PEOPLE WITH A VISION!

Seattle, WA February 19, 2011, 40 degrees, sunny with wind.

God's word declares that without a vision, a people waste away. A vision of who we are, who God calls us to be and a vision for what we have to be and do to manifest of Kingdom of God in our midst. Jesus spoke constantly of the Kingdom. He said it is now, it is within you, it must be revealed in your life, both individually and corporately. God has already prepared inspirational and magnificent things for his people to do in this world. The tragedy is that so many congregations and individuals live with the attitude: "But we couldn't possibly do that!" Precisely; God doesn't call us to do what we can already do on our own, God calls us to risk stepping out of the boat of our own capabilities and securities and walk on water, literally. What we do for the glory of God and the love of others can only be accomplished by the supernatural presence and intervention of a living God. What I find so heartbreaking is that there are a fair number of clergy and churches who simply do not believe in a supernatural God. They are devotees of a religion or institutional church in which they can just give lip service to the miraculous or supernatural, but it is just going through the motions when it comes to radical obedience and following Jesus sacrificially. The needs of our world scream out for God's people to be God's people. We are commanded, not recommended, to love the stranger in our midst, to share not only our abundance, but our own security with others in need. The joy of the Lord is in seeing lives transformed by God's Spirit taking control of our Spirit and making us a new creation in Christ. Only then can we deny ourselves, take up the cross Jesus has personally made for us and follow Christ.

I am learning this lesson so profoundly through my stem cell transplant. As you know, I was unable to use my own stem cells for a transplant because of the discovery of Myelo-Dysplastic-Syndrome in 75% of my stem cell chromosomes. Therefore we had to go back to Walla Walla in October and receive more chemo until they could find a suitable donor among my siblings and/or children. My eldest daughter, Rev. Hanna Peterson was chosen as the best half-match available and we went through all the harvesting and staging for my transplant JAN 11, 2011. Within days I was in UofW Medical Center for over two weeks fighting the onset of Graft vs Host Disease. It appeared that Hanna's stem cells were so healthy and aggressive that they were going right to work, just doing the wrong kind of work. It has taken over a month to get the Graft vs Host problem under successful control, but 30 lbs lighter, I am starting to get back to a normal diet. As of the day 28 post transplant blood evaluation, 100% of my white blood cells originate from Hanna's stem cells. We are approaching 100% of my T-Cells now originating from Hanna. My medical team assures me that the Myelo-Dysplastic-Syndrome is completely removed from my bone marrow because all of those stem cells have been eliminated by Hanna's stem cells. Step two is in the creation of a complete new immune system from Hanna which will take a year post transplant minimum, and probably two years in reality. However, the latest information I received from the Medical Team this week is that I will be taking my Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma home with me to continue the battle. I am approaching 6 full years of living with this diabolical disease. At one point I had 8-9 active tumor sites from my groin to my neck. I have been up and down the ladder of NHL treatments including natural remedies and consultations with various medical providers including the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. What is different this time is the spiritual parallel with which I began this blog.

God has given me a vision and a hope. The hope is that there is a way to finally conquer my cancer, once and for all. My immune system simply had lost the battle and even with all the chemo and radiation, I was going to die. My Dr. in Walla Walla simply said that there was nothing more he could do for me except keep me as comfortable and pain free as long as possible. I appreciated his honesty, sincerity and years of devoted care. I needed and still need a supernatural miracle in my life. Hanna's stem cells have one more major job ahead of them. They are young, strong, vigorous and, I believe, anointed of God to do in my battle with cancer what I had failed to do on my own. God has given me a vision of Hanna's T-Cell army systematically moving about in my entire body and destroying each and every cancer cell still present. I felt some tumor site pain this week in my neck and I could only say: "atta girl, Hanna, give em heaven!" My body is a living spiritual laboratory. Is God still God? Do we follow a risen Savior that intervenes in our lives and world to the praise of his name? I believe with all my heart that these truths will never become irrelevant to our daily lives. The final part of the vision God gave to me this week is the number 40. It is such a meaningful number in scripture, symbolizing a season of time for God to accomplish something wonderful and powerful. I don't presume to know exactly what 40 stands for in my life today. Does it mean my brother Tom has 40 minutes left to live in Intensive Care at Harborview? Does it mean I have 40 days to accomplish all that God has sent us here to Seattle to do in His service? Does it mean I have 40 weeks to make a lasting and durable recovery, making the best choices possible for me and the church? Does it mean that I have 40 months of quality life ahead of me to make a difference in this world for the glory of God? Could it possibly mean that God has a plan and a purpose for my life for 40 more years serving faithfully in that portion of His Vineyard in which we have been designated. The key is to be alert, prepared and willing to accept any of those options as from the Hand of God and live each day passionately, joyously, and with no regrets. Robin