It's Not Hollywood

It's not Hollywood. There's no soft music playing in the background. Hair & make-up isn't always intact & exactly the right words are not always spoken at just the right time, with scenes fading in & out & characters move gracefully to the next encounters with no "war wounds" from the scene just ended. In Hollywood, the players can receive gun shots wounds & still jump from building to building, living & dying at just the right moment as the music crescendos!

Real life journeys are not Holloywood journeys & can be full of potholes, dark shadows, 90 degree unexpected bends in the road & supply no scripts! Some of these trials cause us to be hanging off the cliffs by our fingernails, & it's a real cliff, not just a stage prop with soft mattresses below prepared to break our fall!

My family & I are walking a real life journey of a devastating disease. This is one of those journeys that has no script. No director telling us exactly what to say to each other or how to act on any given day or moment. Our family is far from perfect in this circumstance. We haven't walked this particular winding road before, & are stumping our toes, falling over the boulders in the path & getting hit in the gut with this news & that news before being able to catch our collective breaths!

It's not Hollywood! It's a real life journey, with real life people & it's hard. It's lonely & at times, gut-wrenching.

This real life journey's not got Hollywood's shallowness, either! It's a jouney full of real love & hope! It's lead by THE Director Who's not only TELLING us where to go but LEADING us there. He's lighting this real-life path as we travel & smoothing out the rough spots so when we hit a bump in the road it will not be a devasting blow but simply stay a nuisance. He's providing what we need, when we need it & if you don't know Jesus, you probably think I'm crazy saying this! But, He's REAL & His provision is REAL, & His peace is REAL! It's not Hollywood!

Here's what my family & me believe & are experiencing:
"We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars, containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus might also be seen in our bodies." (II Cor 4: 7-10

My family & I are terribly sad right now, but are walking in the REAL joy of the Lord. We're disappointed, but we're not defeated. We don't want cancer to be in our lives but we're not angry with God that it is. We don't know exaclty how to do this but we're taking one step at a time.

Medically, the last 2 days have been a whirlwind! Oncology appointment with a tremendous amount of information & a staff working hard on our behalf, entering me into a clinical trial program. A doctor who has taken all the time we need to hear about medical options, treatments, & trials. Prayers. Decisions. Action. Scans & labs. Chemo begins Friday. Our hope is this treatment will extend my life but if the medicines don't work, my family & I still stand secure.

Going back to the scripture above, I read again that "we're pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed." My family & I really are good! In real life, we can't shoot the scene & then walk away as if nothing is amiss. It's not Hollywood. But, give me real life anyday, when it's full of hope! Give me real life anyday, when it's full of love! Give me real life over Hollywood anyday when it's with Jesus!

Blessings!