Quote from John Piper's article "Don't Waste Your Cancer":
"How on earth can heartache coexist with love, joy, peace, and an indestructible sense of life purpose? In the inner logic of faith, this makes perfect sense. In fact, because you have hope, you may feel the sufferings of this life more keenly: grief upon grief. In contrast, the grieving that has no hope often chooses denial or escape or busyness because it can't face reality without becoming distraught. In Christ, you know what's at stake, and so you keenly feel the wrong of this fallen world. You don't take pain and death for granted. You love what is good and hate what it evil. After all, you follow in the image of a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief"."

I've been avoiding writing because I do not want to write the following words: My daddy has lung cancer. Piper's, Ella's and Hunter's Papa has a tumor in his lung. He is 66 years old and each one of us has a very deep love for him. We do not want him to go through this, yet here we are. Next week he should find out his treatment options. We are praying for his complete healing. I am finding that there just aren't a lot of words.

I remember hearing Tim Keller quote Tolkien saying something like - "God will someday make everything sad come untrue, but somehow the suffering will make our eternal glory and joy even greater for having been through it." Keller went on to say that somehow, through the cross, we can see that God will enhance our joy, through our suffering. It will be more glorious for having once been wrong and bad.