A Faith and Health Journey

Revised March 2024

Bruce and Jan Wrenn

 

 

 

Copyright ©2020 by Bruce Wrenn and Jan Wrenn

Table of Contents

 

Forward p. 3

Essay: “Living Today As Though You Might Die Tomorrow”…………………………………………………….p.5 Introduction to the Creation of Your Own Where, Who, How Notebook………………………………p. 13 Notebook Section 1: Where to Find Important Things…………………………………………………………..p.18 Essay: “An Eyewitness to God’s Goodness”…………………………………………………………………………..p.21 Notebook Section 2: Who to Contact for Help………………………………………………………………………p.47 Essay: “How to Be At Peace In the Midst of Adversity”…………………………..…………………………….p.50 Notebook Section 3: How to Do Necessary Tasks………………………………………………………………….p.55 Resource: Grief Management Help……….………………………………………………………………………………p.58 Essay: “God’s Purpose for Our Life” ………………….………………………………………………………………….p.60 Notebook Section 4: Funeral Plans.………………………………………………………………………………………p. 74 Essay: “How the Psalms Can Rid You of Anxiety”………………………………………………………………….p. 75

Notebook Section 5: Miscellaneous Information..…………………………………………………………………p.79 Financial/Life Insurance

Serial Numbers

User Names and Passwords

 

Essay: “Will Our Pets Be With us In Heaven?”………………………………………………………………………p. 80 Notebook Section 6: End-of-Life Care Wishes……………………………………………………………………..p.100 Essay: Does God Care? p,101

Notebook Section 7: Favorite Bible Verses & Statements of Faith……………………………………….p.120 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p.123 About the Authors………………………………………………………………………………………………………………p.124

Forward

Living Today as Though You Might Die Tomorrow has a dual purpose. First, to provide a guide to help in navigating through some of the philosophical/spiritual thoughts that are common to those searching for a closer walk with God as they contemplate their mortality. Second, is to provide a guide to creating your own ruthlessly practical 3-ring binder notebook for your survivors, identifying Where important items can be found (e.g., safety deposit keys, previously filed tax returns, passports, etc.), Who they should call for help (e.g., a trusted locksmith, handyman, sprinkler system repair, etc.), and How to perform necessary tasks (e.g., change a furnace filter, scan a document and send as an email attachment, make changes to investments in your 401(K) account, etc.), i.e., your own Where, Who, How notebook. Thus, these hybrid spiritual/practical purposes are intended to help you and your survivors navigate through the turbulent waters that we go through at the end of our life’s journey. You will be able to find the peace and assurance that believers can lay claim to as promised in sacred Scripture, as well as leaving behind a specific and practical guide for survivors allowing them to significantly reduce the stress of day-to-day living in your absence.

 

Perhaps you have already given thought to the need to leave your loved ones with a resource that can help them cope with coping with life after you are gone, although that might be years, or even decades, in the future. You have always been about doing your part to make life easier for those who have depended on you to do those household tasks that you are best capable of doing. You’ve never shirked that responsibility, and because of that faithful service, your household has been a smooth running example of how specialization of labor can produce such positive results.

But how will that continue in your absence? How will those who relied on your doing the things you were best capable of doing manage without you? By creating your own version of the Where, Who, How notebook you would be demonstrating your loving concern for them in a very tangible way. They will feel that love every time they pick up this notebook to learn where an important item can be found or know who to contact to help with a critical task, or learn how to do something for themselves that you use to always do.

 

You did a lot of stuff! Now they will have to do it. But know this: their memories of the good that you did and their loving memory for you are only growing stronger and deeper with every use of this reference work. No “goodbye letter” will speak with the same eloquence as your Where, Who, How notebook of your faithful love for the ones left behind.

Jan and I realized our joint need to create a resource that could be of great help to the surviving spouse should one of us die or no longer be able to contribute to the successful functioning of our household due to an incapacitating disease or event. By writing this notebook together, we could identify the information that only one of us had that the other felt a great need-to-know. For example, if only Bruce knew where the safety deposit key was, or if only Jan knew who to

contact to draw up a landscaping plan for the backyard, there would potentially be a problem for the survivor. Also, by writing this notebook together, you are achieving a synergy where two minds spark off one another to generate a more comprehensive and clearer document than could be done if only one person did all the writing. Bruce might think the instructions he left for Jan were clear, but Jan is in the best position to know what is “clear” to her.

Additionally, your version of the Where, Who, How notebook may need to be used by your children or other care providers if both of you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to share information critical to your care or preservation of the household welfare. A care provider might find it impossible to deliver the help he/she needs to do unless information is available detailing where an important document is located, who should be contacted to perform a key task, or how to conduct a sequence of actions to accomplish a critically important activity in the home.

We begin this book with an essay on what it means to live today as though you might die tomorrow, followed by the introduction and Overview of the Where, Who, How notebook.

Essay: Living Today As Though You Might Die Tomorrow

Bruce Wrenn

 

This is a provocative title for a message, I know (my original, even more provocative title was “You Are Going to Die. Now What?”), but until it became very real to me I, like you, thought of my death only in the abstract sense. While your death might be decades away and you think of it in the abstract, you are also aware of, and perhaps personally knew, people who thought the same way but died suddenly and unexpectedly. It might be through a catastrophic health event, catching a deadly virus with no known cure, or merely by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Life is fragile and tomorrow is promised to no one.

It was not until I was diagnosed with an incurable and fatal disease in 2010, when I was 60, that the concept of dying was something I could accept as an inevitable, and no longer distant, event. I had thought of it as something I’d have plenty of time to come to terms with (my father died at 86, my mother at 98). But now I was told I had Leiomyosarcoma (LMS), and I, along with everyone else with LMS, had essentially zero odds of surviving, save a Divine miracle.

Going up against an incurable fatal disease can be like standing at the base of a mountain so tall and steep that it blots out the sun and completely fills your field of vision. Not only do you realize the enormity of the task of climbing the mountain, you also realize you have none of the skills necessary for accomplishing the task. This could be overwhelming and devastating in its effect on your psyche, spirit, and resolve.

This message is not going to chronicle a miracle. My goal in sharing this message with you is to persuade you of the need to take action now, when you too perhaps are thinking of your death in the abstract sense, so that it does not visit you and loved ones unprepared. Think of it as a “practical guide” for preparing the responsible believer for the inevitable.

 

1. Take a short-range view when looking ahead of you, and a long-range view when looking behind.

When fighting a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, such as a potentially (or always) fatal disease, (or even something like a mountain of student loan debt or overcoming an addiction) the tendency is to become extremely discouraged by the sheer magnitude of what we are facing. Avoid looking at the mountain. Look only at where your next step should land on this walk. Our concern is the next step taken in faith, lighted by God, and on the path He puts us on.

I have learned to trust God to guide each step of the journey. I am not looking at the mountain in front of me; I am looking at Jesus who guides each step I take. For example, when faced with over 100 hours of debilitating chemo infusions, I did not focus on the enormity of the trial I faced. I knew God would be with me each day and looked only for the provisions He put in place for me each day. As he said, tomorrow will take care of

itself (Matt 6:34); which is another way of saying He will be right there tomorrow when you need to take the next step. Be fully aware of His presence and take that next step with assurance that God is with you all the way.

23 Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever. Psalm 73:23-26 NIV

Taking a short-range view when looking ahead does not mean we should not plan for the future. We are told that “We should make plans—counting on God to direct us” Proverbs 16:9 TLB. What we are talking about here is to avoid making ourselves anxious about an uncertain and frightening future with enormous obstacles, and instead take each small step at a time, holding onto Jesus’ hand, fortified by prayer, and confident of God’s sufficiency to provide for our every need (“Because the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need!” Psalm 23:1 TLB).

Take the long view when looking behind you at your past. Lift up your head and see the Ebenezers (stones of help: 1 Samuel 7:12) that line the path you are on. If you keep a gratitude journal you have documented all of these experiences where God has providentially supplied you repeatedly with supernatural help in desperate situations.

I remember the days of long ago;

I meditate on all your works

and consider what your hands have done. Psalm 143:5

On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. Psalm 138:3,7

Amazing Grace

Through many dangers, toils and snares We have already come.

T'was grace that brought us safe thus far And grace will lead us home,

And grace will lead us home.

He has always been there with us from the beginning, and he will be with us until the end. Now we should boldly turn and take that next step forward with confidence in the Lord who was with us every step in the past and who will see us safely through all our trials into our heavenly home.

1. Live Intentionally.

Scripture is filled with admonitions on living in a way that honors God rather than following our carnal instincts:

 

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

 

Deuteronomy 28 draws stark and detailed descriptions of what life will be like if we choose to obey (blessings) versus disobey (curses) God’s proscribed way of living. The first Psalm stakes out this contrast vividly:

Psalm 1

1. 1. 1.Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

1. 1. 2.but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
   2. 3.That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

1. 1. 4.Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

1. 1. 5.Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
   2. 6.For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

In fact, this theme is so replete throughout scripture that no Christian could plausibly claim he or she was unaware of the importance that God attaches to living according to His laws rather than following the ways of the world. So, if it is so deeply inculcated into our Christian worldview, why does it merit discussion in this essay? The answer, for me at least, is that the theme here is “Living Today as Though You Might Die Tomorrow,” and

that means making multiple choices each and every day as though they might be the last thing I do. Let me provide an example of how this can look when put in practice:

A building contractor was installing a new sliding glass door for us. We had on two occasions, months in advance, confirmed the type of door that was to be ordered and installed and were repeatedly assured those specifications would be met. When the workers showed up for the installation, we asked them to be sure and check before unloading the door off the truck that the door was indeed the one that was ordered. We were assured that it was the correct one. (my guess is you are now correctly anticipating where this story is headed). I attended to other chores while the work was being done, and later I came to check on their progress. Sure enough, after they had removed the old door and were installing the new one, I saw that the door was not the one that had been ordered five months earlier. Now, things can happen pretty fast in these situations, and if you are not prepared to react in ways that honor God and be that “faithful ambassador” (2 Cor. 5:20) we are called to be, then human nature takes over and we are likely to have to live with regrets later. I’ve found this preparation helps me avoid having to live with regret in these situations: I ask myself “If what you are about to say turns out to be your last words, and everyone will remember you by what you did and said right now, what do you want that legacy to be?” If I want to honor God with my last breath, I know what I have to do. In this situation I said: “Well mistakes happen to the best of us, so we’ll just figure out how to make this right.” It turned out that the “mistake” was the best solution to our problem, thus resulting in a “win-win” resolution instead of yet another case when I needed to apologize to God and man for losing my temper.

 

For lack of a better term, I’m going to call this a “call to intentional living”, meaning I don’t react to a situation by letting my human nature take over, but rather I intentionally let the Spirit take over my decision making. This can happen only if I submit my will to be under God’s control instead of my own. Paul describes the titanic struggle within himself to follow his own will instead of God’s this way:

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 21 I have discovered this principle of life— that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Romans 7:14-15, 18-23 (NLT)

The solution to this problem for Paul and for us, is to ask God each day to fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we act and think as guided by the Spirit instead of according to our human nature. Christ referred to this as nothing less than being “born again” (John 3:5- 8):

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (NIV)

 

Christ later described how this happens (John 14:16- 17):

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept

him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

 

In John 15 Christ refers to the indwelling of the Spirit as “abiding” in us and we in Christ, as a branch ‘remains” in a vine. Clearly, the monumental struggle we face, as Paul did, between spiritual and human forces to will and to do can only be resolved in the favor of God by our asking and receiving the Spirit in us each day. Which is why I include this “intentional living” on the short list of things I have found I must do in order to “Live Today as Though I Might Die Tomorrow.”

Finally, to see what “living intentionally” as guided by the Spirit looks like, see Matthew 5-7 and these verses in Paul’s letter to the Romans:

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with

goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. (Romans 12:9-21,The Message)

As much as I would like to think I could live this way, I know that the only way this kind of behavior is possible for me is if I surrender my will to the control of the Spirit. Every day.

 

1. Be Patient.

 

This has been a difficult, but valuable, lesson for me to learn in dealing with my illness over the past eight years. I do not think many of us are naturally patient, particularly in today’s society bent on having our needs met right now. Yet God counsels us to be patient, trusting Him to put in place the perfect timetable for our life’s journey. Here are a few Bible verses that counsel patience:

 

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:4

Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he turned to me and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:25

At times during my journey, I know I have felt like David when he said, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). But I have also come to feel like David did a few verses later when he said, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” Psalm 13:5-6 (NIV). Patience is a sign of trust. In essence you are saying, “Lord, I declare you sovereign over everything in my life, including my concept of time. I trust you to deliver the mercies you’ve promised to me at exactly the right time by the means you have chosen. I will patiently wait for you to show me where to place my next step on this journey.”

So, patience is what we have when we trust God to deliver His blessings according to His timetable for our life’s journey with Him. But it gets better. God himself provides patience for us to exercise when His Holy Spirit abides in us (Galatians 5:22). There have been many times in the years of dealing with my disease that I have been challenged to be patient, only to discover that being patient was for the good. Patience allows you to claim the promise of Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is stayed on You.”

Perfect peace is something everyone cherishes. I’m thankful that He was patient with me to accept the patience He offers with the indwelling of the Spirit.

1. Be Prepared.

 

“Being prepared” can mean several things. First, it means starting every day by praying to be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit in every area of our lives, as I described briefly in point #2 above. Christ in his last hours with His disciples (John chapters 13-17) told them that they, the branches, must remain attached to him, the vine, if their lives would be able to produce fruit that will last (John 15:5, 16). “Abide in me and I in you” (John 15:4) is the key to withstanding the trials we face in life and leading a fruitful life. In the same discourse where he made these statements he said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus’ victory over trials becomes our victory through the indwelling of the Spirit. Being prepared to face your trials each day must begin with the earnest prayer for His Spirit.

 

Second, being prepared means putting on the “full armor of God” (Ephesians 6: 10-17) to take your stand against the enemy. If you, like me, face a protracted battle with an evil, relentless, and merciless disease, you need to be prepared to fight many battles where the enemy will use discouragement, depression, fear, debilitating physical ailments, and many other weapons. Don’t go unprepared when you go into battle.

Third, be prepared to be surprised by joy, seeing His mercies appear at unexpected places, delivered by unlikely sources. I needed to stop making a big deal of small negative things or making a small deal out of big positive things. The negative things are those troubles and setbacks Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18--“light and momentary” negative problems we can see and that can so consume our attention that we fail to take note of the unseen eternal glories that “far outweigh them all.” The positive things are those mercies God delivers to us “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23), which go unnoticed when we are focused on the things that did not go our way that morning. When we do take note of and acknowledge those mercies, we are making a direct connection to our Lord and seeing His constant loving concern for our welfare—that is a “big deal”, a huge deal. If I treat these things as my due, I am missing the big picture. They are evidence of God keeping His promise to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). I want to express gratitude for those mercies and set up an Ebenezer (see step #1) to remind me how my loving Lord is with me all the way every step of every day.

We’ve all had experiences where we need to be prepared to deal with bad news, including potentially highly stressful ones involving medical conditions. Having Bible promises to claim during these times is not just a way to reduce stress, it avails you of all the resources of heaven on your behalf. One that I’ve claimed many times has been 1 Corinthians 10:13. Paraphrasing it from the Amplified Bible, it tells me that nothing I’m going through is the first time God has ever seen this problem. God is going to be faithful to His compassionate nature and can be trusted to not let you be subjected to a trial beyond your ability to

escape (endure) it with His help. He will provide the way to get successfully through that difficulty.

These promises are rock solid assurance that He will not only see you safely through the troubles you are in but can make that bad news into good news for you (in this case increasing my faith and trust in Him). I’m certain you have your own favorite Bible promises to call on when facing adversity. Life is tough and may be over more quickly than you thought. We all need to be prepared to take the Word into our battles.

1. Leave More Than Memories Behind.

Perhaps after reading steps 1 through 4 you have arrived at the conclusion that you too need to “live today as though you might die tomorrow.” If so, this last step has the potential to be one of the most practicable and charitable gifts you could give to the loved ones you leave behind (at least that is what I’ve been told by several people who have seen it and have resolved to do it). The book you are reading provides a step-by-step process that allows you to leave something of immense value to those you leave behind if you were to die tomorrow.

 

These are just some of the lessons that, by God’s infinite mercy and grace, I have learned over my journey of living today as though I might die tomorrow. One thing I have noticed about listening and learning such lessons is that: “…if on some point [I] think differently, that too God will make clear to [me].” (Philippians 3:15) His patience seems inexhaustible and his unfailing love incomprehensible in a desire to free me from fear and produce fruit that will last as He prepares me for the inevitable. He is eager to do that for each one of us. Time is short. May we all use it well.

13“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes.” James 4:13-14

Introduction to The Creation of Your Own Where, Who, How

Notebook

We all attempt to use division of labor within our household to capitalize on efficiency and specialization that have been touted for ages to increase productivity, whether it is in a household unit or for society. The division of labor that traditional, or even modern marriages, seek to employ to keep some balance of household duties has nothing to do with perpetrating gender role stereotypes. Rather, it is merely recognizing that members of the household are naturally more gifted at or prefer doing some tasks over others. So, specialization leads to greater efficiency, but it also inevitably also leads to a division of knowledge as well. Consequently, I have knowledge of the where, who and how of some household functions that Jan does not and vice versa. This WWH notebook will help to correct that dilemma.

You need not complete each suggested item in this notebook in order for it to be of immense value to your survivors. Think of it as an ongoing activity with some periodic updating, so plan on getting started early and use a 3-ring binder so you can insert updated and additional pages as necessary. What you are about to see is highly personalized for our household but should undoubtedly allow for some modification to fit your own situation. We’re sure that you will immediately think of things that need to be in your book that aren’t listed here but which were spawned by what you see here. We suggest you keep a separate list to keep track of these as soon as they occur to you.

We’re assuming you and your spouse have already done everything needed to prepare for the financial consequences of the loss of a spouse (Joint bank accounts; joint tenancy with rights of survivorship/quit claim deed for all properties; up-to-date beneficiary designations for all life insurance policies, 401k accounts, etc.; living wills, last will and testament; family trust established, etc.) and everything needed to avoid the estate going to probate. This book does not address these things. If you haven’t done estate planning, written a Living Will and established a legal trust document then you might want to check into this soon with a trusted attorney.

 

Overview of The Where, Who, How Notebook

We thought it best to begin the description of the WWH notebook with an overview of what the notebook contains. The primary objective is to provide a survivor with practical information that can help him/her successfully navigate through the daily demands of living in the absence of a spouse. Jan and I have a Table of Contents at the beginning of our own notebook to facilitate finding specific Where, Who, How information. Remember to change the T of C to your book each time you make an addition/change to the notebook, then print, remove old page(s), and add the new T of C pages in your notebook. Here is a sample of our Table of Contents for our own WWH notebook to give you an idea of its organization and scope, followed by a description of its first section Where to Find Important Things. Note: The T of C is for illustration purposes and does not reflect the full scope of our actual notebook (for example, our “How to Do” section alone is over 80 pages long).

 

 

Computer software, computer cables, Apple iPod and other boxes

Boxes for stereo, computer, camera equipment, cell phones, video cameras Used Checks and Check Registers

Diplomas, honors, etc.

Checkbooks and Cancelled checks from years past Light bulbs

Travel/ Trip material Stereo System Info

WHO TO CONTACT FOR HELP

 

Home repair

Major Home Repair Financial investment advice Legal Advice

Apple Computer help Camera and iPhoto help Sprinkler system

Septic Tank Tax Returns Lawn Mowing Yardwork Snow Removal

Charge Dead Car Battery

Car Detailing Appliances

Furnace/air conditioner Pest Control

Angi List Locksmith

Cars Roadside Assistance and Regular Service Who to Call When You Don’t Know Who to Call

PHONE NUMBERS

HOW TO DO NECESSARY TASKS:

 

“To Do” each month

Change Furnace Filter Put salt in water softener

Give Dogs Heartworm pills Etc.

“To Do” Seasonally Fall

Winter Spring Summer

How to access online banking How to order new checks

How to login to 403 (b) accounts

How to keep cars serviced and insured How to put salt in water softener

How to change water filter in refrigerator and order new filter

 

How to scan a document (to send as email attachment or save in computer file, etc.

 

How to turn off water or electricity to entire house How to create a screen shot

SERIAL NUMBERS FINANCIAL/ LIFE INSURANCE:

Financial actions to do immediately Selling the house

Life insurance

 

Financial account balances

 

Here are a few suggestions we have found helpful in creating your own Where, Who, How

book:

1. All the bold lettered headings in the Overview above have been printed as labels and inserted as tabs in our notebook to facilitate being able to quickly locate the information we are seeking. All pages within each tabbed section are numbered continuously and the page numbers are included in the Table of Contents in the front of the notebook. Starting the page numbering with #1 for each section allows you to more easily to update a section without having to renumber all pages in the document.
2. We keep a digital copy of the Where, Who, How notebook on the desktop of our computer and on a usb flashdrive in a transparent plastic pouch in the front of the 3- ring binder that holds the printed pages of the notebook.
3. The User Names and Passwords pages are printed and have their own tabbed section of the 3-ring binder. A digital copy of this material is on the usb flashdrive in the pouch in the notebook but is not in the digital copy saved on the desktop computer. This way no hacker who breaks into our computer will be able to get these passwords.
4. Make sure you review any additions/changes to the notebook (we update ours every

3-6 months) with your spouse to ensure she/he understands your instructions/information.

1. It is understood, but it is worth mentioning, that your Where section of the notebook demands consistency in always returning the object in that place if you remove it (e.g., putting your passport back where it belongs after a trip). We have found this discipline of consistency pays dividends daily in the efficient operation of a household.

Notebook Section 1: Where To Find Important Things

You don’t have to be a hoarder to accumulate a lot of things that are important to the smooth functioning of a household. Failure to be able to find some item can be inconvenient or even lead to serious consequences. This section of the notebook is devoted to providing instructions for where your significant other can quickly find important items necessary to complete key tasks. First, here is The Table of Contents for the things included in our “Where to Find” instructions:

 

WHERE TO FIND:

Usernames and Passwords… p.#

Spare Keys for House and Car; Locks on Gates, etc. Car Titles

Insurance: Car, Home, Umbrella Policy, Life Property Tax Information

Credit Card Statements

Utilities (natural gas, electricity, water, trash pickup) paid bills, account info. Passports

Dogs Info (Rabies and vaccination records, pedigree papers, etc.) Safety Deposit Box File & Key

Deeds for cemetery plots

Tax Returns p.#

Paychecks

All 403b accounts, Social Security, Medicare, etc. files Living Will Instructions

Family Trust

Copies of Deeds for Properties Medical receipts/history

Computer, printer, camera, stereo receipts and info Printed Photos and photo albums

Computer Files p.#

 

Computer software, cables, Apple iPod and other Apple accessory boxes p.#

Boxes for stereo, computer, camera equipment, cell phones, video cameras Used Checks and Check Registers

Diplomas, honors, etc.

Checkbooks and Cancelled checks from years past

Light bulbs p.#

Fire extinguishers

Serial Numbers for electronic equipment, audio equipment, cameras, etc p.#

Your list may, of course, differ from this one, but our goal here is to prevent a lot of stress when someone cannot find something required to do a task that you used to do. Generally, it is better to have an excess of items on this list than too few.

To avoid unclear instructions on where to find items, we include photos and/or screen shots showing where the items are located. Two examples:

 

 Tax returns: recent years in file drawer #2 in study; earlier years in tall tan file cabinet in basement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Computer Files: Most of the computer files are in the “Documents” folder on the iMacs on both of our desks. To find the document you are looking for double click the “Documents “ folder and then type in the name of what you are looking for (e.g.

Christmas card address labels) in the little space in the upper right corner of the

 

 

window:

Double click the files that look like what you are looking for until you find it. If you do not find it here, just use the Spotlight search in the upper right corner of the top tool bar

of the computer:

Click on the magnifying glass and enter the search word in the window.

 

This will allow you to search everywhere on the computer, including in emails, websites, files, documents, etc for what you are looking for (Example: typing in the word “Financial” would show all the files where that word is found, allowing you to find financial documents anywhere on the computer). Double click on the computer file that you were seeking to open it.

 

 

We use a combination of photos and Screen Shots to make sure the instructions can be easily followed. This is even more important to do in the “How To” section of this notebook. Putting a

photo in the instructions is as easy as taking the photo on your cell phone or camera, downloading it onto your computer’s desktop, then dragging and dropping it into your Word document. You can resize it by putting your cursor on the lower right corner of the photo and then left clicking your mouse and while holding the left click down, moving upwards to the left until the image is the size you want and then releasing the click. Doing a YouTube search for this will undoubtedly produce a video showing these steps if you are still unclear of how to incorporate photos or know how to do a screen shot and putting it into your notebook.

Here are a few things worth noting about the file folders mentioned above:

 

• Hanging files are used with typed labels to make it easier to find the indicated file folders:

 

 

• We try to make sure everything related to the file folder title is located in that folder. For example, in the “Safety Deposit Box” hanging file folder there is a typed list of the contents of the safety deposit box along with a photo of the contents and the key to the safety deposit box.
• There should be some logic obvious to the grouping of files. This is just another way of saying that randomly putting files in file drawers does not lead to an organized file system. We know this sounds obvious and unnecessary to point out, but we were college teachers for almost 40 years, and had to constantly point out the obvious in order to get students not to approach their assignments in a random, thoughtless manner. Randomness is the enemy of predictability, and this notebook is about how to help your survivors find comfort and stress reduction by following instructions that produce predictable results (e.g., “I know the bottom file drawer has all the files related to financial matters, so that is where I should find information on social security benefits”).

 

We now consider more scriptural based thoughts on an issue of concern to many of us facing the end of our earthly life: how do I deal with the fear of really bad news?

An Eyewitness to God’s Goodness

Bruce Wrenn August 2020 Abridged and Revised January 2024

 

“Come and listen, all you who fear God;

Let me tell you what He has done for me.” Psalm 66:16

A good Pastor friend of mine titled his retirement farewell sermon “Almost Too Good to be True,” because when waves of doubt plagued him, it caused him to wonder: “The God presented in the Bible, and the meaning of life and the hope for the future it provides are just too good to be true.” I now know what he meant, because when I look upon what He has done for me I wonder if it really did happen–did the creator of all that is good (“You are good, and what you do is good” Psalm 119:68), really reveal to me over and over again the reality of Romans 8:28 becoming true in my life:

“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. (Romans 8:28 The Voice).

At my good friend’s urging, I am writing this chronology of the revelation of God’s goodness to me, and what He is eager to do for everyone.

2010

 

My true story begins in late December 2010, when, during my morning devotional Bible reading, I read this verse in Psalm 112:

“He will have no fear of bad news;

his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” Psalm 112:7

I had read that verse many times before, had it underlined, and put a star in the margin beside it to signal it as an important verse to live by, but this time when I read it was different. I thought to myself, “You had better be ready to receive some very bad news that is coming.” I didn’t hear a voice telling me this, but it was a very profound moment of clarity that bad news was coming.

Two weeks later I was at the end of my annual physical, and the doctor was about to leave the room with his hand on the doorknob saying, “Well with any luck I won’t see you again until this time next year.” I replied, “Oh, one more thing. Could you look at this small lump on the outside of my thigh?” He looked at the jellybean-sized lump just under the skin and said it probably wasn’t anything significant, but lumps didn’t belong there so let’s make an appointment to have it removed tomorrow. The next day, he surgically removed it and said it looked okay, but “just to be sure” they would send it off for a biopsy. A week later I received a call from his office that started out with “I’m so sorry to tell you this but…”. How bad was this bad news? Well, it turns

out it was pretty bad. The innocent looking “jellybean” was Leiomyosarcoma (LMS), a very rare (4 people in a million will be diagnosed with it), very deadly, and incurable form of cancer. My immediate thought was “So that was what God was alerting me to when I read that verse!”

It suddenly hit me, that God was not just alerting me that I was entering what would be a long “walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” He was telling me that I would be taking that journey with Him by my side the whole way. Here is how God saw me:

1. 12.For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
2. 13.He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
3. 14.He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight. Psalm 72:12-14

 

This tells me that however bad the bad news that each day brings, and, as you’ll see, they could be very, very bad, God can bring good out of even the worst of them. Not only that, but God would open my eyes to see the good hidden in what at first appeared to be nothing but bad.

Hard as it was to believe (almost too good to be true) He really could, and was about to repeatedly:

“…orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.” Romans 8:28

Most of us are aware of and treasure Romans 8:28, but many pay more attention to the first part of the verse than the last part: “…accept His invitation to live according to His plan.” God yearns to bring us into His embrace and do the good He has planned for us (“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11), but He wants us to know that we must want Him to bring what He knows is good, not what we consider good according to worldly criteria.

Jeremiah makes this clear in chapter 17 where he contrasts the person who looks only at prosperity from a worldly perspective versus someone who puts his/her trust in God to deliver prosperity, or goodness, according to heaven’s perspective:

1. Cursed is the one who trusts in human strength and the abilities of mere mortals. His very heart strays from the Eternal.
2. He is like a little shrub in the desert that never grows; he will see no good thing [that] comes his way.

He will live in a desert wasteland,

a barren land of salt where no one lives.

1. But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone; the Eternal will be his confidence.
2. He is like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots beside the stream.

It does not fear the heat or even drought.

Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces. (The Voice)

“When we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan,” God opens our eyes to see those small and not so small miracles of grace that he delivers at the perfect time and through the perfect channel, that steels our faith and allows us to make it through adversity with gratitude for what He has done. We are not like the one who, as Jeremiah describes in verses 5 and 6, trusts in human strength, and ends up disappointed in the outcome of the adversity with stunted spiritual faith (“like a little scrub in the desert that never grows”), and who never sees the good that God has worked out in our lives (“he will see no good thing [that] comes his way” Other versions say “prosperity instead of “good thing”).

How tragic is that--not being able to see the reality of God’s intervention in our life for the good? Such a person will never know what it is like to be “like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots beside the stream. It does not fear the heat or even drought. Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, “no matter what it faces.” Prospering, not just surviving, during heat and drought, no matter how severe, is a reality for everyone who “trusts in Me [God] alone” (the Amplified Bible says “who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord”). Everyone. By God’s grace, I became one of Jeremiah’s trees, because I learned to put my trust in Him alone.

 

2011

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions” Shakespeare. The bad news continued into 2011 when my mother died in January. My sister died in August of 2011 from the same disease (LMS), and my father had died from it in 1992. The oncologists identified it as “a genetic predisposition with an environmental trigger.” My research into the disease began immediately, and I learned that while it is incurable, you can extend your survival time by receiving treatment at a sarcoma center. I discovered that we lived only 150 miles from a

world-class sarcoma center at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the other side of the state from our home. Considering that there are very few sarcoma centers in the U.S., and that my sister’s and father’s lives were cut short because they did not have access to one, this was the first bit of good news we received since the diagnosis a few weeks earlier.

Further research revealed that only 22% of people diagnosed with LMS are alive 2 years after diagnosis, so when my U of M oncologist, who specialized in sarcomas, told me with a big smile “I think we can get 4 years for you!” I knew God was already bringing good out of a very bad beginning to this affliction. I did not know at that time the full extent of good God had in store for me. I am writing this to you in January of 2024, entering the fourteenth year of the diagnosis in December of 2010. If I had become a member of a LMS support group of 100 people in 2011, only about 3 of us would be alive to attend meetings now. While I am deeply grateful for the quality care I’ve received, that care does not explain how I am in that rare company today. But, as you will see, the best news about the good news I experienced is not about the additional

time I’ve been given, but about how God filled that time with lessons learned about His goodness, and His ability to turn bad into good in a thousand ways, for me and for others.

My referral to U of M sarcoma center was to a renowned surgeon who specialized in removing tumors in appendages (more good news) and I learned the plan was to remove a hockey puck sized chunk of my leg around the tumor, get a pathology report to see if the surgery had gotten good margins, and, if so, I would undergo plastic surgery a week later to permanently close the wound. This meant the incision site would not be fully closed after the first surgery. Being Michigan in February, the forecast was for a ten-inch snowfall, so Jan and I decided to take the Amtrak to Ann Arbor and back (the fact that we had this option was a huge bit of good news).

I was told to report to the waiting room at 5:00am (!), and to have nothing to eat or drink for 12 hours before then. No problem, except a series of delays caused me to not get back to be prepped for the surgery until 5:00pm (!), thoroughly dehydrated from having no water since 5PM the previous day. Not one of the three nurses who tried to get an IV line into my arm was able to do so, so they called the one nurse in the hospital famous for being able to do this when no one else could. Marlene was 10 minutes from going home from her shift on that snowy evening when they called, but, bless her, she came and saved the day. Thank you, Jesus!

 

The surgery was deemed a success, praise God, and I was sent home the next day on the train through the continuing snow. They supplied me with absorbent pads to put under my leg so that the blood would not get on the train seat, but I bled through them pretty quickly. When I got off the train 3 hours later in Niles my sweatpants were soaked in blood. The only other passenger disembarking in Niles at 10:30pm was an African American veteran returning from treatment at the VA hospital in Ann Arbor. I was walking with a crutch, he with a cane behind me, and I heard him say “Hey bro, I think you’ve sprung a leak!” We stuck up a conversation and when we reached the station’s parking lot, I realized he was going to walk the 3 miles to his home on snow covered streets using his cane to keep him upright. Jan and I gave him a ride home, grateful that God had given us the opportunity to pay forward some of the good things God had so freely provided to us.

Now this end to this part of the story might seem unremarkable to you, but there the backstory of this encounter with the vet made a profound impression on me many years earlier that to this day takes my breath away when I see the connection to this “chance” meeting.

On a broiling hot summer day in 1963 my mother, my sister and I were traveling from Alabama to Texas where my father was working at a temporary job. Along the way on a lonely stretch of two lane highway the car had a flat tire. This was in the days before cell phones or AAA roadside service, and we had neither the strength nor know-how to change the tire, so we were well and truly stuck by the side of the road. Several cars drove by with no offers for help before an African American man stopped to help. Understand that this was the deep south in 1963.

When he got out of his car his shirt was dry; when he got back in his shirt was soaking wet, yet he refused my mother’s offer of money for his trouble.

We do not know the full extent of the good that will come from our deeds done at God’s direction, just as the man who changed our tire did not know if we would even appreciate his sacrificial service, much less know that his sacrifice on our behalf would be remembered and acted on a half century later. But God has shown us that He can do far more than anything we can ask or imagine with our offering, just as he did with a few loaves and fishes.

That small act of kindness performed on that snowy night in February 2011 was a priceless gift God gave me to feel gratitude once again for that Good Samaritan’s act almost 50 years earlier and see God’s hand at work in my life for the good of others. I could see that all the ways He had already turned bad news into something good for me in this new journey with LMS were only the vaguest suggestion of the full extent of the good that He had in mind. I was being enlisted by God as a partner in delivering good to others as well. This opened my eyes to see a more full-orbed understanding of Ephesians 2:10:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV).

God was not only promising to help me through my affliction, but also was blessing me with the opportunity to use the forthcoming bad news events of the affliction for the good of others.

This revelation, as you will see, totally turned me around to how I came to view the bad news events related to the disease in the next 13 years.

After the successful plastic surgery, I received thirty sessions of radiation oncology treatments at the site to reduce the chance that the tumor would regrow there. With no serious side effects from the treatments, I was lulled into a sense that I would be able to skate through any future treatments that might be needed with no problems. I was mistaken.

2015

The typical protocol for an LMS patient after surgery is to return to Ann Arbor for MRIs of the surgery site every 3 months, plus bloodwork, plus X-rays of your lungs to detect any growth of the disease. If you keep getting good reports of these tests you will go to a schedule of every four months for years 3 and 4, then six months for year 5, then be seen on a PRN (as needed) basis after that. My unbroken string of good news test results ended in the spring of 2015 when I discovered a lump on my left forearm. I immediately called my surgeon’s PA at U of M and said I thought I needed to come in to have it examined. The PA and the surgeon said it was unlikely to be anything to worry about and resisted scheduling an appointment for me to come there. One thing I had learned about being a patient in any healthcare system is that you have to be your own best advocate, so I insisted (in a nice way) that I should come in.

Upon examining me, the surgeon said, “It is a good thing you came in,” “It is a good thing you came in.” Saying that twice made me think “No, it is a VERY good thing I came in!” I was about to enter a new phase of my disease.

While the surgeon’s expertise gave her an excellent track record of knowing whether my lump was in fact malignant, we needed a biopsy for confirmation. While we waited for the results, I told Jan that we should not hold out any hope that the news would be good. It wasn’t that I am a pessimist, but I had a strong impression that it would reveal bad news. Soon after, I received the very bad news that the disease had returned. My immediate response was to put my trust in God to keep His promise to be with me every step of the way:

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can [any earthly enemy like LMS] do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

 

This time, before they did surgery to remove the tumor in my arm, I had to go through 4 cycles of chemotherapy. The chemo that was being used was so toxic and dangerous that I had to receive it in a room segregated from the other infusion patients, and my infusion nurses had to be gowned up in personal protective equipment like hazmat wear. An infusion session was 7 to 8 hours on day one, followed by overnight continued infusion where I would be connected to a pump to continue the infusion at a hotel (an alarm would go off repeatedly if the line became tangled while sleeping), followed by another 8-hour day of infusion. Three weeks later I would do this all over again, until I completed 4 cycles of infusions. The terrible side effects of a typical chemotherapy regimen are well known, so I will not recount them now, except to tell you how God opened my eyes to see how He was able to bring good out of bad amid this latest version of adversity.

 

By this time, I had begun to “front load” my expressions of gratitude when facing adversity by saying “Thank you Lord for what you are about to do,” whenever I was in need. When I had to have an emergency blood transfusion at 4am during the time I was having these chemo infusions I thanked God on the way to the hospital for already putting the health care workers in place to deliver the aid I needed. That gratitude did not waver when I arrived and found the workers included a nurse fresh out of nursing school and another with a severe cold (the chemo had drastically reduced my white blood cell count, making any infection a grave threat). But, if I am truly trusting Him to “bring me through the fire without being burned and through the waters that will not sweep over me” (Isaiah 43:2), how can I question His choice of people to come to my aid? The blood transfusion went perfectly, and I was told it probably saved my life. Gratitude and trust had become a package deal for me now.

At an extremely low point during my chemo infusions my physical appearance was specterlike—emaciated, pale, hairless (even my eyebrows had lost all their hair), and weak. I remember my wife leaning over to kiss me goodnight and her tears falling on my face saying: “It hurts me so much to see you suffer like this.” I said, “No Sweetheart, God is very near, we are very blessed and have so much to be thankful for.” I thought of this during my devotional the next morning when I read in Psalm 84:5-7:

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion.

The “Valley of Baca” is translated as “The Valley of Tears,” so this psalmist is saying that as we go through our times of suffering and tears on our earthly pilgrimage, we are blessed by a God who can turn our tears into “a place of springs.” He is near, providing the strength we need on the journey, transforming the suffering into victory when we reach the pilgrimage’s end “before Him in Zion.” God was responsible for leading me to that Bible passage to once again affirm my belief that He was constantly with me and would continue to bring good out of bad in my life.

God not only gives us the gift of faith, He also gives us the gift of having a grateful heart. Without deliberation, thankfulness became a natural condition for me. When I was extremely fatigued and we found a parking space close to the hotel or hospital, I said “thank you for this, Lord.” When we had to park far out, I said “thank you for helping me to get the exercise I need to build up my stamina.” I was grateful when we did not have to wait long for a blood draw, or to be called for the chemo infusion to begin. I was grateful when we had to wait for what seemed to be a very long time, because I needed to learn the virtue of patience, and because I believed God was answering my prayer that others in greater need would be called ahead of me. When I was able to get on a clinical trial drug in 2018, I would not say I have to go to University of Michigan Cancer Center for tests (an 5-hour trip if I drive, or a 12-hour train trip), but rather, I get to go to UMCC for tests. A sense of gratitude for how God is working out all things for the good is infectious and can alter your attitude in a powerfully positive way.

Scientists are discovering evidence of the healing power of gratitude:

Recognizing and giving thanks for the positive aspects of life can result in improved mental, and ultimately physical, health in patients with asymptomatic heart failure, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “We found that more gratitude in these patients was associated with better mood, better sleep, less fatigue and lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers related to cardiac health,” said lead author Paul J. Mills, PhD, professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego. The study was published in the journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice…. “We found that spiritual well-being was associated with better mood and sleep, but it was the gratitude aspect of spirituality that accounted for those effects, not spirituality per se,” said Mills. To further test their findings, the researchers asked some of the patients to write down three things for which they were thankful most days of the week for eight weeks. Both groups continued to receive regular clinical care during that time. “We found that those patients who kept gratitude journals for those eight weeks showed reductions in circulating levels of several important inflammatory biomarkers, as well as an increase in heart rate variability while they wrote. Improved heart rate variability is considered a measure of reduced cardiac risk,” said Mills. It

seems that a more grateful heart is indeed a more healthy heart, and that gratitude journaling is an easy way to support cardiac health.” http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/04/grateful-heart.aspx

All of this puts me in mind of Habakkuk 3:17-19 where he concludes his prayer with a description of what it is like to have gratitude even when getting a seemingly unending series of bad news:

17Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

18yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19The Sovereign Lord is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.

God created us in such a way that our recognition of and gratitude for the mercies he bestows on us each day (Lamentations 3:22-23) makes us more aware of other mercies in the form of mental, physical, and spiritual benefits. We need only to open our eyes to see these tender mercies provided to us in our hour of need to be spontaneously grateful for God’s unfailing love for us.

It was during the time of my chemo infusions in 2015 that Psalm 73:23-26 became my “go to” verses in scripture:

1. 23.Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

1. 24.You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

1. 25.Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

1. 26.My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

After the chemotherapy was complete, I had another successful surgery, and then had another 30 radiation oncology sessions to radiate the tumor site on my arm to decrease the chance it would come back in that location. Unfortunately, this time the radiation started a chain of bad news events that would last for 18 months. My resolve to persevere through the bad to see God’s hand at work for the good was about to be seriously challenged.

The previous radiation treatment on my leg in 2011 had gone well, and I was going back to the same radiation oncologist at a local facility to get treatment now, so I had no worries about the results being any different than before. This time, however, I began to experience problems at the radiation site. It started as a rash, then blistering, which progressed into a second-degree burn. Radiation will continue to “cook” at the targeted site for weeks or months after treatment stops, so the worst of this burn occurred after the treatments had ended, but, as I was to learn later from my oncologist team at U of M, there was sufficient evidence of where this was headed that treatment should have been suspended before it got to this point. My forearm was now one huge blister, which then broke, followed by all the outer layer of skin falling off, with intense pain and a dangerous exposure of dermis that could lead to serious infection. Here is a photo of what it looked like:

 

 

My primary care doctor said that when he looked at my arm, he had a flashback to when he was doing a residency at an Air Force base and had to treat airmen who were seriously burned with jet fuel in an accident.

The burn wasn’t the worst result of the radiation. After it healed, I noticed the swelling continued to increase, and it was diagnosed as lymphedema. The Mayo clinic defines it:

 

Lymphedema refers to swelling that generally occurs in one of your arms or legs. Sometimes both arms or both legs swell.

Lymphedema is most commonly caused by the removal of or damage to your lymph nodes as a part of cancer treatment. It results from a blockage in your lymphatic system, which is part of your immune system. The blockage prevents lymph fluid from draining well, and the fluid buildup leads to swelling. There is presently no cure for lymphedema. Lymphedema signs and symptoms, which occur in your affected arm or leg, include:

Swelling of part or all of your arm or leg, including fingers or toes A feeling of heaviness or tightness

Restricted range of motion Aching or discomfort Recurring infections

Hardening and thickening of the skin (fibrosis)

I received treatment for my left arm at a local healthcare facility, and I carefully followed my treatment regimen of wrapping my arm from fingertips to arm pit in 7 layers of bandages for 18 months. At that time, I was declared “healed” (although as Mayo Clinic said above “there is presently no cure for lymphedema”), and my arm is back to normal, except for the scarring from the surgery and radiation burn. Of course, it can always reappear, even 10 or 20 years later ( and did reappear in 2020 when I resumed getting chemo infusions).

To me, the good that came out of this bad event was more than the eventual, and unexpected healing, it was in seeing how perseverance in the face of adversity can yield a harvest for the good when blessed by God. The Bible has a lot to say about perseverance:

Luke 8:15

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Perseverance is needed for our lives to produce a crop of righteousness

1. Corinthians 13:7

[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love perseveres because it is the essence of God’s nature. When we persevere in loving someone, we are imitating God’s perfect love for us.

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run

with perseverance the race marked out for us. Others who keep the faith, no matter what obstacles they faced, are examples that encourage us to keep on keeping on (persevere), in order to complete the race and, like them, be welcomed into God’s kingdom. Our perseverance then makes us examples for other people.

James 1:12

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. We must not give up when faced with tough times. Our reward awaits those who persevere in their faith.

2. Peter 1:5-7

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. Perseverance is an essential ingredient to the completion of God’s transformative work in our lives.

What is striking in all these passages is that the reward for persevering is how it builds faith and spiritual “character,” even though what you are persevering through may be a physical trial. I know several people who have been living with lymphedema for more than a decade, and have no hope of ever being cured, so I consider my healing to be a gift from God. But I also think my persevering in wrapping my arm in 7 layers of bandages every day for a year and a half taught me what Paul said about perseverance in his letter to the believers in Rome:

Romans 5:3-4

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. When we persevere in trusting God through our trials, we attain the moral and mental qualities that give us hope, and that hope will last, no matter what tomorrow may bring.

In addition, one of the good things that God brought out of the trials related to my disease was an increase of empathy for others going through similar trials. This was an essential lesson that was going to be put to use in many future encounters I would have with fellow patients in chance encounters in waiting rooms and common spaces over the next years. I was expanding my understanding of how God could use various new versions of my affliction to increase my trust in Him to bring good out of bad for me and others in each new stage of this journey. This growing foundation of trust would be very important in getting me through some increasingly dark days ahead with LMS.

2018

After the successful surgery on my arm, I started again going to U of M every 3 months for chest x-rays intended to determine if the sarcoma had spread to my lungs, where LMS goes next, signaling that the sarcoma had metastasized. Once again, I got “all clear” good news…until I didn’t. In February of 2018 my oncologist entered the exam room and started the conversation with “Well, we’ve got some spots on your lung we need to take a look at.” A follow up CT scan confirmed the presence of 4 tumors in the lungs and a biopsy (local anesthesia) confirmed that they were LMS. I can honestly say that this bad news did not come as a surprise, nor did it shake me or challenge my faith because God had been building my trust in His unfailing love since 2010, when I was originally diagnosed. He had kept His promise to never leave me or forsake me, so why would I fear the next step of this journey?

I have found that expressing gratitude by performing an act of service near to receiving bad news is the surest way of finding a reason to be “joyful” in the face of adversity. The day after I received the news that my cancer had metastasized, I answered a call to be a United Way volunteer to help flood victims in our area access financial assistance from local charities. A day

spent like that not only can lift your spirits, but it can also enable you to “tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:19) by serving others who are dealing with their own bad news events.

After talking about the options (surgery to remove the tumors, more rounds of chemo, radiation oncology on the tumors) we decided to try to get me on a clinical trial drug that was showing some promise in treating LMS. The clinical trial was to test a new oral drug against an existing IV drug that was being tested “off label”” to treat LMS, and a computer would randomly assign me to one of the two drugs. I would be one of only 67 people worldwide who would participate in the study if I qualified (remember, LMS affects only 4 people in a million, so there weren’t a lot of people to choose from to participate in the study). A lot of tests had to be run to determine if I qualified, but, Praise God, I did, and a computer in San Francisco assigned me to the clinical trial oral drug.

 

I had earnestly prayed that whichever drug God’s plan for me included, I would Praise Him for that result. By this time, I had come to understand that you can never want for something better in your life than for God’s plan to come true. How can we possibly know if one drug is to be preferred to another? Only God knows, so His will be done. I would receive my drug allotment at U of M, take them exactly as the protocol ordered, and come to Ann Arbor for tests whenever they were scheduled according to the study’s regulations. When signing my agreement to participate in the study I had to indicate that I would continue to participate unless the drug failed to be effective in treating the disease, or if the side effects became too much to bear. The brutal side effects that I did experience were pretty constant over the 11 months I was in the clinical trial.

 

On September 9, 2018, when I was on the clinical trial drug, decimated by the side-effects with no positive therapeutic results evident, I was taking my dogs for their evening walk and communing with God when I looked up to see this rainbow over our house. You can imagine how this celestial sign thrilled my soul. Message received. “I will not violate my covenant or

alter what my lips have uttered.” Psalm89:34. This symbol of God’s faithfulness is over you too, wherever you go, whether you see it or not. Remember, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1. You do not fear bad news because your heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord (Psalm 112:7).

Although the side effects from the previous stages of treatments had begun to take a noticeable toll of my physical health aside from the disease itself, the time I was on the clinical trial drug and the radiation and chemo that I would receive in 2019 and 2020 would accelerate the decline in my overall physical health. Before my diagnosis in 2010, I had an active athletic life, playing golf (not well, which just means you get more exercise on the course than good golfers do), racquetball, which I loved and played all out as often as I could, and went for 3 mile power walks every day in all weathers and seasons.

The reason I mention this is that my physical decline and contemporaneous spiritual growth has caused me to have a deeper understanding and sympathetic response to Paul’s well-known conclusion to chapter 4 in 2 Corinthians:

1. 16.Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

We all intellectually agree with what he is saying here as a spiritual truth that has universal application, but I am among the many people that literally lived verse 16 and believe and practice verses 17 and 18 as my personal daily conviction. This is a profound truth to me, not just a philosophical maxim—a truth that orders my thoughts every day and keeps me centered on the eternal instead of focused on light and momentary troubles. The volume, frequency and intensity of my troubles do not alter where I “fix my eyes.”

I also better understand how verse 17 provides greater insight into Paul’s discussion of perseverance in Romans 5, cited above. When Paul talks about “light and momentary troubles,” he is referring to his ongoing severe trials that would have crushed someone who wasn’t getting Divine help to get through each day (see 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 for a short list of what Paul had been through). They were the furthest thing from light or momentary by worldly standards. However, these troubles performed an important service for Paul that he wanted us to understand. Consider how the Contemporary English Version translates verse 17:

1. 17.These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing. (CEV).

How are our trials “getting us ready” for heaven, where we will praise God eternally for everything we went through to get us there? This is where Paul’s statement in Romans 5 comes in:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4

 

I’m no theologian and have no credentials that allow me to do a credible exegesis of these verses, but I have thought a lot about how my “troubles” have shed some light for me on this scripture. Persevering in faith through severe trials (for me, physical, but they could be spiritual, relational, financial, etc.), and seeing God’s hand helping me to endure, gives me assurance that my “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3) of a future in heaven is not in vain. I mean, why would God be constantly bringing Romans 8:28 true each day if it were not to get me “ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing”? God will get me there; I need only to persevere and not give up my hope of heaven.

A mix of good news (some minor shrinking of some tumors) and bad news (side effects plus growth in most of the tumors) describes my experience for the 11 months I was on the clinical trial drug.

2019

My first visit to U of M in 2019 with my oncologist began with us both agreeing that it was time for me to discontinue the clinical trial drug. The CT scan revealed that it was no longer retarding the growth of the tumors in my lungs. For me, this was good news because the side effects had seriously compromised my quality of life in the past 11 months (the constant uproar in my digestive system alone caused me to have no regrets in being taken off the drug. I lost 20lbs while on the clinical trial). Now the question was, what do we do at this point?

We quickly came to the decision that radiation of the four tumors in my lungs would be the best tradeoff of good results with the fewest side effects. The oncologist emphasized that I would need to get these treatments in Ann Arbor rather than locally, which was fine with me, given my experience with the radiation treatments of my arm at a local facility. I was scheduled to get treatments of two tumors, then a pause for a couple of weeks before getting the other two done.

The treatments required me to use the Deep Inhalation Breath Hold (DIBH) method with a 40 second breath hold at the end to provide a stable target for the radiation beam. I had to do this repeatedly (10 times) for each treatment. It is very demanding that my breathing be very precise and you could become very stressed in trying to achieve that precision. Rather than be intimidated by thinking of the number of times I would have to successfully perform the DIBH, I concentrated on only each breath hold at a time and didn’t look at the stopwatch counting up the 40 seconds. Instead I recited Philippians 4:13, changing emphasis with each repetition: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” Not only does this make the 40 second breath hold seem to go faster, it makes the treatment session of 10 breath holds go faster. Before you

know it, I’m done and praying a prayer of gratitude that I was able to do it all perfectly, by His grace. Just another example of how enlisting heavenly resources can help you prosper through adversity.

Here is another example of God turning something bad into something good. In my first radiation oncology session on a Friday there was an equipment failure while I was in the middle of the radiation to my lung tumors, necessitating my return to the waiting room while they tried to repair the equipment. While waiting, I leaned upon the Bible promises about being patient, and used the time to silently pray for each person in the waiting room and engage those I could in conversation to encourage and support them in their journey through cancer. Those interactions with fellow patients were as much a blessing to me as I was trying to be to them.

The equipment failure was God bringing the promise of Romans 8:28 true in my life at that moment by making what looked like a problem become an opportunity. After 7 hours of waiting, the technicians came out to say they were not going to be able to fix it, and I should plan to come back on Monday to complete the treatment. I traveled the 2.5 hours of driving home thanking God for a successful, yes, even joyful, day, lived by his power to bring good out of bad once again. This way of reacting to an event like this does not come naturally to me, and perhaps not you either. No, this is definitely a “God thing,” and my contribution was only resolving to look for God’s path to the “good” and pray for the Spirit to be in control of my decisions each day. I was learning to trust God, not myself, to determine what constituted the “good” to come out of every circumstance. This result demonstrates just how much different things are when God is sovereign over our thoughts and behavior.

 

Each radiation treatment session on the lung tumors started with the patient robing for the session and then going to the gender specific waiting room to await being called back for the radiation session. We were almost always late being called for the session; sometimes as long as an hour after our scheduled time. By this point in my journey I had learned to look forward to, and even pray for, these little windows in time with my fellow patients in order to do what I could to provide encouragement, empathy, shared tips on how to deal with the rigors of tough treatment regimen, and , when possible, share scripture that gives the steadfast heart described in Psalm 112:7. God never failed to supply these opportunities, answering my quick prayer to guide me in the conversation to do the good He had in mind for each individual.

Certainly, the times we live in as I write this have provided many opportunities to contribute to the fund of the common good. I am reminded of Jana Stanfield’s quote: “I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do.” In these perilous times I am doubly grateful—to God for His matchless grace and all His mercies to me, and grateful for the opportunity to, even in a small way, be part of His web of blessing to deliver aid to others in need. I want that urge to be a constant presence.

God always supplied scriptural assurance for my own needs during each of my medical diagnostic or treatment sessions as well. We’ve all had experiences where we need to be

prepared to deal with bad news, including potentially highly stressful ones involving medical conditions. Having Bible promises to claim during these times is not just a way to reduce stress, it avails you of all the resources of heaven on your behalf. One that I’ve claimed many times has been 1 Corinthians 10:13. Paraphrasing it from the Amplified Bible, it tells me that nothing I’m going through is the first time God has ever seen this problem. God is going to be faithful to His compassionate nature and can be trusted to not let you be subjected to a trial beyond your ability to escape (endure) it with His help. He will provide the way to get successfully through that difficulty.

For example, once when I was told that an MRI would take about thirty minutes it turned out to take more than two hours. If you’ve ever been in an MRI tube, instructed to remain perfectly still, with the metal housing inches away from your face, you know how every minute can seem an eternity. As the time slowly drags on to be four times the time period, they told me it would take for the MRI and without any communication from the technicians about the reasons for added time, it would have been easy to “freak out” and push the panic button to get out.

However, claiming the promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13 not only gives you a supernatural sense of peace under such demanding circumstances, but it also makes you feel closer to the God who will never let you be subjected to anything He hasn’t already made provision for your “escape.”

 

 

2020-2024

My radiation treatments for the tumors in my lungs ended in July of 2019, but the radiation continued to cook away in the following months. One of the side effects of the radiation treatments was a constant cough caused by the inflammation in my lungs from. This started in September, and persisted until heavy steroid use stopped it in October. My December 3 month visit showed a CT scan result that the radiation had stopped the growth of the radiated tumors and had generated some slight shrinkage in them, so I took this as good news. My cough had stopped as well, so 2019 ended on a positive note, Praise the Lord.

As happens many times when experiencing a good news oasis, this one was short lived when my oncologist entered the exam room on my first visit to U of M in March 2020 and reported that my CT scan the previous day had shown a tumor in my liver. I immediately knew that this was the news I had been prepared to get as the sarcoma spread from my lungs to other organs, just as it had done for my sister and father. The oncologist said I needed to get an MRI of my abdomen so we would have a better understanding of what we were dealing with now. The Covid-19 pandemic was picking up steam at this time (mid-March), particularly in Michigan, making it extremely difficult to find a place to have the MRI done. I was able to call around and get one scheduled at a hospital in Kalamazoo a week after my trip to Ann Arbor. Later I was told by the technician in Kalamazoo that because of the pandemic I received the last one they were going to do for an outpatient.

A week later my oncologist at the University of Michigan’s Sarcoma Center called to tell me that the results of the latest CT scan showed 8 tumors: 4 in my lungs ( they had been treated by radiation, but were still there), two in my liver, one in my pancreas, and one in my spine, The number and location of the tumors made surgery and radiation impractical, leaving only chemo as the means of treatment. In order to logistically plan from that point forward I asked him how much time chemo would buy me and he said, “about 6 months.”

Well, I don’t need to state the obvious here, but it is hard to see room for this news to be anything but bad. However, almost immediately I got some good news about the treatment regimen for these tumors.

The only treatment I could get that would possibly have an effect on all these sites was chemotherapy. But I could get the chemo infusions done in South Bend, IN, only a 35-minute drive instead of the one way 2.5 hour drive to U of M! This was terrific news, and I set about arranging for this to happen. As you know, everything, and I mean everything, is more difficult to do in a pandemic, but Praise God, He paved a way to make this happen, and I began chemo treatments for the second time in this journey in April of 2020.

 

I now had two oncologists, one in AA and a new one in South Bend, who would confer on my treatment regimen and future therapy; the quality of care at the South Bend facility was absolutely top drawer; and I now had a whole new group of fellow patients and healthcare workers to serve in any way I was guided to by the Holy Spirit in providing small acts of kindness.

Notice what God has said about his concern for his creation, large and small: for every animal of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains,

and the insects in the fields are mine. Psalm 50:10-11(NIV)

Think about that last line. Small things can be important to others—and to God. No act of kindness or self-sacrifice we do for someone is so small that God considers it inconsequential or takes no notice of it. He is the God of small things as well as great things and no good deed goes unobserved by Him or fails to receive His “seal of approval” for having been done in His name:

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” Matthew 10:42

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. Mark 12:42-43

“Who dares despise the day of small things…?” Zechariah 4:10

When we selflessly do these deeds, big or small, and we express gratitude for being recruited to faithfully act in God’s behalf, we are “coming near to God,” knowing that He will “come near to us” (James 4:8). The more we do these things, the more grateful we are, the more grateful we are the more we trust Him to be with us through the good and bad in our own lives, which increases our faith and makes us more grateful. Jesus is the “author of our faith” (Heb. 12:2) because He walked this path himself as fully human when He was here, and He knows what it means to go through tough times while doing good for others. He, in his humanity, is the gold standard in being the doer of good deeds (e.g., Matthew 9:35-36, Mark 8:2) and in being the recipient of them by others (Matthew 26:10-13). He knows exactly what we need to experience in order for our faith to mature and grow strong, and a mature and strong faith is what we need to get through the most difficult trials we face on this side of eternity.

My oncologist in South Bend had me get a biopsy of the tumors in my liver to see if I can be treated by immunotherapy for my sarcoma. It showed that immune therapy was not possible for me.

Fast forward to March 2022, two years after I started getting chemo to treat the eight new tumors I learned about from my oncologist at U of M, who had told me I had a life expectancy of 6 months (as I write this it is 4 years after he told me of the 6 months expectancy).

At my visit to discuss the results of the CT scan I had in March 2022, my oncologist said when opening the door, “Your scan looks very good, and I suggest you take the next 3 months off from infusions. We will take another CT scan then and see if anything has changed. This is what I would do if I were the patient.” He then shared the details: “No evidence of active metastatic disease in the chest”; “The hypotenuse lesion in the [pancreas] is no longer visualized" (i.e., is gone), and the two tumors in my liver have shrunk for the fourth consecutive CT scan. The one in my spine (at L1) has not grown at all in the last year and a half. So, I gladly accepted the oncologist’s recommendation to suspend treatment for the next 3 months, with a scan after the time period. He did also say, “I’m obligated to tell you that there is a 5% chance that the tumors in the liver might become resistant to the chemo during this time and further treatment with those drugs might not work.” But honestly, any prediction I’ve gotten in the past 12 years that had a single digit chance of happening to my health status was the probability that something good would happen. I saw this as a 95% probability that I would get good news in three months, not a 5% chance that it would be bad news. And even if it were bad news, Psalm 112:7 remains my response to the incessant bad news I’ve gotten over the past years; “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

Truth be told, I was planning to ask him for a break in the infusion cycle so that I could get the back surgery I had been desperately needing. For the past 20 years my back has been a train wreck, ever since I had surgery in 2002 for a herniated disk that the neurosurgeon called one of the worst 3 he had ever seen. Now I need help more than ever, with an MRI that the surgeon’s Nurse Practitioner said was basically “bone on bone’ (i.e., no discernible disks in the spine).

What was new in 2022 was that all my cervical disks in my neck are also degenerating, and I had

an epidural in February of 2022 between disks C6 and C7 to try and ratchet down the excruciating pain I’ve been experiencing in my back and left arm.

I think it is obvious that God’s hand is in all this, just as it was to bring dear Blue [our rescue golden retriever] into our home in January 2022 after losing both Cooper and Ella in a 6 month time span.

Were it not for the persistent prayers on my behalf by my friends, family and strangers who knew about my trials, I don’t know where I would be in all this. Prayers matter, big time. I’ve seen this over and over in my life and the lives of so many others. So my gratitude for all of my faithful petitioners is beyond measure. And I cannot find adequate words to express my gratitude to our great God who “delights to show mercy” (Micah 7:18), and who “…longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.” (Isaiah 30:18). I am once again, “An Eyewitness to God’s Goodness,” and can continue to exclaim “Great, O Lord, is thy faithfulness."

 

In May 2022 I had another CT scan, which turned out even better than the previous one, despite the fact I had not been infused during that three-month period. So, another three- month sabbatical was granted (thank you, Lord) and 3 months later I had another scan (end of August 2022), and…well, not so good. A large mass (6cm by 6.5 cm) was in the distal end of my pancreas. A biopsy showed it was LMS, which had returned with a vengeance, and surgery was planned for November.

In the pre-surgery visit, my surgeon at Indiana University Hospital told me that he would be telling 99 out of 100 people who came to him with this condition and medical history that he was sorry, but there was nothing that could be done, and that I should make plans to go to hospice. However, after talking with my oncologist in South Bend and reviewing my unusual record, he would do the surgery. Once again, God was going before me to create a path to keep me alive against all odds (“I will go before you and will level the mountains…” Isaiah 45:2).

Surgery was planned at the Indiana University cancer hospital in Indianapolis for November 9, which was my birthday! The operating team sang happy birthday to me before they put me under, and I said “This was great! I’m coming back here to celebrate all my birthdays from now on!” The surgeon was the best I could possibly have had, and it went well; a Distal Pancreatectomy, a Splenectomy, and removal of 20% of my liver, which had some spots on it. The mass on my pancreas had grown to 10cm (!) since the end of August. This LMS stuff is relentless (but so is God:” …I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.” Psalm 89:33).

It took me roughly a month to recover from the surgery, which coincided with my post-surgery consult with my surgeon on December 8, 2022. At that appointment he said I was looking good and could resume all normal activities and diet. That night I had a terrible attack of pancreatitis, which is not quite as bad as kidney stones, but it is darn close, which put me into the hospital. While there they did a CT scan that revealed a small stone was blocking a duct in the pancreas

that caused the extreme pain I was in, plus revealed new LMS tumors had formed since my surgery a month earlier. The doctors said that the stone might pass on its own, but if not, it would have to be surgically removed. That surgery couldn’t be scheduled for another week, so the prospect was to remain hospitalized under opioids for a week unless it passed on its own.

Praise God, it passed overnight, and I was released the next day, pain free. But blood work in the hospital revealed the surgery on my pancreas caused me to now have diabetes. Now, you might be thinking, bad news just won’t leave this guy alone! But, actually my thoughts were that the pancreatitis turned out to be good news because without out going to the hospital for treatment I would not know I was diabetic and would not have started treatment for that perhaps until I had suffered irreparable damage from the disease. So, once again, my adage “bad news is just good news before its conversion experience” has been verified in my life.

My oncologist at Michiana Hematology and Oncology ordered a PET scan in early January 2023, which revealed five new LMS tumors, and was able to refer me to a sarcoma specialist at Indiana University cancer center. Sarcoma specialists are very rare at cancer centers, due to the low incidence rates of sarcomas in the U.S. population, so my ability to have her added to my healthcare team is another blessing for which I am extremely grateful. She worked with my oncologist to get me started with a new chemo drug to treat LMS. Unfortunately, the new drug was not successful as we hoped, and I had to get Liver Directed Therapy (LDT) in May of 2023 to try and get rid of a mass of four tumors in my liver.

 

The LDT had to be done by a specialist at IU Health, where my Distal Pancreatectomy surgery was done the previous November. The doctor who would do the radiation embolization in my liver looked at the CT scan and the record of the progress of my disease and told me he was not going to do the surgery because he thought I was beyond help. But, after being urged by my oncologist, my sarcoma specialist at IU Health, and the surgeon at IU Health who did my “birthday surgery,” he was convinced to do the procedure (“…my angel will go before you.” Exodus 32:34; “Yet I am always with you” Psalm 73:23).

A CT scan in August of 2023 revealed that the radiation embolization Liver Directed Therapy was very successful in destroying the tumors in my liver (the skeptical doctor who did the LDT said it was remarkable to see that there was no evidence the tumors had been there), and I was started on a new chemo drug, which I have infused every two weeks, followed by two white blood cell boosters the two days following my infusion. A CT scan in the Fall of 2023 showed some shrinkage of some of the remaining tumors, prompting a brief sabbatical from receiving the infusions around the Thanksgiving holiday. I resumed the biweekly infusions after Thanksgiving 2023. From the middle of December 2023 till the middle of January 2024 I had a string of health issues (including a visit to the ER in the local hospital, and a reoccurrence of the pain in my degenerative cervical disks) that made me wonder if I was entering a decline in my health that I might not bounce back from.

But this discouraging sequence of health problems got “turned around” when I went for my infusion on January 16, 2024, and my oncologist told me that a lesion on my head that had

appeared during the past month was cancerous. You will not be surprised by my telling you that I saw this as another experience when God converted a bad news event into good news. My immediate thought upon hearing this diagnosis was that God was telling me “Bruce, I have gone before you and made a path for dealing with this problem and will bring you out of the discouraging health problems as well.” And that is exactly what happened. I had the squamous cell lesion removed by a dermatologist on January 29, and the other health problems I was dealing with were resolved as well. What a great and good God we have!

Some Reflections on the Past 13 Years

 

Here is more evidence of Romans 8:28 being revealed in my life: The 13 years God has given me have resulted in a deepening maturity of my faith that might not have occurred without this crucible. Reflecting on this journey in an episode of Scriptural Pursuit, available on YouTube, I said the following:

 

“I’d like us to wrestle with how the sufferer can draw inspiration from one of the most difficult passages confronting those who are suffering: James 1:2-4

“2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. NIV

The Message puts it this way:

2-4 “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”

How are we to understand this verse in light of our own experiences in suffering? Is it even possible to consider our suffering “pure joy”?

The problem I had was not knowing exactly how I could feel joyful about going through a trial, particularly a trial like dealing with an incurable disease such as LMS. I now know what James really meant.

The joy for me was not going through the trial itself, it was seeing God at work in my life to bring Romans 8:28 true trial after trial, for me and for others. The consequence of this was to increase my faith and trust in God’s providence and cause me to see more reasons to express my gratitude to Him.

So, I knew what James meant about persevering through the trial to experience a maturation of my faith. The trial, or affliction, was the vehicle used to get to this

destination. A mature faith allows you to see the light of God’s Goodness through the darkness of your adversity.

Here are 3 ways I have seen my suffering result in a maturation of my faith, making me a more complete Christian:

1. We are joined with Christ in our suffering. We can never know the degree of suffering Christ knew when he died for our sins, but our experience provides some understanding of his sacrifice for us. That draws us closer to Him and deepens our gratitude for His suffering on our behalf. When Jesus said in John 16:33 “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world,” he was saying this to his disciples the night before his crucifixion, giving them, and us, the hope of our salvation through His death on the cross. But this verse also implies that our troubles unite us with Christ, telling us that we not only will share in His suffering, but we will also share in His victory over suffering and death when he takes us to heaven. This verse was often on my mind during my affliction.

 

1. The maturation of our faith also occurs when we read in scripture how members of the Hall of Faith described in Hebrews Chapter 11 went through their own crucible with their faith strengthened by God in the process. These heroes did not possess superhuman strengths that we do not have, they just looked to God to increase their faith to enable them to withstand the fiery trial they suffered through.

As Jesus said in John 15:5 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” But with Christ abiding in us we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength (Phil 4:13).

Other verses that promise God will be with us and in us as we go through our trials include:

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

Psalms 73:23-24 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?”

Our faith is matured when our trust in God increases as we see what He has done, and will do, for all His children as we go through our own fiery crucibles. I could feel God’s presence when I had MRIs that lasted as long as 3hrs, and when I was reading the Bible during my many infusions lasting up to 5hrs, and when experiencing the brutal side- effects from the clinical trial drug, and during the radiation treatments on my lungs requiring many demanding, very precise breath holds, and much pain, nausea, fatigue and bad news results during the 13 years (and counting) of my journey. I now feel a much closer bond to Christ as I put my complete trust in His presence as I go through the trials I face. A mature faith really does make it possible to do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

 

1. Our faith is matured and increased when we see how our suffering reveals meaning and purpose through helping others:

 

1. • Suffering increases our sense of brotherhood and empathy with others who are suffering and makes it possible for the Holy Spirits’ fruit of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness be revealed in our lives to help other people. I have been privileged to see the Holy Spirit work through me and others in numerous hospital surgery waiting rooms, in chemo infusion centers, radiation treatment robing areas, and many other places where patients and providers are experiencing stress. Suffering sensitizes you to seize the opportunity to share a word of hope and encouragement for others in these circumstances.
   • Telling others about how you have come to see the truth in James 1:2-4 in your own life is a powerful witness to how God works through adversity to bind us closer to Him.

 

1. • But how can we be of service to others when our suffering is so intense that we cannot see beyond the crucible? When we undergo our own physical debilitating pain, injustice, overwhelming grief, severe deprivation of money, shelter, food, potable water, and safety and no access to emotional, mental or physical therapy, it makes service to others seem impossible. However, the greatest service we can render to others is prayer, and prayer serves both the person who prays as well as the recipient. We have all experienced the incredible power of prayer in our own lives as well as seen it in the lives of others.

These three means have increased and matured my faith, making me a more complete follower of Christ when going through my own personal crucible. But I am sure many of our listeners and viewers can add to this list. And, like me, you count it pure joy that we have reason to exclaim: “Great is thy faithfulness oh God our father!”

I know I join with everyone else in praying that Jesus will come soon to end all suffering forever. I know you all can say Amen to that.

My prayer is that you too will be able to see in your life what was said about God’s goodness by the psalmist (David or Jeremiah) in Psalm 31, and respond like the anonymous author of Psalm 116 and Isaiah:

19 How abundant are the good things

that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all,

on those who take refuge in you. Psalm 31:19

12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people. Psalm 116:12-14

I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised,

according to all the Lord has done for [me]— yes, the many good things

he has done for [His people]

according to his compassion and many kindnesses. Isaiah 63:7

 

Returning to the Where, Who, How notebook, we address Section 2: Who should I contact to get help with a problem I’ve never had to face before?

Notebook Section 2: Who to Contact for Help

 

This section is devoted to providing one place where your spouse/partner can go to find the names and contact information for people with specialized skills who can help him/her in solving problems. Getting help from people who can be trusted to have your best interests at heart is a tremendous stress reducer for a grieving widow/widower. It is better that this list be long rather than short in order to be the “go to” list for all needs. For example, don’t leave off the name and phone number for your tax preparer even if you think he/she knows who that is. Here are some headings we have in this section of our 3-ring binder:

Home repair:

1. • • Handyman (names and phone numbers)
     • Plumbing (etc.)
     • Electrical
     • Carpentry
     • Painting

 

Major Repair/Remodeling

1. • • • General Contractors/Architect/Landscaper

Financial Advice

1. • • • Investments
       • Tax Preparation
       • Estate and Trust

 

Legal Advice

1. • • • General
       • Tax
       • Real Estate
       • Trust

Apple Computer Help

1. • • • Simple
       • Complicated/Technical

 

Camera/Photos on Computer/Slideshows

1. • • • Simple
       • Complicated/Technical

 

Septic Tank

1. • • • Cleaning
       • Problems

Lawn Mowing Yardwork Sprinkling System Snow Removal

Auto

1. • • Dead Battery
     • Routine Maintenance
     • Major Repair
     • Selling/Purchase Advice

Appliances

1. • • Warranty work contacts
     • Out of Warranty Repair

 

Furnace/Air-conditioning Pest Control

Locksmith Car Detailer

Real Estate Agents to Use When Selling House

Angi (a website that lists local professionals that have received good reviews for doing jobs such as tree trimming, architect, appraise belonging, etc.)

Who to Call When You Don’t Know Who to Call: Your “go to” networked person who seems to know who the best person/company is to call for any job.

 

You’ll have other categories to include in your version of this section of the notebook. It is best not to assume that our spouse will “of course” know who and how to contact the people who can best help with any problem, just because you know who that would be. We try to be as detailed as possible with this list, listing business or home phone numbers along with personal cell phones and email address wherever possible. Website/Facebook URLs are also helpful.

Frequently Used Phone Numbers/Contacts

The next pages in our own notebook are a list of phone numbers that we use regularly. If you share contacts on your cell phones, then this is redundant, but redundancy is not a bad thing when it comes to things to be included in the Where/Who/How 3-ring binder.

 

Next, we turn to an essay intended to address the question of how to be at peace amid adversity. Is it possible to be optimistic about the future with the world in such a state of turmoil?

How to be at Peace in the Midst of Adversity

Bruce Wrenn April 2021

 

During some recent conversations I have had with two friends, I have been asked to explain why I seem to be able to be at peace when experiencing severe trials. My default option is to respond in writing rather than ad lib talking. This allows me to be more precise in my response (e.g., instead of saying “somewhere in Isaiah or Jeremiah it says…”, I can accurately quote the exact verse and in my preferred Bible version). So here is my effort to explain why I feel at peace in the midst of adversity in case others share my two friends’ curiosity.

To me, one large component of peace is trusting in God’s tender loving mercy for us. The better I know God, the more I am aware of just how tender his love is for me; how he sees me as a fragile beloved child who needs special care to avoid being harmed when subjected to the vicissitudes of this life. Isaiah 28:23-29 provides an portrait of God’s loving tenderhearted way of treating his fragile children by using an analogy of a framer carefully harvesting fragile crops. My Life Application Bible says this about these verses: “The farmer uses special tools to plant and harvest tender herbs so he will not destroy them. He takes into account how fragile they are. In the same way God takes all our individual circumstances and weaknesses into account. He deals with each of us sensitively.”

 

We have several examples in Scripture of God’s sensitivity to our fragile state, whether it is emotional, physical or spiritual sensitivity. Consider God’s tender care of Elijah when he was at a very low, vulnerable point in his life:

 

19 When Ahab arrived in Jezreel, he told Jezebel about everything that had taken place. He told her how Elijah had executed all the prophets of Baal with a sword, and she became furious. 2 Jezebel sent an urgent message to Elijah.

Jezebel’s Message: May the gods kill me and worse, if I haven’t killed you the way you killed their priests by this time tomorrow. Your end is near, Elijah.

3 Terrified, Elijah quickly ran for his life. He traveled the length of Israel in one day and finally arrived at Beersheba, the southern point of God’s territory, which is in

Judah. When he arrived, he instructed his servant to remain there while he sought solitude. 4 He journeyed into the desert for one day and then decided to rest

beneath the limbs of a broom tree. There he prayed that his life would be over quickly and that he would die there beneath the tree.

Elijah: I’m finished, Eternal One. Please end my life here and now, even though I have failed, and I am no better than my ancestors.

5 Elijah then laid himself down under the broom tree and entered into a deep sleep. While he was sleeping, a heavenly messenger came and touched him and gave him instructions.

Messenger: Get up, and eat.

6 Elijah looked and found a breadcake sitting over charcoal near his head. There was also a jar of water. He ate the food and drank the water, and then he lay back down.

7 The Eternal’s messenger visited him again, touched him, and gave him more instructions.

Heavenly Messenger: Get up, and eat. Your journey ahead is great, and you need plenty of nourishment.

8 Elijah got up and ate the food and drank the water. His body felt strong again, and he journeyed for 40 more days and 40 more nights to Horeb, God’s mountain where Moses received the Ten Directives. 9 When he arrived at Horeb, he walked into a cave and rested for the night.

Eternal One (to Elijah): Why are you here, Elijah? What is it that you desire?

Elijah: 10 As you know, all my passion has been devoted to the Eternal One, the God

of heavenly armies. The Israelites have abandoned Your covenant with them, they have torn down every single one of Your altars, and they have executed by the sword all those who prophesy in Your name. I am the last remaining prophet, and they now seek to execute me as well.

Eternal One: 11 Leave this cave, and go stand on the mountainside in My presence. The Eternal passed by him. The mighty wind separated the mountains and crumbled every stone before the Eternal. This was not a divine wind, for the Eternal was not within this wind. After the wind passed through, an earthquake shook the earth. This was not a divine quake, for the Eternal was not within this earthquake. 12-13 After the

earthquake was over, there was a fire. This was not a divine fire, for the Eternal was not within this fire.

After the fire died out, there was nothing but the sound of a calm breeze. And through this breeze a gentle, quiet voice entered into Elijah’s ears. (1 Kings 19:1-12 The Voice)

Jeremiah (31:2-3) quotes God’s expression of lovingkindness to His children when they have been beset with troubles:

2 This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness;

I will come to give rest to Israel.”

3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (NIV)

Jeremiah, in his book of Lamentations (3:21-23) over the destruction of Jerusalem in 586BC by the Babylonians, said this through his tears:

21 But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness. (NRSV)

Hosea (11:4), records these words of God speaking to His wayward people: I led them with cords of human kindness,

with ties of love.

To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek,

and I bent down to feed them. (NIV)

Micah (7:18) says God “delights to show mercy.” Imagine that: God is happiest when He is being merciful to us! Rebellious, ungrateful, stubborn us!

Listen to how David talks about God’s compassionate nature for us in our fragile state:

13 An earthly father expresses love for his children; it is no different with our heavenly Father;

The Eternal shows His love for those who revere Him.

14 For He knows what we are made of;

He knows our frame is frail, and He remembers we came from dust. (Psalm 103,The Voice)

Jesus reveals the heart of the Trinity throughout His ministry with acts of tender mercy for those on the margins (e.g., lepers and woman with bleeding condition) as well as the upper strata of society (e.g, the synagogue leader Jarius) and for the disadvantaged (e.g., blind and lame) and strong (e.g., the centurion). But perhaps most shocking to listeners was His parable in Luke 15:11-31 of the father of the prodigal son—stunning in its portrayal and unforgettable in its revelation of the tenderness and vastness of the Father’s love.

Paul, in the twelfth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians talks about spiritual gifts God gives to us and compares the human body to the church, the body of Christ. Then, in chapter 13, his famous discourse on love, he continues the theme of relating the Divine to humanity by talking about the nature of Divine love. Thus, our love for one another should be like God’s love for us: “patient, kind, protective, trustworthy, persevering and unfailing” (1 Corinthians 13:4- 8). These are not what Paul only wished love could be, they are what he knew love to be as God loved him. Tender, gentle, unbounded, timeless love. Being loved like this leads to gratitude, trust, and reciprocal love for the One who loves you. All this causes you to be able to be at peace because you are convinced of the soon coming reality when Love will rule over everything forever.

So, what does all this have to do with our ability to be at peace when surrounded by troubles, real or imagined? For me, feeling, internalizing and trusting in God’s tender merciful love for fragile me provides a sense of peace unlike anything worldly-based peace could ever do. I have

come to the state Isaiah described in chapter 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (NLT). I believe this is what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 4:18 when he says “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” Paul “fixes his thoughts” (his “gaze”) on Jesus instead of the troubles that constantly beset him, and Paul thereby knows a peace that transcends the understanding (Philippians 4:7) of those who don’t acknowledge the love of Jesus, and who can see only the troubles that surround them.

I use a metaphor to help me stay at peace like Paul. It uses the scientific construct of “limen.” Wikipedia defines a limen this way:

“In physiology, psychology, or psychophysics, a limen or a liminal point is a sensory threshold of a physiological or psychological response. It is the boundary of perception. On one side of a limen (or threshold) a stimulus is perceivable, on the other side it is not.”

I find this metaphor to be a particularly useful and practical means of ordering my thoughts and feelings that allow me to keep my thoughts “stayed on Him” and to “trust in Him” to be kept in perfect peace. I do not live in denial of the troubles that surround me: e.g., the fact that I am in the latter stages of an incurable disease, suffer the sometimes-terrible side effects of the drugs dripping into my veins, and acknowledge the extremely vulnerable state of having severe “underlying conditions” during a highly contagious viral pandemic, and the like.

But I think of all these and other troubles as being beneath the limen in my life. In Paul’s terms, they are all, no matter how serious, “light and momentary” problems that can be seen and felt and which demand attention, but I do not allow them to rise above the threshold to rob me of the peace that exists above the limen. That is where peace surrounds me, the foundation of which is the very real experience of being the object of love from a God who knows me better than I know myself (Psalm 139); who has known and loved me with an “everlasting love” and who has drawn me to him with “unfailing kindness”; who “holds me to his cheek” and “bends down to feed me;” whose “steadfast love for me never ceases” and whose “mercies never come to an end”; who “delights” in showering those mercies on me; who “knows my frame is frail” and that I “came from dust” and must be treated with the utmost tenderheartedness and spoken to with a “gentle quiet voice.” All of this “patient, kind, protective, trustworthy, persevering and unfailing” love keeps me at peace even when contending with “subliminal” troubles.

I don’t want to suggest that the problems that exist below the limen do not demand my full attention and don’t require wisdom to find solutions. They do, but I don’t face these problems alone. One of my favorite verses that gives me assurance that God will be with me when confronting these problems is Psalms 73:23-24:

Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Problems below the limen require solutions, questions must get answered, demands must be met, we must persevere through our trials, but all these dilemmas are faced head-on with my hand firmly held by my heavenly Father, and I do not stress over them when I am actively involved in addressing the problem. I put my trust in God alone. Stressing over a problem is not solving a problem.

It should also be clear at this point that peace is not the same as being free from troubles. Note the circumstances when Christ said:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. John 14:27

Christ spoke these words to His disciples when He was only hours away from crucifixion. Obviously, it requires Divine peace rather than worldly peace to get you through extreme adversity, but we can have this peace under all circumstances.

If I focus only on the problem I face, I rob myself of the peace that covers me when my hand is held by His. Christ, in the longest section of His Sermon on the Mount, warns us not to worry (Matthew 6:25-34). He begins with these words: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life” because he knows that is our human nature. He then goes into great depth about how trusting in God’s provisions for us should keep us from worrying which prevents us from having the peace that He wants us to have. I can never recall a single instance when worrying about a problem resulted in a desirable outcome, but it sure did disturb my peace.

But these verses in Psalm 73 not only provide assurance that we will receive guidance in wisely solving the problems or overcoming the troubles that surround us, but also remind us that we should never lose sight of the ultimate consequence of our choosing to walk with God holding us by our right hand throughout life—where He is, there we will be also (“afterward you will take me into glory”). No wonder Paul makes this comparison about the things below the limen and those above: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4 :17). Our trials on this earth keep us yearning for our heavenly home where there is no more pain, suffering, grief or tears, and no memories of the troubles that produced them. That assurance gives us a very real sense of peace above the limen, simultaneously with severe troubles below.

Now I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit that sometimes worldly troubles pierce the threshold and “disturb the peace” that lies above. And I confess that I also do this to myself when I let some desire for a worldly “good” rise to a level of feverish desire that also disturbs my contentedness with all the gifts that God has so generously and graciously provided. When I

find myself doing these things, I re-center myself by recounting the verses quoted here describing God’s tender mercies, claim God’s promises he made to stay with us as He guides us through the troubles, and refocus my gaze to see our true home where we are all destined to go.

So, all this is a work in progress—the path of sanctification, the work of a lifetime. All I know is that for me peace is more than just a reasonable, rational conclusion from consideration of all the evidence that I have quoted here. It is, in fact, a recognition of what happens when we ask for God to abide in us, and our lives are filled with the Holy Spirit, making it possible for us to bear the fruit of that Spirit every day of our lives, no matter how high the heat or severe the drought (Jeremiah 17:7-8) we face in our earthly lives. Galatians 5 tells us that the first three fruits of the Spirit that will show up in our lives from God abiding in us are “love, joy and peace,” and, by God’s infinite grace, my life has become a living testimony to the truthfulness of that promise.

In summary, here is how I have personally arrived at having an abiding peace as I face adversity. I believe that all people of faith daily have two simultaneous realities that we occupy. One is the adversity that exists below the limen. For me, this is dominated, but not limited to, the troubles detailed in a previous essay, “An Eyewitness to God’s Goodness”. Your troubles may well be much worse. In addition, adversity comes when we share the burdens of family, friends and strangers for whom we pray and empathize with as they go through their own troubles (Galatians 6:2). Christ told us we would face these troubles on earth, but He told us that we should not be discouraged or feel defeated by these troubles because He has overcome the world (John 16:33), and His victory is ours when He daily abides in us (John 14:26-27). He also reminds us that the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world as we face our troubles (1 John 4:4), and promises that because he surrounds us with His protection (Psalm 91), He allows through only that part of the trial that, with His Providence, we will be able to overcome, and which matures our faith (1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:2-4). So, the reality of adversity beneath the limen, that we face ourselves and share with our loved ones, is not faced alone. Jesus is constantly with us (Psalm 73:23), and by our daily asking for and receiving the Holy Spirit abiding in us we can be more than conquerors of these troubles, and no amount of adversity can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:37-38). Remember, God is able to do far more for us than we are capable of conceiving (Ephesians 3:20).

 

But above the limen is a contemporaneous reality that far outweighs that which is beneath the limen. Our trials are preparing us for a future eternity in heaven which is far more wonderful than we are capable of imagining (2 Corinthians 2:9-10), and where there is no more strife, pain, stress, tears, or death (Revelation 21:4). The presence of the Holy Spirit abiding in us is the guarantee that this reality will be ours (2 Corinthians 5:5). Moreover, the reality above the limen that simultaneously exists with the reality of the troubles below, consists of God’s constant tender love and mercies for us in our most fragile state. This reality above the limen is for all who claim it (2 Peter 3:9). So, in exchange for us casting our anxieties on him (1 Peter 5:7), all of us can daily have Christ’s peace (John 14:7), a peace that transcends understanding.

We now eagerly await eternity above the limen where we have been fixing our gaze as we face our “light and momentary” troubles with our hand in His, here below.

Now you see why I count myself, along with Paul, as an unalloyed, incontrovertible “realistic optimist” living at peace.

“If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 (TLB)

 

 

Marah and Elim

by Horatius Bonar

Today 'tis Elim with its palms and wells, And happy shade for desert weariness; 'Twas Marah yesterday, all rock and sand, Unshaded solitude and dreariness.

Yet the same desert holds them both, the same Hot breezes wander o'er the lonely ground; The same low stretch of valley shelters both,

And the same mountains compass them around.

So it is here with us on earth, and so I do remember it has ever been;

The bitter and the sweet, the grief and joy, Lie near together, but a day between.

Sometimes God turns our bitter into sweet, Sometimes He gives us pleasant watersprings; Sometimes He shades us with His pillar cloud, And sometimes to a blessed palm shade brings.

What matters it? The time will not be long; Marah and Elim will alike be passed;

Our desert wells and palms will soon be done, We reach the “City of our God” at last.

O happy land! beyond these lonely hills, Where gush in joy the everlasting springs; O holy Paradise! above these heavens, Where we shall end our desert wanderings.

Now we go to what might become the longest section of your Where, Who, How notebook: “How to Do Necessary Tasks.”

Notebook Section 3: How to Do Necessary Tasks

 

This section will probably be the longest, most detailed and possibly most important section of the notebook. In it you describe in detail how to do all the tasks you previously performed as part of your household duties. Imported photos and screen shots liberally applied will aid in the clear communication of describing these tasks. Your list of “How To Do” tasks will be specific to your situation, but here is a small sampling from our list as an example:

HOW/WHAT TO DO:

 

“To Do” each month p #

 

“To Do” in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter p #

How to Access Checking Account Online p #

 

How to Change Portfolio Balance in Retirement Accounts p #

 

How to Know When to and What Service is Needed for Cars p #

How to Order New Checks… p #

 

How to Change Water Filter in Refrigerator and Order New Filter p #

 

How to Scan a Document (to send as email attachment or save in computer file, etc.) p #

 

How to Turn off Water or Electricity to Entire House p #

 

How to Create a Screen Shot… page #

 

There are many more of these, but you get the idea. You might want you and your spouse to practice doing these tasks together by following your instructions to make sure they are clear. We did this, and discovered we needed to revise some instructions for clarity.

Here is an example of what these instructions in this section of the notebook might look like:

How to turn off water to the entire house

 

1. You may have the need to turn off the water to the entire house (e.g., if a water pipe in the house cracks or if a plumber needs to replace a faucet and needs to turn off the water to the house).
2. The access to the valve to turn off water is under the stairs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. When the valve is parallel with the pipe it is open and the water flows through the pipe into the house:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. To turn off the water to the house, turn the valve so that it is at a right angle to the pipe:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Don’t forget to turn the valve back to parallel when you are finished.

Some of these “How To” instructions will be words only, but some could be a combination of words, screen shots, and photos. We find it best to start from the assumption that the person reading the instructions will have no prior knowledge at all with regard to how to do what we’re describing. It is far better, in our opinion, to have too much information/visual cues than not enough. Give yourself a lot of time when constructing this list (maybe one or two each weekend?). Your notebook and your clear and thorough instructions will be saying “I love you” in your absence, so make sure it is as comprehensive as possible.

There are instructions you’ll want to put in the “How to Do” section that will be to remind yourself how to do some task as much as for your spouse or survivors. For example, the first time I scanned in a document on my Epson all-in-one copier/printer/scanner, it took me 40 minutes to learn how to do it. I realized that if the next time I needed to scan a document was a year later, I would again spend 40 minutes (or more; I’m older now!) figuring out how to do it unless I created a “How to” set of instructions for myself and Jan right then. The resulting set of instructions (which ran 10 pages complete with screen shots—a commentary on needless complications to getting electronic devices to cooperate with humans) are now of value to both of us.

 

 

We now continue with Jan’s suggested Grief Recovery Resources for those survivors needing help coping with their grief.

Resource: Grief Recovery Help

Jan Wrenn

I have used these resources in the “Death and Grief in Contemporary Society” course I taught in the Department of Social Work at Andrews University, in the grief recovery ministry and support groups I created and facilitated at Pioneer Memorial Church, the GROW Group I co-facilitated at Pioneer Memorial Church for those who needed help in managing their grief of the death of a loved one, and in my grief counseling sessions as a licensed social work counselor. Included with the books are the description provided by the publisher about the book and its intended audience.

 

Books:

Life After Grief: Choosing the Path to Healing, Rebecca Hayford Bauer (Regal Books, 2014; 205 pages)

 

When you experience a loss that changes everything, grief is only the beginning. Mourning for the life you once knew is a long and important process--but where do you go from there? Rebecca Hayford Bauer's loss was the death of her husband in 2003, but we all face loss of one kind or another. In Life After Grief, she shares her personal story of loss, grief and healing, and invites you to walk with her into the hope and uncertainty of new life. Each chapter asks one important question every grieving person faces on the road to healing, such as:

 

• How do I view God?
• Will I still trust?
• Who am I now?
• Who are my friends?
• Will I dream again?

Your life will never be the same . . . but there is still life to be lived. You can learn to live your new normal, grasping God's hand for dear life and trusting Him to guide you into the future.

 

Grief Recovery, Larry Yeagley (Advent Source, 2009; 122 pages) also, Life After Loss, Larry Yeagley, (Review and Herald, 1986; 31 pages)

In this book Larry Yeagley, founder of Grief Recovery seminars, shares his time-tested insights into how to cope with grief. Grief Recovery walks readers through the stages of grief and demonstrates how grief is different for everyone. This book is full of stories and exercises to help those struggling with loss. It covers topics including the anatomy of grief, tasks of grieving, moving toward recovery, grief and marriage, grief and the family, intentional grieving, and much more. This book is the product of Larry Yeagley’s extensive experience as a grief counselor combined with his personal experience with the grief of losing a son. Grief Recovery will assist

readers in becoming proactive in knowing what to expect from others and ourselves during times of grief.

The Way back from Loss: Reassembling the Pieces of a Broken Life, Wayne Hastings (Howard Books, 2014, 249 pages)

Filled with powerful messages, quotes, and scriptures, this practical and inspirational sixty-day devotional will encourage and comfort you after you have suffered a loss of any kind.

Loss comes in all shapes and sizes. Whether it is the loss of a job, a relationship, or a loved one, the pain associated with loss takes time to overcome. No matter where you are in the grieving process, Pastor Wayne Hastings’s The Way Back From Loss provides you with the comfort and encouragement you need to move on with your life.

This sixty-day devotional is divided into five sections that show you how to trust in God’s constant presence, let go of blame and regret, and discover that disappointments sometimes lead to the greatest opportunities.

Each of Pastor Wayne’s devotions will draw you in through an opening quote, a pertinent Bible verse, an inspirational message, an uplifting insight, guidance for prayer, and suggestions for motivating life choices.

 

Recovering from a loss is difficult, and each individual reacts differently, but The Way Back From Loss provides solace in knowing you are not alone. Sixty days with these messages provide hope and inspiration.

You can also find many videos of help with your grieving on YouTube.

 

 

 

The next essay explores the question: Does God have a purpose for our life?

God’s Purpose for Our Life

Bruce Wrenn July 2021

 

Those of you who have read my previous essays “An Eyewitness to God’s Goodness” and “How to be at Peace in the Midst of Adversity” are aware that I have been battling an incurable cancer for many years; far longer than the oncologists ever thought I could. My “Eyewitness…” essay was originally written with the world during a pandemic and me fighting my sarcoma through infusions without receiving good news from my CT scans. I believed I was near the end unless some miracle occurred. Well, I’m writing this in July of 2021, after having received this Spring the first good news in my decade’s long war with this disease. Praise God, right? My friends have been singing praise along with Jan and I about the news from three consecutive CT scans that the tumors have been shrinking.

Along with our thanksgiving, I began to think “Why am I getting this news now after more than ten years of diminishing health and no hope from the health experts to hang onto? Does God have a purpose for my life in the days ahead?” This got me thinking about the belief that God does have a purpose for our life, but I had only a vague idea of what that meant, plus no idea about what His specific purpose might be to give me the good news at this point in time. So, I began a quest in the Bible to see what we can learn about this concept of God’s purpose for our life. My first question was: does the Bible indicate that God does have a purpose for our life?

Here we go.

Does the Bible tell us that God does have a purpose for our life?

 

Before we get into an answer to this question, let me ask you a related question: Have you ever had someone say to you “My life seems to have no meaning or purpose”? This could be just a simple way of expressing frustration with things going wrong lately, or it could be a serious cry for help that, if not addressed with an intervention, could lead to someone taking their own life. Perhaps you have uttered this remark when depressed or frustrated. My wife Jan is a licensed social worker specialized in counseling, and she has heard some versions of this remark many times. Solomon, in writing Ecclesiastes, thirty-four times uses the world “meaningless,” sometimes three times in the same sentence, to describe some aspect of life. As one of the books of the “wisdom literature” in the Bible, he was expressing something many people struggle long and hard with, and not just when having a “bad day.” We’ll get back to Solomon later, but the point is, this is a serious topic that deserves sober consideration.

Like many of you, I underline verses in my Bible that speak to me personally and remembered some of them spoke to the idea of God having a purpose for us. Here are a few familiar verses (NIV unless otherwise indicated) that address our question:

I cry out to God Most High

To God, who fulfills his purpose for me. Psalm 57:2

 

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Psalm 138:8

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

…it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose" Philippians 2:12-13

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

 

It would appear from these Bible verses that the answer to the first question is a definite “Yes.” A life lived with God at its center has meaning and purpose. Without God, life is devoid of meaning and for many people can be as Thomas Hobbes described in his poem Leviathan:

Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of Warre [war], where every man is Enemy to every man; the same is consequent to the time, wherein men live without other security, than what their own strength, and their own invention shall furnish them withall. In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.

 

Does God have more than one purpose for our life?

 

From my research into what Scripture has to say about this question, it appears to me that there is what we could call God’s “grand purpose” for his people, and what we could call God’s “specific purpose” for each of us. These are some Bible verses that speak to the grand purpose:

…everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” Isaiah 43:7;

…the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” Isaiah 43:21.

 

For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’” Jeremiah 13:11

But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth" Exodus 9:16.

This purpose, to live our lives in a way that glorifies and praises His name, to make Him known to all, is emblematic of our identity as His faithful people. This purpose we share and is evidenced by the way we live each day of our lives. But other verses suggest that God has a plan and purpose for us as individuals. This suggests another question:

Is there a difference between a purpose and a plan for our life?

We can find an answer for this question by seeing what the Bible says about God having a plan for our life:

 

For I know the plans I have for you, “declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do,

and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3 NIV

A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way? Proverbs 20:24

 

From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. God did this so that people would seek him. And perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. Acts 17:26- 27 NIRV

These verses imply that God’s plan for each of His children includes specifics about where and when we live, including our occupation:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also, I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you Exodus 31:1-6

 

and even choice of a marriage partner, if we are to marry:

Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. Matthew 19:6

 

Thus, God’s plan for our life would appear to include a “grand purpose” and a “specific purpose”. We all share the grand purpose, but the specific purpose, like the plan for our life, is determined for each individual.

Evidence in support of an individualized purpose for the faithful is suggested in the stories of Biblical characters committed to living according to God’s plan for them. Two examples that come to mind are Esther and Joseph. Here are their stories.

The story of Queen Esther, a Jewess in the court of the Persian king Xerces, is a fascinating example of how God places people in the right place at the right time to be able to accomplish the good he has planned in advance for us to do. Although God isn’t mentioned in the book of Esther, His fingerprints are all over the events that happened in it, and one of Judaism’s sacred holidays today, Purim, is a celebration of what God did to save His people through Esther and Mordecai as told in this story. The Life Application Bible, in its bio of Mordecai, reveals how God’s purpose for the lives of Esther and her uncle Mordecai, including doing the good for all the Jews in the kingdom:

 

Following Jerusalem’s last stand against Nebuchadnezzar, Mordecai’s family was deported to Babylonia. He was probably born in Susa, a city that became one of Persia’s capitals after Cyrus conquered Babylon. Mordecai then inherited an official position among the Jewish captives that kept him around the palace even after the Babylonians were driven out. At one time, when Mordecai overheard plans to assassinate King Xerxes, he reported the plot and saved the king’s life.

Mordecai’s life was filled with challenges that he turned into opportunities. When his aunt and uncle died, he adopted Esther, their daughter and his young cousin, probably because his own parents were dead and he felt responsible for her. Later, when she was drafted into Xerxes’ harem and chosen to be queen, Mordecai continued to advise her. Shortly after this, he found himself in conflict with Xerxes’ recently appointed second-in- command, Haman. Although willing to serve the king, Mordecai refused to worship the king’s representative. Haman was furious with Mordecai. So he planned to have Mordecai and all the Jews killed. His plan became a law of the Medes and Persians, and it looked as though the Jews were doomed.

Mordecai, willing to be God’s servant wherever he was, responded by contacting Esther and telling her that one reason God had allowed her to be queen might well be to save her people from this threat: “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”(Esther 4:14). But God had also placed him in the right place years earlier. God revealed to the king through his nighttime reading of historical documents that Mordecai had once saved his life, and the king realized he had never thanked Mordecai. The great honor then given to Mordecai ruined Haman’s plan to impale him on a pole he had set up. God had woven an effective counterstrategy against which Haman’s plan could not stand.

Later, Mordecai instituted the Jewish Festival of Purim. He had a lengthy career of service to the king on behalf of the Jews. In Mordecai’s life, God blended both character and circumstances to accomplish great things. God has not changed the way he works. He is using the situations you face each day to weave a pattern of godliness into your character. Pause and ask God to help you respond appropriately to the situations you find yourself in today.

Excerpt From: Tyndale House Publishers. “NIV Life Application Study Bible, Second Edition.” Apple Books.

 

Joseph’s story is another great example of God’s plan for someone to achieve the good He purposed him to do became obvious only after many years of faithful service. Joseph could not see how the events, many of them seemingly irredeemably bad, when they occurred could possibly result in good for many people. Yet, at the end of decades of twists and turns in his life Joseph was able to see God’s hand at work to prosper Joseph even during adversity.

 

As a youngster, Joseph was overconfident. His natural self-assurance—increased by being Jacob’s favorite son and by knowing of God’s designs on his life—was unbearable to his ten older brothers, who eventually conspired against him. But this self-assurance, molded by pain and combined with a personal knowledge of God, allowed him to survive and prosper where most would have failed. He added quiet wisdom to his confidence and won the hearts of everyone he met—Potiphar, the prison warden, other prisoners, the pharaoh, and after many years, even those ten brothers.

Perhaps you can identify with one or more of these hardships Joseph experienced: He was betrayed and deserted by his family, he was exposed to sexual temptation and punished for doing the right thing, he endured a long imprisonment and was forgotten by those he helped. As you read his story, note what Joseph did in each case. His positive response transformed each setback into a step forward. He didn’t spend much time asking “Why?” His approach was “What shall I do now?” Those who met Joseph were aware that wherever he went and whatever he did, God was with him. When you’re facing a setback, the beginning of a Joseph-like attitude is to acknowledge that God is with you. There is nothing like his presence to shed new light on a dark situation.

Excerpt From: Tyndale House Publishers. “NIV Life Application Study Bible, Second Edition.” Apple Books.

This story is a great example of how God’s plan for Joseph’s life was to prosper him throughout the ups and downs of a series of events and occupations unique to Joseph’s life. But Joseph was faithful in achieving God’s grand purpose for His life by making choices that honored God in good times and bad, and achieving the specific purpose for His life that came clear to Him only by looking back on all he had been through:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20

This may be our experience too. We become aware of God’s plan as He reveals it in answers to our prayers for guidance in making decisions, big or small throughout our life. But, it may be only when we retrospectively look back on our life that reveals God’s purpose for our life. Then we can see that His answered prayer to abide in us and us in Him every day has led to a service that came so naturally to us that it surprises us when He says:

‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:34-40

 

We were not even aware that the Spirit’s daily abiding in us was causing us to live a purpose driven life. And, when we pass into that long good night, we can know that God did fulfill His purpose for our life (“For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep [i.e., died].” Acts 13:36).

You may be given a specific purpose at some point in your life, or over a period in your life. In any case, we are not to worry if we are sufficient for the task. Rather, we can trust that God is answering our prayer to abide in us and us in Him every day, and that he will prosper us under all circumstances to honor His name, just as He did Joseph in Potiphar’s household, in prison, and in Pharaohs’ service. That kind of trust and sense of peace can withstand severe trials because it doesn’t depend on our strength, but His:

[Most] blessed is the [person] who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. [That person] is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such a tree is not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Its leaves stay green, and it never stops producing fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 compilation of multiple versions

One specific purpose for our life might be witnessing to others that God is the one responsible for producing the fruitful results of a life faithfully lived under even the most trying circumstances. To Him be the glory:

Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father. Matthew 5:15-16 TLB.

Thus, the stories of the lives of Esther and Joseph can be interpreted as God having a plan for our life, which includes both a grand purpose, “to be my people for my renown and praise and honor,” and a specific purpose for the good of others as part of the overall plan for our life.

 

God can be trusted to lead us on the path He has chosen for us, if that is how we want to live our life. He has said it, and He will do it. That plan includes answering our sincere prayer to abide in us and we in Him each day, guiding us with His counsel and fulfilling His purpose for us for our life and for that day.

These stories all teach us that God’s purpose for our life is the same as it was for Jesus—a life of service for the good of others:

…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

 

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

God fulfilled His purpose for Jesus’ life as described in one of the best known of all Bible verses:

 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

Just like David (Acts 19:36), Jesus did not die until his purpose for living was fulfilled:

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

What a comfort and blessing it is to realize that not only does your life have a God-given purpose, but also that God will give you the strength, courage, and will to persevere until that purpose is fulfilled, then have you rest in peace,

…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

 

God has kept His covenant with you, as He said He would, and you, like Paul, can say with confidence

I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12

How can we know if we are fulfilling his specific purpose for us?

 

We know that we are following God’s path for our lives because our lives are bearing the fruits of righteousness.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:8

I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last— and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. John 15:16

 

The fruit of the Spirit abiding in us as described in the fifth chapter of Galatians is felt and seen by those whom we serve. For example, God’s purpose for someone’s life at a particular point in his/her life might to take loving care for an infirmed parent. When you recognize this as not just a responsibility, but approach it as a loving service to both the parent and to God, you are recognizing that God has purposed this service for you, will be with you throughout, wants you to pray for and receive the physical, mental, emotional, financial blessings you need to achieve this purpose in your life. He is partnering with you for it. There is no service we will be called upon to render as a part of God’s purpose for our life that we face without his help.

When we take his yoke upon us, our part of the load is light while he carries the heaviest part of it (Matt 11:29-30). When God assigns a specific purpose for your life at any time during your life, He will be there to guide, equip and assist you as you do it. You feel blessed in doing it, while being a blessing to those whom you serve, and will one day hear

‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:23.

You will not have labored in vain:

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58.

Christ’s commendation of the faithful servant in Matthew 25:23 was told during the final days of Jesus’ life. It was intended to draw the sharp distinction between those who see their life as a gift from God, who live in a way that generates a return to God in gratitude for all of His largess and trust in them, compared to those who are only interested in their own welfare. This parable is believed to foretell what the redeemed will hear from Christ when He returns to take

us into our heavenly home. It is obvious from this parable, that the “well done” does not refer to worldly accomplishments, but rather to a devotion to serving God (i.e., “faithful servant”) in ways in harmony with what God endorses as a purposeful life.

“The Conclusion of the Matter”

Solomon’s reflections on the purpose and meaning of life in the book of Ecclesiastes concludes this way:

The last and final word is this:

Fear God.

Do what he tells you.

And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 The Message

 

The lack of meaning to a life spent without God can only be remedied by desiring God to be Lord of everything in our life, wanting Him to guide us in accomplishing those good works He created us to do. Then, in heaven, we will learn the details of how this became true for us.

The Bible contains many stories of heroes of the faith, immortalized in the Word for their faithful deeds and for living their life in a way that, thousands of years later, still has an impact for the good on us as we are inspired by their stories. Daniel, Moses, Abraham, Mary the mother of Jesus, Paul, David, the prophets, and many others live on in the pages of the Bible as examples of people whose life purpose was fulfilled by God to the benefit of countless people over thousands of years. But this is also true for the anonymous writer of Psalm 119, and those described by Christ in Matthew 25, whose identity will not be known this side of eternity, but who have had a tremendous impact on many other anonymous people over the ages. The point is, God works in and through all His children to fulfill His purpose to abundantly bless us every day. We can be grateful to be both blessed and a blessing as God fulfills his purpose for each of our lives. Famous or anonymous, we all can rejoice that

…it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose"

Philippians 2:12-13

and be glad that our God is a great a good God of Love who can be trusted to have a purpose for us that blesses others.

 

I previously thought that Romans 8:28 only meant that God would turn the bad things that happen to us into a good final result–God has always been able to turn something that seems irreversibly bad into something improbably good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. But now I think it also means that if we are living in a loving, trusting way with Him, he will make sure that our attempts to do the good He has called us to do will accomplish that good end, even when we think we have failed to fulfill that purpose. What a

comfort to know “… that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28), and that “the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me (Psalm 138:8), when I declare Him sovereign Lord of my life. All this is possible because “…we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

Yes, you are a free moral agent, able to exercise free will, but when you commit to doing the good that God has planned in advance for you to do as part of His plan and purpose for you, you are also aligning yourself with the most powerful force in the universe—Love. As Paul says: it always protects, always, trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:7).

Acts of good spring from an all-conquering and everlasting source, and so there will never be an end to the good that they bring into the lives of those touched by them.

Moreover, when you commit to this course, you are open to unimaginable opportunities to do good. When David says in Psalm 31 that God has “set my feet in a spacious place,” he is saying that God can provide a kaleidoscope of opportunities to do good in ways that can constantly amaze you.

 

if we want to be like Jesus, we will “not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9). Rather, we should follow Paul advice to Timothy (6:18-19):

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Don’t you love that phrase: “take hold of the life that is truly life”? Maybe this is something of what Christ called the “abundant life” (John 10:10). Apparently, doing good has rewards in this life as well as storing up treasure in heaven as Jesus takes these good deeds personally as though He was the recipient (Matthew 25:40).

This brings to mind an easily overlooked verse in Revelation:

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” Revelation 14:13

One way of understanding this verse is that our labor to serve others is not in vain—God preserves the results of a life spent doing good works. The consequences of those good works live on after we are gone, blessed by God to continue to reap a harvest of good in this world, and treasured in Jesus’ heart in heaven.

In the grand scheme of things, where would you prefer to lay up your treasure? Here is an investment strategy that pays dividends throughout eternity—truly there will never be an end to the return from doing those good deeds.

I started this “thought piece” by wondering if getting good news at this stage of my disease meant there was a purpose behind it, and if so, what might that purpose be? Now, after thinking out loud and spending time in the Word looking for clarity, I no longer pursue the quest for an answer to “why now” and “what is the purpose of the good news.” What matters it? God is making every day of my life to have purpose and meaning by answering my daily prayer for Him to abide in me, and me in Him. I can patiently wait for the surprise of learning of the specific purpose when I finally get home. I am happy just to spend another day of life holding onto my Father’s hand.

So, my search to know God’s specific purpose for my getting good news is a bit of a quixotic quest. I might never know in this lifetime what the answer is, but I now realize that it is more important to trust, as David said, my “…God, who fulfills his purpose for me.” (Psalm 57:2), as He abides in me each day and I in Him. Note that David doesn’t say “I will fulfill God’s purpose” but rather it is “God, who fulfills his purpose for me.” I need only to ask him to complete His good work in me, using all the good gifts He so generously provides and all the adversity He so faithfully brings me through, to prepare me for eternity with Him. Trusting Him will make it possible for me to fulfill the grand purpose of honoring Him and live a fruitful life. Fruit that will last. How does life get any better than that?

 

Addendum, Early Morning July 4, 2021

 

I awoke early this Independence Day, impressed to write this addendum to witness to how God’s plan and purpose for me has guided me throughout my life. I mentioned earlier that God’s plan includes when and where we live (Acts 17:26-27), our chosen profession, who we marry, and all the large and small opportunities and choices that are made that make these things possible. For me, I can trace God’s plan to the summer of 1966 when I met Jan. Her family had moved to the small town in south Alabama where her father had come to work for a year. The moment I met her I knew she was the one I was to marry and spend the rest of my life with. We were 15 years old. We married 5 years later and celebrated our fiftieth anniversary on June 12, 2021.

It was through Jan and her mother that I became a Christian and learned to love and trust God. We were married in 1971, and lived in Auburn, AL where I completed my undergraduate degree while Jan worked to support us. I entered the MBA program at Northwestern University in 1973, graduated in 1974 and we both accepted job offers in Kalamazoo, MI with a large pharmaceutical company.

In 1978 I received a job offer at another pharmaceutical company in Newport Beach, CA. This was during one of the worst winters in Michigan history, and the offer was for a significant increase in pay, so I was certain that this was where we should go. But before accepting the job

Jan and I prayed for God to reveal to us if this was his plan for us at this point in our lives. The more we prayed, the less we felt that we should accept the offer. So, I turned down the offer, and we wondered what God had in mind for us, if it wasn’t to leave frigid Michigan to go to live at the beach in sunny California!

Two weeks later I received an offer to come teach in the business school at Andrews University for half the salary I was earning at the pharmaceutical company, and we joyfully accepted the offer. This was possible because, by God’s grace, we had no debt. God was making his plan known for our lives clear to us. After teaching there for 2 years, I realized that I needed a Ph.D. if I was going to continue to pursue a career in academia, so I applied to Northwestern University’s doctoral program in marketing, my chosen discipline.

Northwestern was ranked as the top program in this discipline, and was very selective in their acceptance of applicants into the program. My modest credentials did not hold much chance to get me into the program, but God’s plan would not be thwarted, and I was miraculously accepted; one of only two applicants from the U.S. in the class of seven students accepted into the program from a pool of more than a hundred applicants. It was clear to me that I was there only because it was God intervening to advance His plan for my life.

 

This became even more clear in the eight years it took for me to complete the degree at Northwestern. It was a miracle for me to be there, and an even greater one for me to graduate with my doctorate. It would take many pages to chronicle all the times God had to powerfully intercede to get me through to completion of the degree in 1989. I saw this Bible promise become true over and over during this time:

…though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Psalm 37:24

Not only did I, by God’s grace, compete the degree, but He made it possible for me to have Philip Kotler, the world’s leading scholar in the field of marketing, to chair my dissertation committee. Over the next three decades we were to collaborate on writing groundbreaking books and scholarly articles on the use of marketing by religious organizations. It was abundantly clear to me that it was God’s plan and purpose for my life to enable me to honor Him in this way. Absolutely none of this could have been achieved without His constant and powerful intervention in executing His plan for me.

When I graduated in 1989, Jan was eager to pursue her dream of becoming a social worker, which meant she needed to stop full-time work to complete her undergraduate degree, and then go to graduate school to get her MSW. This meant that we would have to fund Jan’s tuition, our mortgage payments, etc. on my Andrews salary alone, an impossibility unless we went deeply into debt. We did not know how we were going to be able to make Jan’s dream come true. But God once again made His plan for both of us become clear when at the exact time I graduated a teaching position in marketing opened at Indiana University’s South Bend campus, a 45-minute drive from our home in Berrien Springs.

The position was open only because the person who had accepted the job offer decided at the last minute not to go there, and they reopened the search in June 1989 (exactly the time I received my diploma) to find someone who could begin teaching in August 1989. This was the first opening they had for a marketing teacher in ten years. I applied, by God’s grace was offered the position, and began teaching there in August, the same time that Jan began working on completing her undergraduate degree.

The increase in my salary allowed us to cover her expenses at Andrews, and then at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work, the top ranked program in the country. During the next twenty years Jan worked as a social worker doing counseling, accepted an offer to teach in the social work department at Andrews, where she had a stellar career as a much beloved teacher, and retired as the only teacher in the university’s history to win the prestigious campus Teacher of the Year award twice, as well as the Advisor of the Year award, plus other teaching and scholarship awards during her distinguished career. God blessed her in so many ways in His plan and purpose for her life, as she in turn was a lasting blessing to so many counseling clients, students and colleagues in those twenty years, and now continues to bless an ever-widening circle of friends in her retirement.

 

I was also being blessed at IUSB during this time, being tenured and promoted to Full Professor, making it possible for me to return to Andrews in 2008 as the first recipient of the J.N Andrews Endowed Chair in Marketing, created by the largest donation the university had received in its history at this exact moment in time. I was so blessed to be able to return to Andrews, where I asked for and was given a joint appointment with the School of Business and the Theological Seminary, so that I could pursue my desire to teach MDIV and DMIN students about marketing. God had worked a series of miracles for both Jan and me to make all this possible from the time we met in 1966 to the present.

Absolutely none of this was due to chance; it was God working out His perfect plan and purpose for our lives that made this faith building sequence of events possible, allowing us to honor His name and be a blessing to others through our work. Looking back, I can see how the promise of Romans 8:28 became a reality over and over again for both of us, including the past eleven years of me fighting this incurable disease. Were it not for that adversity I would not be writing this essay, which perhaps God can now use to impress upon some reader that He has a plan and purpose for her/him too. If so, no one would be happier than me to have been blessed by my sarcoma diagnosis in December of 2010. God’s goodness knows no bounds. I am a living miracle to witness to that truth.

 

“Let it be your first care to abide in Him in undivided fervent devotion of heart; when the heart and the life are right, rooted in Christ, knowledge will come in such measure as Christ’s own wisdom sees meet. Live, above all, day by day in the blessed truth

that, as He Himself, the living Christ Jesus, is your wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30), your first and last care must ever be this alone—to abide in Him. Abiding in Him, His wisdom will

come to you as the spontaneous out-flowing of a life rooted in Him. I am, I abide in Christ, who was made unto us wisdom from God; wisdom will be given me.

“. . . .

“And so, especially in any work you do for God, abide in Jesus as your wisdom. ‘We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’ (Ephesians 2:10); let all fear or doubt lest we should note know exactly what these works are, be put far away. In Christ we are created for them: he will show us what they are, and how to do them. Cultivate the habit of rejoicing in the assurance that the divine wisdom is guiding you, even where you do not yet see the way.

“All that you can wish to know is perfectly clear to him. As Man, as Mediator, He has access to the counsels of Deity, to the secrets of Providence, in your interest, and on your behalf. If you will but trust Him fully, and abide in Him entirely, you can be confident of having unerring guidance.”

 

Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ (Andrew Murray Books, no place or date, ordered from Amazon), pp. 32-34.

 

“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)

 

 

The following section is an essential, but sometimes difficult, topic to address if you are Living Today as Though You Might Die Tomorrow:” making plans for your funeral/memorial.

Notebook Section 4: Funeral Plans

Purchase of the cemetery plot, grave marker with inscription, and placement of the marker on the plot.

 

Funeral plans (These are copies of the arrangements you have made with the funeral home)

Funeral Notes (directions on specific aspects of the funeral itself)

 

Funeral program with participants (to be printed and handed out at funeral) Obituaries: Newspaper, Publications such as Alumni Magazines, etc.…

Life Sketch (written to be read during the funeral)

List of personal items you would like to be given to family members or friends

 

We know writing out these things now is a sobering experience and might be emotionally wrenching. We hope there will be many years between your making these plans and when they will be implemented (we got our cemetery plots and gravestones years ago). But, if you can bring yourself to do it, all this will be easier on them and you if this is done before the short time between your death and the funeral itself. If you find this exercise too unnerving, don’t worry, you are not alone. If you are able, just confine your wishes to those things you most want to be honored after you die.

 

 

Years ago, I had a very traumatic experience related to my job. I found a path to rid me of the resulting anxiety in the Psalms. I’m sharing this with you in the following essay.

How the Psalms Can Rid You of Anxiety

Bruce Wrenn

“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Psalm 94:19

 

We all, at different points in our lives, suffer from anxiety, depression or discouragement. The authors of the Psalms have experienced such problems, and more besides, and have written songs to God to tell of their anguish and God’s provisions for overcoming our troubles. The following is just a sampling of evidence from the Psalms of what God wants to do for you as you struggle with your own troubled times. All verses from NRSV.

1. Does God know how you feel?

38:9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you: my sighing is not hidden from you.

56:8 You have kept count of my tossings: put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record?

102:17 He will regard the prayers of the destitute, and will not despise their prayers.

10:17 O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear.

4:3 But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.

1. Ask God to intervene, he wants you to.

50:15 Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.

55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

55:16 But I call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

17:8 Guard me as the apple of the eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings.

1. What should you do now?
   1. Put yourself in God’s hands.

61:2-3 Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 31:5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, my faithful God.

1. 1. Have confidence in God.

118:8-9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put

confidence in princes.

121:3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

138:3,7 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch

out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.

139:5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

1. 1. Trust him to act.

39:7 And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.

4:8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

9:10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

33:20-21 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

1. 1. Don’t let depression overwhelm you.

42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and

my God.

 

1. What will God do for you?
   1. Console you.

94:18-19 When I thought, “My foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

1. 1. Counsel you.

32:8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

73:24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor.

1. 1. Protect you.

21:11 If they plan evil against you, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.

34:7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

3:3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

91:14-15 Those who love me, I will deliver: I will protect those who know my name, I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.

D. Sustain you.

34:10 The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

27:10 If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. 18:36 You gave me a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

1. 1. Rescue you.

34:19,22 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. 37:39-40 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

 

1. 1. Fight for you.

44:3,5-7 for not by their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down our assailants. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes,

and have put to confusion those who hate us.

1. 1. Restore You

Psalm 23:3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

1. 1. And most of all, love you with a steadfast unfailing love

13:5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

17:7 Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.

31:7 I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have taken heed of my adversities.

31:21 Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege.

36:7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

59:16 But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress.

94:18 When I thought, “My foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

1. Express Your Praise and Gratitude to God for All He Has Done for You

Read Psalms 145 and 146 to see how the Psalmists felt about what God has done to relieve their anxiety. Be grateful every day for God’s bountiful goodness to you.

 

Take it from these authors of the Psalms who are intimately familiar with what it is like to live with anxiety: God is eager to get you through these tough times, and has made every provision necessary for victory over your difficulty. If we are anxious about our future, we are thinking of a future without God there to help us, and God promises us in the Psalms, and throughout the Bible, that there will never be a time when that would happen: “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10). He “is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,” (Ephesians 3:20), and He will get you through this too. You too can put your trust in the one “who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24-25.

 

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 When the earth and all its people quake,

it is I who hold its pillars firm Psalm 75:3

 

 

Miscellaneous is addressed in the next section.

Notebook Section 5: Miscellaneous Information

SERIAL NUMBERS

 

This is a list of goods (electronics, cameras, major appliances, exercise equipment, etc.) that would be costly to replace if stolen, damaged in fire, flood, etc.. If these were registered by you with the manufacturer, either online or by sending in the warranty card, it will aid in filing an insurance claim. We keep this list in a file folder at home plus a paper copy along with a video inventory of all household goods on an SD card in the safety deposit box.

FINANCIAL/ LIFE INSURANCE:

Financial Actions to Do Immediately After Spouse’s Death:

• Meet with Trust Manager
• Meet with Financial Advisor
• Go to Social Security office
• Contact Pension Manager
• Go to Bank/Credit Union
• File Life Insurance Claims

Selling the House (Suggested Real Estate Agents, Appraisers, etc.)

List of Original Price of House and Cost of Major Home Improvements to Date Other Assets and Liabilities

Life Insurance Policies

 

Financial Account Balances Spreadsheets

USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS

 

 

Being great dog lovers, a topic of great concern to Jan and me was whether our pets will be with us in heaven. Many of you want to know if you will be reunited with your beloved pets in heaven. The following essay takes a serious look at this question.

Will Our Pets Be With Us in Heaven?

Bruce Wrenn October 2021

 

Our beloved Golden Retriever, Ella, died early in the morning of September 11. She died from the same cancer that took our other beloved Golden, Cooper, on March 9 this year. Those of you reading this who have mourned the loss of a pet can immediately relate to just how profoundly sad it is to come home to a house empty of the special love a pet provides. We have been blessed by having seven Goldens over the 43 years we have lived in our house, and every one of them was a gift from God. Because we see God’s hand in bringing each dog into our lives as a member of our family, we hold onto the hope that we will be reunited with them when Jesus comes back to take us to be with Him in Heaven. God does not give gifts of Love only to take them back.

From Jan and my conversations with other pet lovers, we see that we are not alone in this hope of spending eternity with those with whom we have had such a profound love relationship.

Christian pet lovers treasure such hope, but is that hope supported by Scripture? I have researched this question by conferring with theologians, studying what the Bible and Bible Commentaries has to say about this, and reading what other pet lovers have concluded from their study of Scripture. I don’t claim what you are about to read is a definitive study of the subject, but I have found my conclusions to be able to satisfy my soul and give me peace about this and wanted to share them with you in the hope that you too will find peace from its findings.

 

Methodology

I’m approaching this investigation from a somewhat unique approach for this question:

Will God bring our beloved pets we had on earth to be with us in our home in heaven?

 

A common approach used in scientific research is to establish, and then test, hypotheses related to the research question being investigated. I will follow this approach to our subject here. Typically, the research study is set up by positing a null hypothesis, and then testing it to see if the evidence supports or refutes the hypothesis. Here is ours:

H0: Our pets will not be in heaven with us.

 

Our alternative hypothesis, which will be accepted if the null hypothesis is refuted by the research findings is :

HA: Our pets will be with us in heaven.

 

This hypothesis has a set of secondary hypotheses that collectively will allow us to conclude whether the primary hypothesis is supported or refuted:

HO.1: God did not create animals to be objects of affection. HO.2: There will not be animals in heaven.

HO.3: If there are animals in heaven they will be created in Heaven, not having lived on this earth.

HO.4: Animals were not kept as pets during Biblical times, and hence, as a convention introduced in the post- Biblical period, they were never intended to occupy the place of affection as they do in contemporary homes.

 

Of course we will not collect empirical data and subject the data to statistical tests to determine whether these hypotheses are supported or not, but we will use them to guide our search for the answer to our research question: Will God bring our beloved pets we had on earth to be with us in our home in heaven? We will now explore each secondary hypothesis to determine if the findings tend to support or reject the hypothesis. A resource that will be used extensively, but not exclusively, in this investigation will be the eBook version of : Alcorn, Randy, Heaven, Carol Stream, IL, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2004, using this reference:

 

Randy Alcorn. “Heaven.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/heaven/id487918496

HO.1: God did not create animals to be objects of affection.

 

“Scripture says a great deal about animals, portraying them as Earth’s second most important inhabitants. God entrusted animals to us, and our relationships with animals are a significant part of our lives.”

“Like humans, animals were formed from the ground. “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air” (Genesis 2:19). When God breathed a spirit into Adam’s body, made from the earth, Adam became nephesh, a “living being” or “soul” (Genesis 2:7). Remarkably, the same Hebrew word, nephesh, is used for animals and for people. We are specifically told that not only people, but animals have “the breath of life” in them (Genesis 1:30; 2:7; 6:17; 7:15, 22). God hand-made animals, linking them both to the earth and humanity.” Am I suggesting animals have souls? Certainly they do not have human souls. Animals aren’t created in God’s image, and they aren’t equal to humans in any sense. Nonetheless, there’s a strong biblical case for animals having non-human souls. I didn’t take this seriously until I studied the usage of the Hebrew and Greek words nephesh and psyche, often translated “soul” when referring to humans. (Nephesh is translated psyche in the Septuagint.) The fact that these words are often used of animals is compelling evidence they have non-human souls. That’s what most Christians in the past believed. In their book Beyond Death, Gary Habermas and J. P. Moreland point out, “It wasn’t until the advent of seventeenth-century Enlightenment . . . that the existence of animal souls was even questioned in Western civilization. Throughout the history of the church, the

classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals, as well as humans, have souls.”(Gary R. Habermas and J. P. Moreland, Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1998))

Alcorn, p.421

It is worth noting that Adam’s first companions in Eden were the animals (All Bible verses are NIV unless otherwise indicated) :

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:20-25)

 

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:19-22)

Alcorn, in his book Heaven, makes these points:

“In the Genesis account of creation, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). God then brought animals and birds to the man. Only afterward did God create the woman as a more suitable helper.

God placed animals under the man’s benevolent care: “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28). This relationship is celebrated: “You made [mankind] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:6-8).

God created us to be stewards of animals. He holds us accountable for how we treat them. “The godly are concerned for the welfare of their animals” (Proverbs 12:10, NLT). We are caretakers for the animals, but they belong to God, not us: “For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills Every bird of the mountains and all the animals of the field belong to me” (Psalm 50:10-11, NLT).”

Alcorn, p.425

“God’s care for animals appears even in the Ten Commandments: “Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you” (Exodus 20:9-10, NLT). Animals also need rest. God carved into stone his care for them.”

 

Alcorn, p.424

How does God feel about the animals He created? As highlighted above in the Genesis account of creation, God saw that His creation of the animals was good. Passages in both the New and Old Testaments reveal God’s concern for and love of the animals He created:

 

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. (Matthew 10:29)

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”(Jonah 4:11)

"Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel." (Proverbs 12:10)

“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.”(Deuteronomy 25:4)

 

“And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” (Luke 14:5)

10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know every bird in the mountains,

and the insects in the fields are mine. (Psalm 50:10-11)

Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom;

He will gently lead the nursing ewes. (Isaiah 40:11)

 

32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.[ 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” (Numbers 22:32-33)

6 If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. (Deuteronomy 22:6)

 

These and other verses clearly indicate that God has deep affection for animals, and that He expects us to be faithful stewards of His creation He has entrusted to our care.

Some might point to the sacrificial system instituted by God for the Israelites as evidence of the low regard for animals by God. However, this demonstrates the exact opposite:

“Some people accuse God of disrespect for animals because of the sacrificial system. But it was only because animals, created with the breath of life, are so loved by God and mankind that they qualify for the highest representative role imaginable: symbolizing God’s messianic Redeemer. It was because of their value that their sacrifice revealed sin’s horror and the exorbitant cost of redemption.”

Alcorn, p.424

Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o’er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice!

Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I’ll tell thee, Little Lamb I’ll tell thee! He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb:

He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child:

I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name.

Little Lamb God bless thee.

Little Lamb God bless thee. William Blake

 

Jan with Cooper and Ella

Finding: H0.1 is rejected. God did create animals to be objects of affection, both for God and for us.

HO.2: There will not be animals in heaven.

HO.3: If there are animals in heaven they will be created in Heaven, not having lived on this earth.

 

There are numerous places in the Bible where animals are mentioned as being in Heaven. The theological question is when does this take place (i.e., during the Millennium or Earth Made New), and whether these animals are created then, or are brought from earth to be in Heaven.

“Isaiah 11:6-9 speaks of a coming glorious era on Earth when “the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion

will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

“Some interpreters contend that this passage speaks only of the Millennium, but as we’ve seen, Isaiah anticipates an eternal Kingdom of God on Earth. Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 specifically speak of the New Earth. Sandwiched between them is a reference very similar to that in Isaiah 11: “‘The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,’

says the Lord” (65:25).”

“When will there be no more harm on the earth? Not on the old Earth or even in the Millennium, which will end in rebellion and warfare, but on the New Earth, where there will be no more sin, death, or suffering (Revelation 21:4). These descriptions of animals peacefully inhabiting the earth may have application to a millennial kingdom on the old Earth, but their primary reference appears to be to God’s eternal Kingdom, where mankind and animals will enjoy a redeemed Earth.

 

Alcorn, p.420

 

“We needn’t speculate how God might populate a perfect Earth. He populated Eden with animals, under the rule of people. God doesn’t make mistakes. There’s every reason to believe he’ll restore this self-proclaimed “very good” arrangement on the New Earth. We should expect the New Earth to be a place where we’ll fulfill our calling to be faithful rulers and stewards of animals.

God directed Adam to name the animals (Genesis 2:19-20). The process of naming involved a personal relationship with the name-bearer. Note that Adam wasn’t instructed to name the plants, only his wife and the animals, indicating their special relationship.

Eden was perfect. But without animals Eden wouldn’t be Eden. The New Earth is the new Eden—Paradise regained, with the curse of the first Adam reversed, transformed into the blessing of the last Adam (Romans 5:14-15). Would God take away from us in Heaven what he gave, for delight and companionship and help, to Adam and Eve in Eden? Would he revoke his decision to put animals with people, under their care? Since he’ll fashion the New Earth with renewed people, wouldn’t we expect him also to include renewed animals?”

Alcorn, p.425-426

 

Romans 8:19-20 provides insight into whether the animals in Heaven will be those who have lived on this earth:

19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in

glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. (NLT)

The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead.

Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens. Romans 8:18-21 (The Message)

Albert Barnes’ commentary on these verses provides insight into what is meant by Paul’s use of the word “creation” in these verses:

 

Of the creature - τῆς κτίσεως [tēs ktiseōs]." Perhaps there is not a passage in the New Testament that has been deemed more difficult of interpretation than this Romans 8:19-23; and after all the labors bestowed on it by critics, still there is no explanation proposed which is perfectly satisfactory, or in which commentators concur… The opinion which is perhaps most generally adopted of this difficult passage, is what explains κτίσις [ktisis] of the whole irrational creation. According to this view, the apostle, having adverted to the glory that awaited the Christian, as a ground of joy and comfort under present sufferings, exalts our idea of it still higher by representing the external world as participating in, and waiting for it.

“This interpretation is suitable to the design of the apostle. Paul's object is not to confirm the certainty of a future state, but to produce a strong impression of its glorious character. Nothing could be better adapted to this object, than the grand and beautiful figure of the whole creation waiting and longing for the glorious revelation of the Son of God, and the consummation of his kingdom." Hodge. In the original it is the same word that is rendered alternately "creature" and "creation.

“And the meaning of the passage depends, in great measure, on the sense of this single word. Generally speaking, it signifies anything created. The particular kind of creation is determined by the context alone. Of course, whatever sense we may attach to it, must be continued throughout the whole passage, as we cannot suppose the apostle uses the same word in two different senses, in one place, without any intimation of the change. To what then does κτίσις [ktisis] refer? It is maintained by those who adopt the view noticed above, that it cannot refer to angels, either elect or fallen, since the former have never been subject to the bondage of corruption, and the latter are not waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God; that it cannot allude to wicked people, for neither do they anxiously look out for this manifestation; that it can no more refer to saints or renewed people, since these are expressly distinguished as a separate class in Romans

8:23; and that, therefore, it must be understood of the whole…human and irrational creation.

It is further argued, that every part of the context may be explained consistently with this view. The passage is supposed to present a very bold and beautiful instance of the figure called prosopopoeia, by which things inanimate are invested with life and feeling, a figure which is indeed very common in Scripture, and which we need not be surprised to find in this place, amid so much that is grand and elevating; Joel 1:10, Joel 1:20; Jeremiah 12:4; Isaiah 24:4, Isaiah 24:7. According to this interpretation of κτίσις [ktisis] then, the general sense of the apostle may be thus given. The whole irrational creation is interested in the future glory of the sons of God, and is anxiously waiting for it. For then the curse will be removed from the very ground, and the lower animals relieved from oppression and cruelty.

While no consensus exits among theologians about the interpretation of the use of the term “creation” (or “creature” in some Bible versions) to include animals and all inanimate objects, there are many who believe it refers to, as Barnes states in the passage above, the “lower animals” (i.e., below humans, as described in Genesis 1:20-25 and Genesis 2:19-22).

 

Alcorn has this to say about these verses in Romans:

 

“Christ proclaims from his throne on the New Earth: “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5, ESV). It’s not just people who will be renewed but also the earth and “all things” in it. Do “all things” include animals? Yes. Horses, cats, dogs, deer, dolphins, and squirrels—as well as the inanimate creation—will be beneficiaries of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Christ’s emphasis isn’t on making new things but on making old things new. It’s not about inventing the unfamiliar but about restoring and enhancing the familiar. Jesus seems to be saying, “I’ll take all I made the first time, including people and nature and animals and the earth itself, and bring it back as new, fresh, and indestructible.”

“Did Christ die for animals? Certainly not in the way he died for mankind. People are made in God’s image, animals aren’t. People sinned, animals didn’t. Because animals didn’t sin, they don’t need a redeemer in the same way.

But in another sense, Christ died for animals indirectly because his death for humanity purchased redemption for what was brought down by humanity’s sin, including animals. Romans 8 is explicit on this point: “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. . . . We ourselves . . . groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for . . . the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:21- 23).”

“This is a clear statement that our resurrection, the redemption of our bodies, will bring deliverance not only to us but also to the rest of creation, which has been groaning in its suffering. This seems to indicate that on the New Earth, after mankind’s resurrection, animals who once suffered on the old Earth will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

If God created a new race of humans on the New Earth—rather than raising the people who had lived on the old Earth—would it fulfill the promise in Romans 8 of redemption, deliverance, and resurrection? No. Why? To have meaning, the people who are redeemed and resurrected into the new world must be the same people who suffered in the old world. Otherwise, their longing for redemption would go unmet. As goes mankind, so go the animals. If we take to its logical conclusions the parallel Paul makes between humans’ and animals’ groaning, then at least some of those animals who suffered on the old Earth must be made whole on the New Earth.

 

“It’s not some abstract “animalkind” that cries out. The creatures that groan and cry out for their resurrection are specific suffering people and specific animals. They cry out for their deliverance, not another’s. I believe this suggests that God may remake certain animals that lived on the old Earth.

Many passages indicate that God will bring judgment on “men and animals” or “man and beast” because of mankind’s sin (Exodus 9:22-25; Jeremiah 7:20; 21:6; Ezekiel 14:12-13, 17). God’s blessings on the righteous include blessings not only on their children but also on the offspring of their animals (Deuteronomy 7:13-14; 28:1-4).

This fits the words anticipating Christ’s coming: “And all flesh will see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6, NASB). The Greek word translated “flesh” is sarx. Some Bible versions translate this as “all people” or “all mankind,” but the word is more inclusive. “All flesh” includes animals. They too will behold and benefit from Christ’s redemptive work.”

“Psalm 104 demonstrates God’s intimate involvement with the lives of his animals and his purposes for them. The psalm speaks of birds, cattle, wild donkeys, rock badgers, and lions, saying “the earth is full of your creatures” (v. 24). It speaks of “the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small” (v. 25). It says, “These all look to you” (v. 27). Then the psalm writer adds, “When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust” (v. 29). But then we’re told something amazing: “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth” (v. 30). The “they” seems to refer to the animals who’ve died and returned to the dust. What does God mean that he sends his Spirit and creates them? It appears that he’s talking about re-creating animals after they’ve died. Why? To “renew the face of the earth.” The same “they” who die are the “they” who are created or re- created as part of the earth’s renewal (Matthew 19:28).”

 

Alcorn, p.430-432

“We know animals will be on the New Earth, which is a redeemed and renewed old Earth, in which animals had a prominent role. People will be resurrected to inhabit this world. As we saw, Romans 8:21-23 assumes animals as part of a suffering creation eagerly awaiting deliverance through humanity’s resurrection. This seems to require that some animals who lived, suffered, and died on the old Earth must be made whole on the New Earth. Wouldn’t some of those likely be our pets?”

Something better remains after death for these poor creatures . . . that these, likewise, shall one day be delivered from this bondage of corruption, and shall then receive an ample amends for all their present sufferings. John Wesley

Alcorn, p.433-434

 

 

“Adam, Noah, and Jesus are the three heads of the three Earths. When Adam was created, God surrounded him with animals. When Noah was delivered from the Flood, God surrounded him with animals. When Jesus was born, God surrounded him with animals. When Jesus establishes the renewed Earth, with renewed men and women, don’t you think he’ll surround himself with renewed animals?”

Alcorn, p.429

The information above leads to this conclusion:

Finding: H0.2 and H0.3 are rejected. God will bring animals He created to populate this earth into Heaven along with His redeemed people.

  

Jan with Cooper Jan with Jason

 

HO.4: Animals were not kept as pets during Biblical times, and hence, as a convention introduced in the post-Biblical period, they were never intended to occupy the place of affection as they do in contemporary homes.

 

The history of dogs being in human domiciles goes back thousands of years has been reported in many archeological studies https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/

Scripture does not tell us much about the keeping of pets during Biblical times, however there are two places, one in the Old testament and one in the New, that suggest having animals in homes was not unusual.

In the New Testament we find this story of evidence of people keeping pets in their homes:

 

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. (Matthew 15:26-28)

This recount of Jesus’ interactions with the Syrian-Phoenician (Mark (7:26) or Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:22) leading up to the healing of her daughter indicates that dogs were kept in homes as domestic pets at the time these Gospel stories were written. A dog would have to have been allowed access to inside a house to be able to eat scraps of food under the master’s table.

The following well known account of pets being kept in homes is from the Old Testament:

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him.

Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” (2 Samuel 12:1-6)

Notably, David did not find Nathan’s story to be a preposterous depiction of someone having a beloved lamb as a household pet. In fact, David found this story so believable that he was enraged that someone would be so heartless to the man and his pet ewe. David thought justice demanded the pitiless man pay for the despicable deed with his life! Perhaps David himself had beloved pets and reacted empathically to the poor man’s plight.

What do we learn from this story? One, Jews in Biblical times must have kept pets in their homes, believing that God would condone and even bless this behavior. Two, we are told (Acts 13:22) that “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’” If this story gives us insight into the heart of God via David’s attitude and behavior, He must have great affection, even profound love, for the animals He created.

 

We have seen in the test of Hypothesis H0.1 that God does have a strong affection for the animals He created. This story about the pet lamb and David would suggest that affection is very deep, and God is pleased when we act on the love He places in our heart for our pets, and the love He places in the pet’s heart for us. Those who have experience loving and being loved in return by a pet know exactly how real and profound this reciprocal love relationship can be.

Lest some skeptics dismiss a pet’s love for us as merely instrumental, as a means of acquiring food or other sustenance, consider the true story of Greyfriars Bobby.

 

The best-known version of the story is that Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a nightwatchman. When John Gray died he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the kirkyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby then became known locally, spending the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave,

Bobby is said to have sat by the grave for 14 years. He died in 1872 and a necropsy by Prof Thomas Walley of the Edinburgh Veterinary College concluded he had died from cancer of the jaw.

He was buried just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from John Gray's grave. A year later, the English philanthropist Lady Burdett-Coutts was charmed by the story and had a drinking fountain topped with Bobby's statue (commissioned from the sculptor William Brodie) erected at the junction of George IV Bridge and Candlemaker Row (opposite the entrance to the churchyard) to commemorate him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby

Statue of Greyfriars Booby in Edinburgh Scotland

 

Kate’s spontaneous kiss just when the timer tripped the shutter

When our first Golden Retriever, Jason, was two years old we brought home another Golden, Ginger, to be a companion for him and us. When Ginger was 4 years old she had a diseased kidney that threatened her life. She had a kidney transplant at Michigan State University vet school (the first they had ever done for a client’s pet) and was given a drug to prevent her body from rejecting the new organ. She lived a happy life for six months before dying suddenly as her body finally rejected the new kidney. Jason would wake every morning, see she was gone, and begin a pitiful moan. We would put him in bed with us and try to comfort him through our own tears. There are many more stories of how animals exhibit deep love for their human and other animal companions, including giving up their own life to save their loved ones.

Smithsonian Magazine, reporting on research on brain waves of dogs and humans discovered this:

The relationship [between dogs and humans] has become so close that even our brains are in sync. Witness a study showing that dogs hijack the human brain’s maternal bonding system. When humans and dogs gaze lovingly into one another’s eyes, each of their brains secretes oxytocin, a hormone linked to maternal bonding and trust. Other mammal relationships, including those between mom and child, or between mates, feature oxytocin, bonding, but the human/dog example is the only case in which it has been observed at work between two different species.

The intimacy of this relationship means that, by studying dogs, we may also learn much about human cognition. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how- wolves-really-became-dogs-180970014/

Clearly, there is strong evidence that animals were kept as pets from Scripture, and that God, like David, had a heart for pets, leading to this conclusion for H0.4:

Finding: H0.4 is rejected: The Bible provides evidence that animals were kept in Jewish homes, and were loved in the same way that pets are loved in our homes.

 

Conclusion of tests for the Null Hypothesis based on findings falsifying secondary hypotheses H0.1, H0.2, H0.3 and H0.4:

 

The Null Hypothesis “H0: Our pets will not be in heaven with us” is rejected and the Alternative Hypothesis “HA: Our pets will be with us in heaven” is supported.

 

Discussion

Jerry Jeff Walker’s well known pop song of the 1960’s, Mr. Bojangles, about an itinerate street performer, included this verse:

 

He danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs Throughout the south

He spoke through tears of 15 years how his dog and him Traveled about

The dog up and died, he up and died

After 20 years he still grieves (Mr. Bojangles, Jerry Jeff Walker)

 

I, and some of you reading this, can personally relate to the veracity of this verse. This last week I dreamed about one of Golden Retrievers, Bailey. Bailey died 14 years ago.

  Bruce with Bailey

Randy Alcorn wrote this paragraph under the heading “Will Our Pets Be Restored on the New Earth?”:

“Humorist Will Rogers said, “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” This statement was, of course, based on sentiment, not theology.

However, it reflects something biblical: a God-given affection for animals. I’ve often thanked God for my golden retriever, who, when I was a boy, crawled into my sleeping bag as I lay in my backyard gazing up at the stars. Although I didn’t know God then, he touched my life through that dog. Nanci and I have experienced many hours of laughter and joy in animals.”

Alcorn, p.433

Pet lovers, like Jan and me, desperately want this question to be answered in the affirmative, but having been trained in a doctoral program at Northwestern University to seek truth through scientific research methodology, I am duty bound to retain a skeptical view of research findings until they stand up to careful scrutiny. As Thomas Huxley said: “Skepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin.”

 

I was privileged to serve on the editorial review board of several scholarly journals including the Journal of Business Research where the acceptance rate of submitted articles was around 5% because many submissions failed to provide adequate evidence of careful methodology and a convincing rationale for the study’s conclusions. Obviously, this investigation of our research question falls well short of the kind of rigorous hypothesis testing demanded from scholarly journals. Nevertheless, I have tried to provide something more than unsubstantiated anecdotal observations as evidence to arrive at the conclusion that it is rational and reasonable to conclude that our pets will be with us in Heaven.

What I have not included in the hypothesis testing is my own personal experience and understanding of scripture that causes me to have confidence that my hope is not in vain. As Paul said “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”(Romans 15:4)

Those readers familiar with some of my previous writings might remember in my essay “An Eyewitness to God’s Goodness” how I documented a number of experiences I have had in the past decade that spoke to my growing revelation of God’s love and goodness to his children. It was through seeing His goodness through adversity that my eyes were open to see God’s boundless love for us. In my concluding statement in this essay I described my experience this way:

What I want most of all for you to understand from this chronicling of my journey through this affliction is that we are loved by our creator more deeply than we will ever comprehend. I don’t think eternity will be sufficient time to completely reveal the full

extent of the Divine affection present in the Trinity for us. Although I did my best to describe how God’s goodness was able to keep the promise of Romans 8:28 coming true time after time, I fear my words failed to convey the full measure of how that immutable promise lifted my spirits and strengthened my faith.

In another essay, “How to be at Peace in the Midst of Adversity” I wrote about God’s love by quoting from Paul’s famous discourse on love in 1 Corinthians 13:

Paul, in the twelfth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians talks about spiritual gifts God gives to us and compares the human body to the church, the body of Christ. Then, in chapter 13, his famous discourse on love, he continues the theme of relating the Divine to humanity by talking about the nature of Divine love. Thus, our love for one another should be like God’s love for us: “patient, kind, protective, trustworthy, persevering and unfailing” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). These are not what Paul only wished love could be, they are what he knew love to be as God loved him. Tender, gentle, unbounded, timeless love. Being loved like this leads to gratitude, trust, and reciprocal love for the One who loves you.

 

I mention these personal insights here because I find that my understanding of the way God loves, as elementary as it is, increases my confidence in the findings of this question that our pets will be in Heaven.

Being renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16) means we are being infused by the Spirit with those spiritual characteristics (Galatians 5:22-23) that are preparing us for eternal life in heaven with Christ. This is what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 15 where he is talking about going to Heaven. Becoming like Christ is not of value in this life on earth only. It is preparing us for life with Him as we are resurrected and spend eternity with Him. So, when we respond to the Spirit’s prompting to love as Christ loved, which Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13, we are “practicing” for how we will love, with perfect love, when we get to Heaven.

God puts in our hearts a love for our pets that He has for animals, but more than this, they love us back with the kind of love that he puts in their hearts to respond to our love (see research in Smithsonian Magazine referenced here). That love, heavenly love experienced here on earth, has eternal consequences—an eternal “lifespan.” Love will reign supreme in Heaven, and I believe the God who is Love (1 John 4:8) will continue to bless the love relationships we have had on this earth into heaven among those whose citizenships are there, including our love relationships with the pets he brings into the compass of our lives.

But what makes Heaven heavenly is that Jesus is there, and that is enough. If those we love on this side of eternity do not make it to the other side, we trust God in His infinite mercy will keep the grief of their absence from our hearts and minds. His omnipotence makes all good things possible and His omniscience will ensure only that which is the ultimate expression of His Love will reign. I believe the evidence I have presented here supports the conclusion that our pets will be there with us, but I trust God to follow His perfect plan to make our Heavenly home far

better than anything our finite minds could ever conceive. In any case, I believe optimism is the most rational and hopeful position to take away from this investigation, and I am imagining what that reunion will be like. But it will be far, far more wonderful than my reverie.

  This homage to our beloved dogs hangs in our study by the door so we can look at it every day

 

“In her excellent book about Heaven, Joni Eareckson Tada says, “If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace

after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy—utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous. Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many

ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children.” Joni Eareckson Tada, Holiness in Hidden Places (Nashville: J. Countryman, 1999), 133.

Alcorn, p.434-5

 

 

And I can’t wait to meet in Heaven Christ’s pet dog(s) He loved when growing up in Nazareth!

I close with this poem written by the theologian John Piper:

“And as I knelt beside the brook To drink eternal life, I took

A glance across the golden grass, And saw my dog, old Blackie, fast

As she could come. She leaped the stream— Almost—and what a happy gleam

Was in her eye. I knelt to drink, And knew that I was on the brink Of endless joy. And everywhere

I turned I saw a wonder there.”

John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah, 1995), 381.

 

You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! Psalm 36:6-7

 

Addendum

I am adding this addendum to this paper in order to share with you how I have been processing the grief I am experiencing from the loss of Ella and Cooper. This present loss has also revived the grief from the loss of our other dogs. I don’t think it is healthy to try not to grieve, because grief is a natural emotion that needs to be acknowledged as a way of honoring the memory of the joy the deceased brought into our lives. However, after researching this topic, I have mitigated my grief by imagining what it will be like to live with all our dogs in heaven. Every dog will have lived with another dog during their life in our home, and will rejoice to see their brother or sister again, but when they realize that the Wrenn pack now has been enlarged to 7 dogs they will rejoice all the morel Visualizing this reunion and discovery provides solace to my grief. I don’t think of this as some kind of psychological defense mechanism. Rather, it is an exercise in imagining a soon coming reality grounded in the faith arising out of the careful investigation described in this paper. My guess is that you too know the grief of losing a loved one, and perhaps might gain some measure of consolation from thinking about what it will be like in heaven to be reunited with that beloved pet. I think of specific details such as sleeping arrangements for two people and 7 dogs, playtime, going on walks with no leashes, etc., to make the future reality presently real. I pray that you, like me, will believe the findings of this paper provide a convincing foundation for the “well-reasoned hope” that you will experience the unalloyed joy of spending eternity with those who you have loved, and been well loved by, on this side of eternity. And, by the way, after Ella’s death, we thought we were too old to get another dog, so we gave away all the dog food, toys, beds, etc., and settled into a dogless lifestyle. That lasted about two months before we decided we had to have another Golden Retriever (no surprise there for the dog lovers reading this). We got a rescue dog, Blue, and have a joyful home once again. So, the Wrenn heavenly pack now will have 8 dogs: 4 males, 4 females. Perfect!

 

Section 6 discusses end of life care wishes.

Notebook Section 6: End-of-Life Care Wishes

 

One of the most important conversations you will have with loved ones is to inform them of what matters most to you as your near the end of your life. Fortunately there are resources available that will help you address these decisions when the time comes. A good source for guidance on how and when to have these conversations is The Conversation Project https://theconversationproject.org “dedicated to helping people talk about their wishes for end- of-life care.” One of the resources that they provide is a “Starter Kit” that guides you through the process of making known your, or a loved one’s, end-of-life wishes. Here is what they say at the beginning of the questionnaire in the Starter Kit:

This Starter Kit doesn’t answer every question, but it will help you get your thoughts together, and then have the conversation with your loved ones.

You can use it whether you are getting ready to tell someone else what you want, or you want to help someone else get ready to share their wishes.

Take your time. This kit is not meant to be completed in one sitting. It’s meant to be completed as you need it, throughout many conversations.

We highly recommend downloading this Starter Kit onto your computer, having conversations with each household member reading this Living Today as Though You Might Die Tomorrow book, and complete the questionnaire in the Starter Kit. It should bring you peace of mind that your wishes will be followed when you might be highly compromised and unable to express them in the last stages of your life. It will also be a gift to your survivors who will not have to make choices that, in the absence of this conversation, might not be consistent with your desires. We suggest that once you record your answers to the questions in the kit (i.e., the conversations), you print the form, sign and date it, and include it in your own Where Who How 3-ring notebook. If you reconsider some of your answers, just make the change(s), print that page(s), sign and date and replace the pages in the WWH notebook. This document can accompany Living Wills and other legal end-of-life documents that ensure your wishes will be respected when the time comes.

 

 

The following final essay was originally written as a response to a friend’s questioning God’s compassion after suffering the death of her son. Since then, others have asked me for this essay. It includes material from some of the essays in this book but adds new insights in the final four pages.

Does God Care?

Bruce Wrenn August 2023

 

Dear Friend,

Although we don’t personally know each other, we share a good friend who loves you and is praying for you in your crises. Our mutual friend wants to share with you a search for an answer to the question of does God care for us as we go through periods of intense personal suffering. As inadequate as my response may be, I want to try to provide some perspective from my own experience, to address this most challenging of questions: Does God really care?

I will try to address this question by recounting my own contemplations when facing three critical points in my journey of faith: “Does God always answer my prayers?;” “Can God be trusted?;” and How to be at Peace in the Midst of Adversity [or grief]?” Each of these issues provides intense existential challenges to someone’s faith. Combined, they represent a possible milestone event in our spiritual life going forward.

 

Does God always answer our prayers?

 

In an essay I wrote in 2020 I asked the question: Does God always answer our prayers? I wondered about this, because of an experience I had when receiving treatment for my cancer at the University of Michigan. A procedure that I prayed would go well turned out anything but well. Did my prayer go unanswered by God?

What I might have previously seen as evidence of unanswered prayer was based on what I could see (and feel) taking place. Nowadays, I do not use visible evidence to determine if the prayer is being answered. Rather, I focus my mind on God’s unfailing love. Consider what other Bible writers with personal experience have to say about their encounters with God’s unfailing love in their lives:

“In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” Exodus 15:13

 

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalm 13:5

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, Psalm 33:18

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. Psalm 94:18

Biblegateway documents that the term “unfailing love” is used 39 times in the Bible to refer to God’s loving care for us. The people in the Bible verses above show an unshakable, confident belief that God hears their prayers and is answering those prayers by guiding us on the best path, no matter what the visible evidence suggests. The bottom line is that when it comes to spiritual matters, just because I can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there (e.g., see 2 Kings 6:16-17):

16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The author of Hebrews in Chapter 11, the Hall of Faith” members chapter, talks about faith as being “certain of what we do not see,”(verse 1), and goes on to say in verse 6 that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” So, what pleases God is for us to seek Him so earnestly that by faith we are certain that He is rewarding us for that faith, even if we do not see that reward (i.e., we are (or become) “certain of what we do not see”).

 

For Job, faith meant trusting in God’s goodness even when nothing good was happening in his life (remember, Job was simultaneously dealing with economic catastrophe, the death of all his children and workers, and a personal health crisis Job 1:12-22, 2:7-8). Though there was no tangible evidence that God was present in his life, Job was able to say: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” NKJV. Pretty remarkable reaction to his disastrous condition, especially when he thought God must have brought the disasters on him instead of Satan, not being aware of the conversation between God and Satan in heaven. Later, while debating with his “friends “ about the reasons for his troubles, Job makes and even more remarkable statement:

1. 25.For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
2. 26.And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
3. 27.Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Job:25-27

What is surprising about this statement is that when the book of Job was written, Israel did not have a well-developed doctrine of the resurrection (some scholars believe that Job was the first book of the Bible). The Life Application Bible made this comment on this proclamation from Job:

“Job said: “In my flesh I will see God.” In Job’s situation, it seemed unlikely to him that he would, in his flesh, see God. And that’s just the point of Job’s faith! He was confident

that God’s justice would triumph, even if it would take a miracle like resurrection to accomplish this.”

By faith, Job trusted that God would make all things new in the end, resurrecting Him and His children, recreating him with an immortal body, and restoring His creation imperishable. Job had this belief with no tangible evidence upon which to support such a miraculous future.

My essay “Does God always answer our prayers” ended this way:

 

When we trust God to deliver His unfailing love in all its manifestations to His beloved children, we don’t have to have our prayers answered the way we would wish in order to know He cares for us. I trust God more than myself when it comes to knowing what I need most, or even want most. In the fullness of time all will be clear, and our unfailing trust in His unfailing love will be forever validated. I am not the sharpest pencil in the box, but I have learned a few things in the past 10 years of my battle with an incurable cancer, and this is definitely one of them.

 

Addendum 4/21/22

 

A CT scan in 2020 revealed I had eight metastatic sarcoma tumors: four in my lungs, two in my liver, one in my pancreas and one in my spine. I can honestly report that when I received this news my faith in God’s unfailing love did not waver. He had been with me through the adversity of my health journey for ten years at that point and He was not going to abandon me at that stage:

“Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can [this disease] do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

And, as I write this addendum two years [in 2020] after these sequence of events described above, I am still the object of God’s unfailing love, a beloved child who believes my prayers are heard and answered by my heavenly father in ways I could not imagine or even know how to ask for, and still have confidence that just because I can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. Psalm 138:3,7

Now, this is not a full answer to the question of where is God and why does He seem to be silent in during my spiritual battle, but it does provide some insight as to how some people (Job and me in this case) process these questions, i.e., we believe God’s unfailing love is there even when don’t see evidence of it in the midst of our suffering and grief.

Can God be Trusted?

All this leads to another essay I wrote, which is Can God be Trusted? Satan would love to convince us that the answer to this question is: “Absolutely not, which is why you should trust your senses instead of God’s Word. Would a God of unfailing love leave you in your misery with no remedy? Do what Job’s wife said and curse God and die. God doesn’t deserve your trust.”

My search for an answer to the question lead me to a different conclusion.

The phrase “trust in God” or “trust in the Lord” appears many times in Scripture. David speaks about trusting in God several times in Psalm 22:

 

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.[b]

4In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

5 To you they cried out and were saved;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.”

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;

you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.

10 From birth I was cast on you;

from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near

and there is no one to help.

Psalm 22 is widely regarded as a prophetic Psalm, quoted by Christ on the cross. As such, David (and Christ) feels abandoned, and those around him think him abandoned, but he is seeking God in his prayer. He is still saying “My God.” David is speaking to God as one severely afflicted and abused by those who point out in their derision that his trust in God has been misplaced, because God would have no favor for someone so unworthy as he. In contrast, David’s ancestors put their trust in God and their trust was rewarded. Everyone witnessed their deliverance as their trust was validated. They trusted God “and were not put to shame.”

David feels so low in his troubles that he feels worthless—more worm than man. Those looking on see his suffering as a sign of God’s judgement: His trust in God will not be rewarded. He has been justly forsaken.

But David knows God better than they do, and the verses 9-11 reveal David’s trust in God is founded on an understanding of God’s character, beautifully described by David in Psalms 103 and 145. It was God who took the divine initiative to give David a trusting heart even as he was being weaned (“you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast”).

In verses 23-24 we see how David’s trust in God is manifested, even while he remains afflicted:

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

This is what a long and deep trust in God looks like: the experience of walking close to God your entire life builds a strong trust in his love, goodness and mercy, so that going through the crucible of suffering still results in praising God for His listening to your current cry for help.

Trust in God is justified, even when you might not understand His ways or His plan for our life or see the reward in the here and now. God can be trusted to fulfill his purpose and plan for our life, according to His infinite wisdom and lovingkindness.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return to it without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV

8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your loving-kindness, Lord, continues forever. Psalm 138:8 TLB

This brings us to the Oxford dictionary’s definition of trust:

the belief that somebody/something is good, sincere, honest, etc. and will not try to harm or trick you

 

to believe what somebody says even though you do not have any proof or evidence to show that it is true

Clearly, David’s version of trust in God fits both definitions.

Contrast David’s type of trust to that of the Israelites being led out of captivity in Egypt:

 

“And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” Exodus 14:31

The Israelites, in Exodus 14:31, put their trust in the Lord because they were eyewitnesses to His mighty hand at work in their lives. But here is what they said to Moses when Pharoah’s armies were closing in on them at the Red Sea:

“They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Exodus 14:11-12

This was after God had worked mighty miracles to deliver them from Egyptian slavery. Then He interposed again on their behalf, opening the Red Sea for them as a highway to safety while simultaneously swallowing the Egyptian army. Yet even then, their next crisis evoked the following response:

“But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Exodus 17:3

It appears the Israelites trusted in God only when the Oxford Dictionary’s first definition was immediately obvious, but not under the second definition. However, they had little time to get to know God when these events happened. Their faith had not matured at this point.

So, it is easy to trust God when you are experiencing His mercies in the present, but can you trust Him the same when there appears to be no evidence that your appeals to your trust in His goodness are bearing fruit? Perhaps only a mature faith can trust in the absence of evidence.

When we accept Jesus’ invitation for the Holy Spirit to abide in us and us in Jesus each day, we see and feel the Spirit at work in our lives. We are now loving when we know from our past that we weren’t loving under the same conditions; we are now kind when we were previously indifferent to someone in need; we are generous when we used to be selfish. God can be trusted to abide in us when we sincerely ask for His Spirit. We also trust Him to keep His promise when He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks:

 

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20

The transformative power of the Spirit abiding in us provides strong evidence that our lives bear witness that God can be trusted to keep His promises. But what about when as the Oxford dictionary says “you do not have any proof or evidence to show that it is true”? Do we have unshakable trust in Him when the evidence isn’t immediately present to prove our trust is founded? Does our heart rate and blood pressure increase when we get bad news, or is our default reaction to say “Lord, I trust your unfailing love will prevail, and you will fulfill your purpose for my life, no matter what the outcome of this news”? Do we always believe Romans 8:28 to be true in our life, even when we do not see how the ”good” can possibly emerge out of the “bad?” This is where faith, “the certainty of what we do not see” (Heb 11:1) comes in.

My essay, “Can God be Trusted” explored a number of ways this question can be answered: What exactly does it mean to “trust in the Lord”? I will limit my answers to those which seem most pertinent to this discussion.

We are trusting in the Lord when we:

 

• Trust that He remembers us

 

Isaiah 49:15-16

15 Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget,

I will not forget you!

16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

• Trust that His plan has always been that we will be in heaven with Him

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Isaiah 25:9

In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

 

• Trust in Him even when the news seems irreversibly bad

Psalm 112:7

They will have no fear of bad news;

their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Steadfast trust is what is needed under such circumstances, but how does someone’s heart become steadfast? I believe the answer to this question is related to my recent study of James 1:2-4. Here is an abbreviated version of that study:

“2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces

perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 NIV

How are we to understand this verse in light of our own experiences in suffering? Is it even possible to consider our suffering “pure joy”?

 

The problem I had was not knowing exactly how I could feel joyful about going through a trial, particularly a trial like dealing with an incurable disease such as Leiomyosarcoma. I now think I know what James meant.

The joy for me wasn’t going through the trial itself, it was seeing God at work in my life to bring Romans 8:28 true trial after trial, for me and for others. The consequence of this was to increase my faith and trust in God’s providence and cause me to see more reasons to express my gratitude to Him.

So, I knew what James meant about persevering through the trial in order to experience a maturation of my faith. The trial, or affliction, was the vehicle God used to get me to

this destination. A mature faith allows you to see the light of God’s Goodness through the darkness of your adversity.

God is there even in the worst heat of your crucible. As Betsie Ten Boom said in these last words to her sister Corrie in a Nazi prison camp:

"There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still."

My experience was seeing God’s providence under severe adversity, resulting in a steadfast trust in Him keeping his promises to always be there with me. This maturation of faith really does mean you have no fear of bad news because your trust in His presence is always confirmed.

• Trust in His Word when the evidence appears to argue for you to believe otherwise

Proverbs 3:5

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

Luke 5

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

• Trust that God is with us and can make us prosper under extreme adversity

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 43:2

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

Psalms 73:23-24

Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

• • Trust that God will be faithful in keeping His eternal covenant with us

It is not possible to do justice to describing God’s eternal covenant with humankind in this short essay exploring the question “Can God be Trusted?” Many entire books have been devoted to the topic of the covenants. However, I cannot end my exploration of what it means to trust God without giving some attention to why it is so important that we understand the covenant God instituted with us, and why trusting God to keep it is foundational to our existence and eternal future.

For a comprehensive and authoritative exploration of the Biblical covenants, I refer you to Skip MacCarty, In Granite or Ingrained? What the Old and New Covenants Reveal about the Gospel, the Law, and the Sabbath, (Andrews University Press Berrien Springs, MI], 2007, 327 pages).

Here is a short excerpt from the book that provides a glimpse into the heart of God who established the Eternal Covenant:

“Covenant has its origins in the relationship of love that has existed among God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from all eternity. Trinity love constitutes the “everlasting covenant” of which every divinely initiated covenant in human history is a unique adaptation to specific time and place….God’s covenants with humanity may be defined generally as His whole-souled commitment in love to their ultimate welfare and happiness, with expectations of their whole-souled commitment in love, loyalty, and obedience to Him in return. God’s sacrificial commitment during the reign of sin (from the fall of Adam to the second coming of Jesus) to restore humanity to an eternal hope may be termed “the covenant of redemption” or “the everlasting gospel.” The “covenant of redemption”/ “everlasting gospel”—God’s plan of salvation for the eternal salvation of human beings—is timeless and universal, having existed in the heart of God before time began, and having never changed since its implementation at the fall of Adam.” (p.9-10)

God can be trusted to keep His part of the everlasting covenant, because He has made it possible for us to keep our part:

Hebrews 13

20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

• Trust that He will give us a peace that defies understanding

Philippians 4:6-7

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

 

This last manifestation of trusting God to give you comfort and peace in the midst of searing emotional pain and loss, is one of, if not the, most challenging expressions of faith we can ever face. Which leads me the last of my essays, which deals with being at peace when suffering extreme trials, such as you are facing. Here are some thoughts from that essay:

How to be at peace in the middle of adversity

To me, one large component of peace is trusting in God’s tender loving mercy for us. The better I know God, the more I am aware of just how tender his love is for me; how he sees me as a fragile beloved child who needs special care to avoid being harmed when subjected to the vicissitudes of this life. Isaiah 28:23-29 provides an portrait of God’s loving tenderhearted way of treating his fragile children by using an analogy of a framer carefully harvesting fragile crops. My Life Application Bible says this about these verses:: “The farmer uses special tools to plant and harvest tender herbs so he will not destroy them. He takes into account how fragile they are. In the same way God takes all our individual circumstances and weaknesses into account. He deals with each of us sensitively.”

Some other Biblical references to God’s tender mercies include:

 

Jeremiah, in his book of Lamentations (3:21-23) over the destruction of Jerusalem in 586BC by the Babylonians, said this through his tears:

21 But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness. (NRSV)

Hosea (11:4), records these words of God speaking to His wayward people: I led them with cords of human kindness,

with ties of love.

To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek,

and I bent down to feed them. (NIV)

Paul, in the twelfth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians talks about spiritual gifts God gives to us and compares the human body to the church, the body of Christ. Then, in chapter 13, his famous discourse on love, he continues the theme of relating the Divine to humanity by talking about the nature of Divine love. Thus, our love for one another should be like God’s love for us: “patient, kind, protective, trustworthy, persevering and unfailing” (1 Corinthians 13:4- 8). These are not what Paul only wished love could be, they are what he knew love to be as God loved him. Tender, gentle, unbounded, timeless love. Being loved like this leads to gratitude, trust, and reciprocal love for the One who loves you. All this causes you to be able to be at peace because you are convinced of the soon coming reality when Love will rule over everything forever.

So, what does all this have to do with our ability to be at peace when overwhelmed by troubles? For me, feeling, internalizing and trusting in God’s tender merciful love for fragile me provides a sense of peace unlike anything worldly-based peace could ever do.

I believe this is what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 4:18 when he says “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” Paul “fixes his thoughts” (his “gaze”) on Jesus instead of the troubles that constantly beset him, and Paul thereby knows a peace that transcends the understanding (Philippians 4:7) of those who don’t acknowledge the love of Jesus, and who can see only the troubles that surround them.

For Paul, and for me, in our trials this is where peace infuses me, the foundation of which is the very real experience of being the object of love from a God who knows me better than I know myself (Psalm 139); who has known and loved me with an “everlasting love” and who has drawn me to him with “unfailing kindness”; who “holds me to his cheek” and “bends down to feed me;” whose “steadfast love for me never ceases” and whose “mercies never come to an end”; who “delights” in showering those mercies on me; who “knows my frame is frail” and that I “came from dust” and must be treated with the utmost tenderheartedness and spoken to with a “gentle quiet voice.” All of this “patient, kind, protective, trustworthy, persevering and unfailing” love keeps me at peace even when contending with overwhelming grief.

These verses remind us that we should never lose sight of the ultimate consequence of our choosing to walk with God holding us by our right hand throughout life—where He is, there we will be also (“afterward you will take me into glory” Psalm 73:24). Our trials on this earth keep us yearning for our heavenly home where there is no more pain, suffering, grief or tears, and no memories of the troubles that produced them. That assurance gives us a very real sense of peace while in the throughs of our worst emotional pains.

To better understand how it is possible to be at peace while grieving the loss of a loved one, consider the scene when Jesus returned to Bethany after waiting until Lazarus died (John 11:17- 44):

1. 17.On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
2. 18.Now Bethany was less than two miles[a] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

 

1. 21.“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
2. 22.But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
3. 23.Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

 

1. 24.Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25.Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 

1. 27.“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
2. 28.After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

 

1. 32.When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
2. 33.When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

1. 35.Jesus wept.

 

1. 36.Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
2. 37.But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

 

1. 38.Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

 

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

 

Here we see the difference between the peace that Jesus offers to us and the secular definition of peace. While Martha is greatly disturbed and grieving over Lazarus’ death, she trusts in Jesus as the Messiah to be the ultimate source of eternal life: 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

 

Her faith and trust in Jesus as the Redeemer provides the assurance that, while she does not understand why her brother had to die when Jesus could have restored his health, she can see the day when they will be reunited in heaven. That assurance that Jesus can be trusted to create that eternal reunion gives her the “peace of Jesus.” To Martha, grief becomes what Paul called “a momentary trouble” that is far outweighed by the eternal glory that we will know in heaven (2 Cor. 4:17). Trust in God provides that peace that transcends the understanding of non-believers who lack the hope of an eternity with God and those we have lost. In heaven we will never know suffering—only peace.

 

Also note that Jesus is also grieving the death of His friend Lazarus while assured of the inevitable resurrection and victory of God over death. That assurance gave Jesus the peace of God even while grieving the temporary loss of a good friend. Peace and grief are not mutually opposing states. God wants us to trust Him to keep us at peace in the midst of intense suffering in our earthy existence.

Isaiah describes the means by which we arrive at such a spiritual state of assurance: Isaiah 26:3-4

You will keep in perfect peace

[The person] whose mind is stayed on you,

because [that person] trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever,

for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

To me this is saying the outpouring of emotion in prayers for God to show Himself in our agony, and to answer our appeal for help in relieving our pain, can lead to trusting in Him to respond those prayers, giving us His peace even when we don’t see the evidence we wanted that He is there. Prayer, trust and peace are inextricably interwoven.

This is not to say that we are freed from our intense grief. As noted, Jesus himself grieved for Lazarus even when He knew what was about to happen. Grief is the human condition reflective of our fallen state. God never wanted us to experience grief. His plan for eternal life and joy was

upended when disobedience and sin entered the human experience through Adam and Eve’s freedom of choice.

But God also promised it would not always be the eternal fate of humankind to know grief, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4).

Honest prayers, like David’s in Psalm 22, are part of the maturation process of how our faith grows stronger and produces trust and peace that surpasses human understanding. Although hurting and confused by God’s perceived absence, like David, we trust that He hears and shares our pain of loss, answers our prayers for help in dealing with our grief, and will bring to pass His promises of an eternal reunion with the loved ones we grieved for on this earth. This kind of trust will be rewarded when Christ returns to make all things new. Such trust will not be disappointed by a God whose love is unfailing. God’s love for us will never diminish, never end, and from which we can never be separated.

 

I pray that you will be comforted in your suffering and find the God of unfailing love and peace is right there with you in the midst of your pain. He has been there with me for the duration and I know He will be there with you too. He can be trusted.

(May) the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

 

2 This is what the Lord says:

3 “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

9 I will lead you beside streams of water on a level path where you will not stumble, 12You will be like a well-watered garden, and you will sorrow no more.

13 I will turn your mourning into gladness;

I will give you comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

Jeremiah 31 Selected verses for those who are grieving

7[Most] blessed is the person who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. 8 That person is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such a tree is not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Its leaves stay green, and it never stops producing fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 Compellation

Some Final Thoughts

When we are suffering through an experience so terrible that we question whether God can be trusted to keep His Romans 8:28 promise to work all things together for the good, we are focused on how we feel rather than who God is. We are not the first to think this way. Consider Psalm 77, written by Asaph thousands of years ago:

Psalm 77

1. 1.I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

1. 2.When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted.
2. 3.I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
3. 4.You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.
4. 5.I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
5. 6.I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart meditated and my spirit asked: 7 “Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again?

1. 8.Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

1. 9.Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Realize that God made certain that Asaph’s questions in verses 8 and 9 would be included in the Bible. He wants us to know that we are not the first person to question whether God still cares for us. When we are so deep in our pain and despair, we are challenged to maintain our trust in God’s unfailing love for us when there is no tangible evidence that it is present (cf. Job’s plight when in everything in his life falls apart in an instant).

 

But look at what Asaph writes as he shifts his focus from himself and his misery, to God’s character and history of caring for us:

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12 I will consider all your works

and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

13 Your ways, God, are holy.

What god is as great as our God?

14 You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

God’s goodness and mercy to His people has sustained us throughout our lives, and can He be trusted to continue to do that now, no matter what the immediate evidence to the contrary. God’s unfailing love has not vanished. His promises for our welfare has not failed to be true. His character has not changed. We need but remember:

1. 22.The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
2. 23.they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
3. 24.“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
4. 25.The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
5. 26.It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:22-26 NRSV)

Our conclusion to the questions: Does God Care?, Can we still trust in His unfailing love to bring all things (even the terrible things that are occurring now) together for the good?; is that God does not change—He remains the God described by David (a close friend of God) in Psalm 145:

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

1. 1.I will exalt you, my God the King;

I will praise your name for ever and ever.

1. 2.Every day I will praise you

and extol your name for ever and ever.

1. 3.Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
2. 4.One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.
3. 5.They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
4. 6.They tell of the power of your awesome works—

and I will proclaim your great deeds.

1. 7.They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
2. 8.The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
3. 9.The Lord is good to all;

he has compassion on all he has made.

1. 10.All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you.
2. 11.They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
3. 12.so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
4. 13.Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

1. 14.The Lord upholds all who fall

and lifts up all who are bowed down.

1. 15.The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food at the proper time.

1. 16.You open your hand

and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

1. 17.The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
2. 18.The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
3. 19.He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
4. 20.The Lord watches over all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

1. 21.My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.

Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145 NIV)

Yes, God does care.

 

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT)

 

The last section is included to provide your survivors with an insight into your spiritual life by revealing Bible verses that have shaped your faith.

Notebook Section 7: Favorite Bible Verses and Statements of Faith

As Christians, we want to be sure our fellow believers know how our faith is holding up at the end of our lives. You know what we mean here. When one member of a couple you love is dying, you are constantly praying for God to strengthen their faith, and when you ask them how they are doing it is code for “how is your faith holding up?” To believers, this is more important than “did he have a life insurance policy?” Our version of the Where, Who, How notebook includes our favorite Bible verses as well as statements of faith that our survivors can read to know our spiritual state of mind that provided a window into “the reason for the hope that you have.” We pray you might gain some insight or inspiration for your own version of these statements by reading ours at the end of this notebook. Here is a sampling of what this section in our own Who, Where, How notebook looks like:

Examples of Favorite Bible Verses: Psalm 16:5-6

5

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.

6

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Psalm 62:5-8

5

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.

6

Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

7

My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

8

Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him,

for God is our refuge.

John 11:25

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

1 Corinthians 2:9

9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived”—

the things God has prepared for those who love him—

Philippians 1:6

6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 1:3-9

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

2 Timothy 4:18

18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Jeremiah 31:2-3,9,12,13,17 (comfort in sorrow) 2 This is what the Lord says:

3“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

9I will lead you beside streams of water

on a level path where you will not stumble,

12You will be like a well-watered garden, and you will sorrow no more.

13I will turn your mourning into gladness;

I will give you comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

17So there is hope for your future,” declares the Lord.

Micah 7: 8

8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy [LMS]! Though I have fallen, I will rise.

Though I sit in darkness, The Lord will be my light.

 

 

Example of Statement of Faith:

Bruce wrote this when he was taken off the clinical trial drug because it was no longer slowing the progression of his cancer:

This I Know…

God knows me and loves me despite my many faults, failings and sins.

Nothing can ever separate me from His love, which will never end and never diminish. No success by me in worldly matters will cause Him to love me more, and no worldly failure will cause Him to love me less.

His plan for my life, born out of His love for me, is for my good, not for my harm, and extends throughout eternity. It is perfect in every way. I cannot improve on it, nor do I wish it to be different than what it is.

 

My goal with the time I have left on earth is to want God to finish the good work He has begun in me, to fulfill His purpose for my life, and for me to glorify His name in all I think, say and do.

I will put my trust in Him. Bruce Wrenn 3/28/2019

Acknowledgements

 

It is customary to use this section to recognize those people who have directly contributed to the creation of the work, as well as acknowledge the people who have been instrumental in inspiring the authors in their labors. We confess we are going to come up short in this endeavor, despite our good intentions, due to the multitude of friends, colleagues and acquaintances who have supported us in our journey that led to the writing of this book. We will, however, endeavor to acknowledge those who were most involved in the generation of the book.

Bruce is especially eager to recognize Skip MacCarty’s contribution to the book. Skip is a longtime treasured friend, confidant, and spiritual advisor to Bruce, and without his editing of numerous drafts, advice, and persistent urging to “complete the good work” of writing this book (Skip is a prolific author in his own right), this book would never have been completed. Thank you, Skip, for being the kind of friend who “sticks closer than a brother.”

Bruce and Jan also want to express our gratitude to the members of the SPA (Study, Pray, Apply) Sabbath School class whose constant prayers, support, love and generosity of spirit have sustained us through many dark days.

 

In addition to our friends and SPA Sabbath School class members, Jan appreciates the caring support of her family and her Prayer Group members.

About the Authors

 

Bruce Wrenn, MBA, Ph.D., Northwestern University, is the J. N. Andrews Emeritus Professor of Marketing at Andrews University’s School of Business, with a joint appointment to the Theological Seminary. Prior to joining the Andrews faculty, he was Professor of Marketing at Indiana University South Bend where he taught for nineteen years. Among the more than 100 scholarly and professional publications and presentations by Wrenn are seventeen books, including works published by Abingdon, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, Andrews University Press and Harvard Business School Publishing. Versions of his books have been published in the United Kingdom, China, India, Brazil, as well as the United States. One of his co-authored books was selected by the editors of Choice, the journal of college librarians, as an “Outstanding Academic Book of the Year” one of only 14 books in the fields of economics, business, management and labor receiving this recognition. Another book, Marketing for Congregations, was designated “One of the Books of the Year,” by Preaching magazine. He received eighteen awards for his teaching, scholarship and service and was listed in Who’s Who in Finance and Business, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in Business Education and Who’s Who in America. He has been interviewed on National Public Radio, WNDU-TV (NBC), LifeTalk Radio, the Hope Channel, Church Executive, by numerous other newspapers and magazines. He was co-founder and editor of the Scriptural Foundations for Business series published by Andrews University Press. His primary research and service interests were in assisting churches adopting marketing practices to achieve their goals. Wrenn served on the Boards of several non-profit organizations, held a variety of leadership positions at his church and was a volunteer for United Way, Caring Circle, Berrien County Cancer Services, and Feeding America’s Food Pantry.

 

Jan Wrenn, MSW, University of Michigan, is an Emerita Professor of Social Work at Andrews University, where she taught for more than 20 years. In addition to her scholarly publications in the field of social work, she has won several teaching, scholarship, and service awards, including being a two-time winner of the Augsberger Award as best teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Advisor of the Year Award as the best student advisor at the university. Her course “Death and Grief in Contemporary Society” was one of the most popular courses in social work, and attracted students from the Theological Seminary, Behavioral Sciences, and Physical Therapy graduate programs. Jan served as a community health counselor at Madison Center in South Bend before starting her career as a college teacher. She continues to do pro bono grief counseling and marriage counseling for community members, and has co-facilitated a grief GROW group at Pioneer Memorial Church where she has served in various leadership positions in women’s ministries.