When Your Faith Is Tested
Lucia: While we were at Shaker Village, I had time to sit outside, meditate and pray. There was a very special bench about 8-10 feet from a sapling that had a robin’s nest and three baby birds. I had the pleasure and honor of watching the parents take turns feeding their offspring. One day a strong wind caused one of the babes to fall out of the tree and it cowered at the base of the tree as a hawk flew overhead seeking the right time to swoop down and gather its dinner! Jesus said In Matthew 10:29, 31…. “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will…. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” I am not certain that the baby survived its fall. On the way home, we stopped again at the Abbey and found a robin’s nest fallen on the ground under a tree. I brought it home with us as a remembrance of God’s daily Presence.
The morning we were to leave Shaker Village, Larry and I both expressed the desire to stay one more night. We decided that if our room was available we would stay. They were full so we reluctantly headed home via the Abbey.
We returned home late afternoon on June 8th, unpacked and settled into our normal routine. Thursday, June 9th Larry was scheduled to play tennis in a league match at a local club. He was getting ready to leave the house and decided to use the bathroom before he got in the car. He was shocked when a large blood clot burst forth from his penis into the toilet and thick blood followed… so thick he couldn’t see the bottom of the toilet bowl. He owed it to his partner and his teammates to show up for his tennis match, especially considering that he was not in any pain. During the match, he had to stop a couple of times to relieve himself, but each time he did so, it was just a dribble of blood. After the match, when he arrived home he realized that his tennis shorts and undershorts were soaked in blood. Fortunately, it was dark during the match and his gray soaked shorts looked as if they were wet from perspiration.
Since I had already gone to bed, Larry decided to sleep upstairs in a guest bedroom. During the night, he got up several times to urinate and each episode—to the naked eye—rendered only blood. He cleaned up each time ... except the last one.
In the morning, he came downstairs and the first thing he said to me was, “I think our faith is about to be tested.” Then he told me what had happened the night before. At one point, I used the upstairs bathroom and when I saw all the blood around the toilet and on the floor, walls, rug, etc., I thought there might have been a murder in there! Fear began to overwhelm me. It became clear why we had been so drawn to the book, Cancer and the Lord’s Prayer, and why God had put the commitment on our hearts to fast, read and pray over the previous month.
His timing is PERFECT!!!
So on that Friday morning, June 10th, we went to see Larry’s GP who sent us home with an antibiotic and an appointment with a urologist for the following Monday…. We were unaware of the arduous journey that was in store for us....
