What kind of craziness is it when a person who is dying of cancer eagerly looks forward to her passing, not out of morbidity, depression or a desire to be free from pain, but out of excitement to see her reward and to finally meet her Savior? That was the disposition of my friend, Rhonda, who passed beyond hope into the reality of eternity in Heaven this past month! Rhonda was my friend, only a few years older than I, and we walked through the valley of the shadow of death together. I was with Rhonda in the beginning of her fight with cancer, and, like anyone would, she had many fears. She feared the chemo treatments would take away her ability to feel the keys of the piano and thus rob her of the joy of making beautiful music. She feared she would have to leave her beloved John and Courtney without being able to see her daughter married or have children, or grow old with John. She feared both treatment and non-treatment, and she feared pain. I was there with her. I would have felt and feared all of the same things. Rhonda fought the good fight with cancer for over four years! She was brave and would readily admit that her courage came from her hope in Jesus Christ! Cancer is an ugly disease spawned from the gates of Hell itself, and only our enemy the devil could devise such a torturous end for us. But not even death could rob Rhonda of her hope, because her ultimate hope was not in this life but in the one to come. She held on to an eternal hope that we share in a life with Christ, in a land where there are no tears and no suffering.
Because of challenging events in my family, I was involved in my own struggle during the months leading to Rhonda's death on March 8, 2011 at 10 AM, and I was not with her much in the end. She didn't really need me then, because her family and friends who loved her longer than I were by her side. My role in Rhonda's struggle was to encourage her to fight the cancer and to have hope in her ability to beat it during the beginning and middle stages of her disease. But what I admire about Rhonda's life was her ability to accept her death. She had fears, but she did not give into them. She had pain, but she fought to the end to serve her family. She had hope that was not dimmed by the pain she suffered or the decline in her physical body. Rhonda's hope was not in this world, and she calls us all to a better place. Her friend Nancy was with Rhonda at the end, and she told me that not only was Rhonda not afraid to die, she was excited to be meeting her Savior face to face! That is the hope that sustains us, whatever may come! Thank You, God, for hope!
Thank you for your beautiful words. I know someone who also lost her battle with cancer recently and her demeanor was tha same. How precious is that hope!
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