Quite The Life

Quite The Life-One day, I was chatting with one of the nurses and I
mentioned that I have had quite a life. Afterwards, I reflected my life has,
for the most part, not been what one would call "normal".

Right from the beginning, I had a different sort of life. Spending the first
11 years living in the country with no electricity or indoor plumbing and
riding horseback to a one room school was not the norm. Even way back when I
was a child. To me, though, it was perfectly normal as that was all I knew.
I do have fond memories, at least mostly, of my childhood.

When I was 11, we moved to Medicine Hat. It was then that life became a bit
more usual.We finally had the amenities that other people did. Like
electricity, indoor plumbing and even a tv! I suppose it took some
adjustment for the "country bumpkins" that my sisters and I were to a city
school but I don't recall it being too difficult.

Probably the most "normal" period of my life was my time at university and
the immediate years after. At university, I was a typical university
student. I honestly did put my studies first but I also had a good time and
did some goofy things. Like people that age do. I graduated from university
in 1972 and, in January of 1973, moved to Cold Lake to start my teaching
career. The next ten years rolled by pretty uneventfully. I got married and
had a couple of kids. You know, the usual stuff.

But, then came the stroke . On July 24, 1983,  I had what they termed a
brain stem stroke. Having a stroke at the age of 33 is sure not what I
expected but, apparently, people that young, or even younger, do have
strokes so it wasn't totally unheard of. Whatever the age, it was quite a
shock to find myself unable to move or speak. However, the doctor said that
I would learn to walk and talk again. We had been slowly working towards
that goal when what I call "the complication" set in.

It was April or May of 1984 and I was at the Glenrose Hospital in Edmonton
for therapy. Unfortunately, I ended up with pneumonia and had to be
transferred to the Royal Alexandra Hospital. That is when my incredible
journey through this life began in earnest. I still have no idea what
happened. One day, I was feeling the same way I always did since having this
stroke. But, the next,I felt pretty much like I do now and knew that I was
never going to get better.

After I recovered from the pneumonia, I was sent back to Cold Lake. Nothing
unusual about the fact that I was very depressed. Here I was 34 years old,
with two young children and no hope of ever getting better.

That depression lifted pretty fast on the day that I was saved. I knew that
I was going to be healed but, what I didn't realize was that it would take
so long. At first, I was so excited  that I barely noticed the not very
pleasant circumstances that I have to endure daily. But, as the months and
years rolled by, that excitement turned into a plodding determination not to
give up.

This past March, after years of nothing seeming to happen, I was diagnosed
with breast cancer. Being diagnosed with cancer was nothing out of the
ordinary as it happens to far too many people. The cancer has spread and became untreatable by human
doctors. (Not by the Great Physician!)

So that brings me up to the present in this "unique" life of mine. I can't
walk or talk, have cancer, and am beyond medical help. But not beyond help
of the Great Physician. I am believing that not only will Jesus take away
the cancer, He will fix everything else on me that needs fixing. I just don't know
when or how. Another thing I don't know is what my life will be like after I
am restored to health. I only know that Jesus will be in it.