T+137 Rejoice! We have found the bus driver.

BOX SCORE	9/22/24
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	12.2	13-17	^
Platelets	170	140-375	v
ANC	2910	1800-8300	v

Spring has sprung, Fall has fell, Summer's here and it's hot as... can be. Well, that's close to what we used to say as kids. Anyway, as of today, Fall has fell! Jill and I are trying to wrap our minds around what exactly has happened. Where in the world did summer go? I know it happened, because I wrote a blog post about it (see Those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer), and as we all know, you can't put anything on the internet if it isn't true.  Ah, yes, I remember now, we spent more than half of the summer in Portland. Wow, that seems like a dream now. It was very real at the time, and sometimes it felt like it would never be over. We weren't miserable, but we were away from our home, and that was kind of hard. 

It's funny about summer. Having grown up in the public school system, I always think of summer as that period between school letting out sometime in mid-June and a new school year beginning on the Tuesday after Labor Day, somewhere between September 2nd and September 8th, depending on the year. That would make summer about eighty days long. We spent 56 (calendar) summer days away from home, which took us up to August 16th.

As I think about it, I was being treated at Oregon Health and Science University, and I actually had a lot of tests, so in a sense, I was in school until we came home on that August day. Schools resumed classes on September 3rd. And that means that my imagined summer was 18 days long! No wonder it seemed so short. Well, there you have it; my shortest summer. We have been home from Portland for 37 days as of today. It has been glorious. 

Yesterday, I had my friend Bob over for a chat on the patio. He is a true blue friend and one of my favorite theologians. We had a great chat about many things, most of them spiritual. He and I have been going on our separate journeys through a period of spiritual growth. Mine has been part and parcel of the journey through leukemia and stem cell transplant therapy. There's nothing like facing death square in the kisser to make you stop and take stock of your life. If I understood correctly, Bob's growth is in part the result of living a lot of years and seeing the changes that have come upon our nation and our world. One thing we agreed upon is that neither one of us is driving the bus. 

You have to admit that these are unsettled and unsettling times. The kind of times that make a man inclined to reach out for something (or someone) unshakeable. For Bob and me that thing is the person of Jesus Christ. 

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

That's a pretty firm foundation. You can know where He stands at any given moment, and He has promised never to leave us or forsake us.

"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

To me the greatest comfort in the world is these two verses. The Lord created the universe and everything in it. If anyone knows how things work, it is He. And having the Designer and Creator promise that He will never change and that He will never leave my side gives me a great deal of security and the peace that passes all understanding. (Philippians 4:7) I am so glad that He IS driving the bus.

And so, I am rejoicing on this first day of Autumn and giving thanks for my home and my family and my friends and above all for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)