Prayers for:
Hope
Ideas Inspiration
New relationships
Strengthened friendships
God’s closeness
Joy
Challenge
Faithfulness
And so much more…

As I look back on all that’s happened this summer, running has been such a crucial part of keeping us going. For me, it’s been a great release of energy, something to focus on that is fun and a challenge. Stacy has been supportive of me getting out and training, encouraging me to go on days I don’t feel up to it and providing me with the motivation to push towards my goal: my first marathon.

I had planned to blog a bit more about this over the course of the summer, but as many of you know, I’m training right now for my first marathon. I’m about 6 weeks away from the race, the Leavenworth Marathon, in the first week of October. One of the things that I’d hoped to share more about was my care for the mission of Blood:Water Mission and how I’m combining my pursuit of this personal marathon goal with an opportunity to help provide water for those who need it way more than me.

Last Fall, at a conference with our interns, I heard Jena from Blood:Water Mission speak about their work digging wells in Africa and their mission to help develop communities and support work to deal with issues of disease and AIDS. I’d been aware of the organization before, through the work of one of my favorite bands, Jars of Clay, but Jena’s sharing really excited me about how crucial there work is. If you haven’t heard of Blood:Water or their work before, please check out their website. They do incredible things to bring life and love where it’s really needed.

As I began my training, I started thinking about trying to find a way to make this whole endeavour more than just something about me. It’s pretty easy to get very internally focused as you spend hours out on the road alone. I wanted to find a way to maybe tie in some of this amazing mission work that Blood:Water does with my pursuit of a marathon. So, I did some research. And, I found a way!

Active:Water is a smaller organization that partners with the projects of Blood:Water Mission to connect athletes like myself into the mission of providing clean water to those in need. Active:Water currently is working on projects to develop wells in Zambia, where coincidentally, a couple of friends from Bellingham have just settled for long term mission work. I’ve emailed a bit with the Active:Water director and leadership team and they’re great people who see the mission of providing clean water working so well with athletes, simply because we all need it. Who knows it better than someone who’s running mile after mile in the summer heat?

If you have a minute, check out these groups. You can view my Active:Water page here. You can read more about the mission of Blood:Water here.

Finally, I am trying to help raise some money through my training efforts. I haven’t been able to spend much time working on this pitch, but my goal at the beginning was to raise $1000 for Active:Water over the course of my training. I plan to run the race in October on their behalf, as well as to support the cancer research being funded through the Leavenworth Marathon, and of course, for Stacy, who provides me with all the motivation I need by being so strong through her cancer this summer. If you would like to contribute, you’re welcome and it’d be awesome!

I’d love to hear what ya’ll think of this mission/goal. Am I too ambitious? Do you see the connection between this physical undertaking and the mission at hand?

Running the race. Thank you for being a part of my cloud of witnesses.
Hebrews 12.

Seth

We are moving back into the Fall, a very busy time of year for us. I’m very hopeful for the upcoming year at the INN. I’m hopeful that I will once again get to be a part of the work God does in the lives of students. I’m hopeful for opportunities to creatively explore some of the ways I’ve been taught and experienced His presence this summer, sharing some of my new found perspectives on the things of faith. As with every year, I hope to share some of those exciting moments with even here, via this blog. We start back very soon, so look for more to come.

As some of you have noticed, I’ve been doing a little bit of running this summer as well. While it hasn’t been as consistent as I would have liked, I’m working on getting back on the training horse and pushing onward, hoping to run my first marathon in early October. Running has been a wonderful and difficult place for me to let go of some of the struggles that have hit Stacy and me this summer. I hope to share a bit more about this journey over the next couple of months as well, as I complete my training and hopefully, a race!

We have continued to feel the support of family and friends these last few weeks. Through good news. And through hard news. So much has happened this summer, it’s hard to know how to best tell everyone the story. Hopefully, with time, the words will come out more easily and the narrative will begin to make a bit more sense. For now, we continue to ask for your prayers and encouragement. The road ahead is long, filled with much good, many challenges, and all sorts of things to be hopeful for. Love reaches to the middle of it, to the heart of our lives, and we trust in that.

May Love guide you and reach you and impact you today, in the midst of whatever joy, tragedy, or everyday moment you’re in.

1. BIG Update: Yesterday (Tuesday) we met with Stacy’s oncologist in Bellingham to review genetic test results regarding her tumor’s recurrence rate. We had waited two weeks to hear these results, so we were very, very anxious. They came back very low, which is awesome.

Basically, the test was done to look at how likely the cancer is to recur, based on genetic factors, compared with other cancer examples, etc. (the test is called ONCODX). These results were important because Stacy’s stage of cancer was early, but borderline, enough to consider some of the harsher treatment options (ie: chemotherapy) to eliminate as much possibility of it coming back elsewhere in her body. With good results, though, like she received, the doctor is able to say that chemo would likely do more harm than good overall and therefore recommend other treatment options (less harsh, yet still very effective, hormone treatment).

We were nervous and anxious to find out these results, for lots of reasons. I know many of you have been praying for good prognosis, as we have been. This IS that good prognosis. This IS what we were hoping for (the best case in all this worst case scenario mess we’re in). We left the appointment somewhat stunned, having prepared for the worst. I think it’s safe to say we (and our families) are still in awe of this wonderful, seemingly miraculous news.

Stacy is likely to begin the hormone treatment within the next month. She’s begun her reconstructive appointments, so they will hopefully be able to coordinate finishing that work up with this next phase. The hormone pills won’t be easy or pleasant, but their lasting effects are much more hopeful (fertility, overall health), so we’re “happy”.

2. I’ve had this other blog post on my mind for a while titled: “I’m really bad at thank you notes”.

The last month, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity and care we’ve received from the wonderful people in our lives. We’ve recieved meals, kind phone calls, cards, and random bits of encouragement from every direction. It’s been wonderful and I deeply believe it’s been one of the things that has kept Stacy strong and healing well.

I’m bad at thank you cards, so let me just say, in probably the most insufficient of ways, THANK YOU. Thanks to everyone who is out there reading this, praying for Stacy. Thank you for your concern and care. Thank you for your faithfulness and strength, filling in for places where we’ve been weak. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

3. Finally, I have to mention how overcome I am at the power of prayer and faith. God has been so present throughout the ups and downs of this whole ordeal. We cannot help but see the hand of God guiding this process.

Places throughout the Gospels, Jesus heals those who reach out in faith. And repeatedly, he remarks that it is faith (in things unseen, in things that are seemingly impossible) that we need. That’s all. He tells the parents of a young girl, who has just died while Jesus was delayed on his way to heal her, “do not fear, just believe.” Don’t fear? In the midst of tragedy? Yeah right! But that’s where we’ve found ourselves, challenged with the open door of fear, but offered this other way: belief. In ways I’ve not known before, this stuff of faith has become more and more real than ever. The teeth, the bite, the action, and the strength are there. God is here. Without, we have nothing.

So, here we are. The anxiousness is beginning to dissolve. Stacy is getting stronger and stronger every day and more back to her normal self. Her strength and will have continued to amaze me. And so, we continue on. We ask for your prayers, as she begins the treatment, finishes her healing process, and begins to get ready for another year teaching 4th grade. This isn’t over. But we are thankful and will continue to be hopeful.

PS: Just so everyone knows, Stacy is most likely on her way to a 4.0 in her 4 (that’s right four, 4, quatro) graduate level summer classes at Western that she’s ALSO been taking this quarter. Yeah. Incredible.

PPS: Oh yeah, and we’re really excited to celebrate our 5 year anniversary tomorrow.

We have a small update to share and a request for prayers over the next few weeks.

Yesterday, Stacy and I went back down to Swedish Medical Center in Seattle for an appointment with a medical oncologist. We met with this doctor the week after she first received her diagnosis and this appointment was to follow up the extensive tests and surgery results she has from the last few weeks. The appointment yesterday went very well. He basically told Stacy that all of her reports look really, really good (as we’ve heard from doctors up here in Bellingham). We were worried that he would recommend some pretty harsh treatment immediately, simply because of her age and to hopefully deal with the cancer definitively right now. Instead, he has asked that she get one additional test run on the tumor to predict the cancer’s recurrence rate and potential benefits of chemotherapy. Sounds like a pretty simple test and it’s one of the best ways of predicting recurrence and planning treatment options. Also, the doctor told Stacy she’s an excellent candidate for the test because of her age, the results up to this point, and her family history.

So, here’s where we are: We need to get this test started (takes about 2-3 weeks). And we need to pray that it comes back with a low possibility for recurrence. If it does, she’ll likely not have to do chemotherapy now and have a MUCH better overall survival rate in the long-run. Instead, she’d likely take hormone pills (no cakewalk, but not chemo and not as damaging, from what we’ve heard). This would be wonderful. This would be an answer to our prayers and hopes and so we ask that you all join us (as we know you have been and will be) in hoping for the same.

God is faithful. Amazing how seemingly small news can bring light and hope to the situation. It’s awesome.

The week at home has been nice, if not challenging at times. The first few days home from the hospital were spent managing the pain and finding the right schedule for sleeping, getting a little nourishment in, and managing the overall stress and recovery following the bilateral mastectomy. I was helped by a couple of divine women, our mothers Jo Anna and Sandra, to get through the first 4 nights. They each stayed for 2 days a piece, helping me with keeping the house clean, getting Stacy medications or food, and just generally helping us feel ok in the midst of it all. I don’t know where we would be without them, or the many other people who’ve stopped by to offer a little support, a smile, and a little help when we’ve needed it.

The past few days, Stacy has felt up to moving around quite a bit more, watching lots of “How I Met Your Mother” on TV, eating Haggen Daas’ Dulce de Leche, and relaxing. She had an appointment today with one of the surgeons and he remarked on how well she’s been healing up and how great it was to see her smiling face. She’s been smiling a lot more the last few days and has felt a lot more like herself. She’s healing very well and will hopefully be able to ditch the bandages altogether this weekend. Yay!

With joy and healing, there still are concerns and prayers to be had. Tomorrow and Friday, we meet with a couple of different doctors to begin discussing the follow up treatment and the results of the pathology done on the tissue removed during last week’s procedure. While all reports have come back very, very positive in her favor so far, there is still a lot that is unknown at this point as far as how much treatment she’ll have to receive as follow up. Words like chemotherapy are scary and we are hoping for all the best in the next few days.

As I’ve mentioned, we’ve really appreciated all the support and prayers we have (and continue) to receive from our families and friends. The meals from friends and church members have helped a lot. Those who’ve stopped by to say hello or who have sent a note, your words and smiles and presence has been a great part in helping Stacy heal and feel better. Some have asked how they can continue to help, as this will obviously continue with us for a while. We’d love to keep seeing you all and, as Stacy’s health permits, to get out of the house to play a bit and pretend like it’s a normal summer. Meals are great and we’d love to see you. And, we ask that you keep praying for her speedy recovery and for continued good news.

I’ve found asking for and living in earnest prayer has been a challenging and beautiful thing these past few weeks. I don’t presume to understand how God works in regards to answering our prayers. I don’t know why some things we ask God for are not answered or why some are. I’m not sure that’s the point in all of this anyways. God is faithful to us, all of us. All, I am learning, that I can do, is reciprocate that faithfulness, through whatever comes, and hope to grow closer to knowing God and being known in return. At times, it seems God is distant and certainly could not hear our deep cries. At other times, God is so close. I don’t know why that is, but I’m hoping, as we weather this storm, to remain faithful to the one who has thus far, close or far away, stayed faithful as well.

Blessings to you all. We’ll keep you posted on what we hear these next few days.

Seth & Stacy

We have good news this evening. Stacy just got off the phone with her doctor and her results from Monday’s surgery have come back good. The lymph nodes that were taken during the mastectomy returned clean. The mass in her left breast had very clean and clear margins and her right breast, which there was possibly a lump in, came back clear. They will be doing another test to look for any stray cells, but this news we got tonight is the important stuff.

We are somewhat speechless in our joy tonight. The unmistakable power of prayer and hope in this time takes us aback. We’re overwhelmed with the way people have offered care, prayer, kind words, and support. Tonight, that support is seen in the joy of the good news we received.

Our prayer tonight: Thank you, thank you, thank you. The Lord is good.

There will be more to come, but tonight we’ll rest on that.

Tonight, as we wait and hope to sleep, we are thinking a lot about Stacy’s pending test results. Tomorrow, we hope to hear back on the pathology of the lymph nodes taken during yesterday’s surgery. All visible indications told us they are cancer free, but we are still waiting for that to be confirmed. And so, we are anxious.

Please, tonight and tomorrow morning, take a moment to remember Stacy. I know you all are praying for her and we are so thankful. Please keep it up. God is faithful.

We’ve really appreciated all your kind thoughts and notes sent this week. They help us stay positive and hopeful as we wait and see.

Prayers tonight.
Thank you.
Seth