Yesterday morning we woke up to some bad news. Grandpa, with tears,
gently broke the news to us that my Dad has cancer in his kidneys. (Mom had
called the evening before while we were out.) He has a 7 cm tumour in his left
kidney and it has also spread to his right kidney and to the lymph nodes near
his aorta. He will see a urologist in 2 weeks time and then most likely will
have surgery to remove his left kidney and maybe part of his right kidney,
followed by chemo.
Our first reaction was that we were devastated but as God has calmed our
hearts and helped us to work through our initial shock we have come to realize
that the prognosis for Dad might not be as bad as we think and we need to just
wait and see what God brings about in the days ahead. It glorifies God if
we wait patiently and trust Him and take each day as it comes and don’t jump to
the worst conclusion.
We have also heard this morning from our special friend who is a doctor,
that he has seen many patients with cancer in the kidneys who have lived and
functioned quite well with just part of a kidney for many more years.
Please pray for Dad and Mom (Bob and Jan Bagley) through these next days
and weeks as they wait to see the Urologist and face many unknowns. And pray
for direction for us and for my younger brother and sister and our children, as
we all go through this and deal with this in our own ways. Pray that we will
glorify God through this time of Dad’s cancer and recognize all the amazing
facets of God’s incredible love and provision.
At this stage we are planning on returning to the Philippines as planned
in 3 weeks time and shortly afterwards, I hope to make a trip to Australia
(Probably in March) to see Dad and Mom and may need to make a couple of trips
during the year. Paul and Jubab will probably remain in Lapoc during that time
and Jubab will continue with his school there.
At the end of the year it will be 4 years since we were in Australia and
we will be returning to Australia for home assignment and this may be a good
thing that we can be closer to Dad and Mom and be a help to them through this
time.
We very much need your prayers – this year’s journey is looking like it
may hold many mountains to climb and many rough patches of road to travel and
we need to hold tighter than ever to our Lord’s hand.
