugging away in anticipation of the drop.

I heard a talk many years ago that what humans can endure is largely dependent on one crucial component: hope. If someone experiencing torture knows that it is for a finite time, they draw an enormous amount of strength in the hope of knowing it's only for a duration of time, regardless of what that time period may be. Humans can focus on that endpoint and keep going. But for someone who experiences pain without ever knowing if or when there is an end, it's harder for the person to endure it because they lose hope, and it deflates their spirit.

I was reminded of that talk this week as I am ready to hurry time along and get us through the next several months and put it behind us. While I dread it, I have an enormous amount of hope for our lives after the fact, and so I have found that we are indeed drawing a lot of strength from that hope. The significance of this time may be great, but the pain is short lived in the big picture of our existence. We are ready!

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