EBENEZER

Three years ago today my wife Cissy and I were packing to prepare for a trip the following day to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. We had already made about a half dozen trips there to consult about a tumor in her head.

The most recent MRI showed that the tumor was growing and needed to be removed. The delicate operation would be performed in a critical area almost in the center of her head.

We flew to Houston, checked into the adjoining hotel, and the following day Cissy had all the preliminary tests done. Cissy’s daughter Betsy and son Walker also arrived, as well as our dear friend and pastor, Dr. Jimmy Allen.

The next morning at 5 a.m. we all met in our hotel room for a prayer time. We proceeded to the surgery reception area. It was uncanny (supernatural might be a better word) how peaceful Cissy was with all that about to happen. Her biggest concern and sorrow was that half of her head was going to be shaved, and her long red-hair bangs over her forehead would be gone.

Suzi Land, my son’s mother-in-law who lives in Texas with her husband Dudley, joined us in the waiting room with some delicious home-made pound cake. After some hours the neurosurgeon met with us and explained the results. He accomplished his objective of removing as much of the tumor as possible.

Several hours later we were able to see Cissy in her ICU room. The next several days were rough for her, but after a couple of days she was transferred to a regular hospital room. Betsy and Walker returned home to Georgia. However, the intense pain for Cissy continued unabated. The surgeon decided that another surgery was necessary the next day to alleviate the pressure in Cissy’s head.

I felt pretty drained emotionally and physically at that time. In Cissy’s words I had a “meltdown.” I phoned several people, asking them to share the news with others and pray for us. Walker and Betsy got a flight back out to Houston to be with their mother.

As I was walking out of the pre-op area for the second time in less than a week, I looked down the hall and realized my son Seth was walking towards me. Unbeknownst to me, he too had flown out to be his dad. He realized that I needed all the support I could get. We had another precious prayer time like others in the past that I have cherished.

The second surgery was successful and within a couple of days Cissy felt much better. Two weeks after the initial surgery we were able to return home. When the lab results came back it was determined that she had a very rare type of malignant tumor.

A trip back to Houston a few months later for a radiation treatment seems to have finished off the tumor. After subsequent trips with good news each trip, we are on an annual appointment basis now.

An experience like ours is an “Ebenezer” marker moment. Do you know the meaning of the phrase? It is included in the hymn, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing." In stanza two are the words, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come."

The term Ebenezer literally means “stone of help.” It is based on an incident recorded in 1 Samuel, chapter seven:

“The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us.’"

Cissy and I give thanks for God’s gracious help through medical personnel and friends. Life seems much more precious to us as a result of this experience. It will always be a great Ebenezer marker in our lives.

Basketball is one of the loves of my life. This Sunday the Final Four will be complete for the 2008 NCAA basketball championship. Truly one of the greatest NCAA runs was made by the “cardiac kids” of NC State to the national championship title in 1983. I remember being hunched over a shortwave radio in Brazil to listen to the game.

Their coach Jim Valvano was a bundle of energy and passion. Below is a speech he made at the 1993 ESPY awards seven weeks before he died from cancer. His words are encouraging about what is really precious and important and meaningful in life.