Put Your Head Down and Keep Going

I called, not sure what I would say, and when the “hello” came through the phone, inspiration did not come, and I stammered something. I finally identified myself and said I was sorry. I did not know what else to say.

His wife went in to see the doctor after the lump detected in her breast had been removed. They had received the assurance that they need not be concerned, it appeared to not be what they dreaded. But they sat in shock as they heard the report, and now, a double mastectomy was scheduled with radiation and chemotherapy to follow, and reconstructive surgery.

We had been in that same meeting, ours, not theirs; but our news was different. I was relieved, thankful, elated; but now, now, on the phone, I felt like I had cheated. I felt hurt for them, and I didn’t know what to say. A preacher, who has been in countless waiting rooms, helping when doctors break the bad news with words of comfort and prayer, but somehow this was different. On the phone with a long time friend across the country, I wanted to drop the phone and catch the next plane and cry with him and his wife. But I mumbled through the call and tried to say how I felt, but it wouldn’t come out. He helped me out, as he always had, “We will just have to put our heads down and keep going.” I love him for that. He has done it before, and he has helped me do it before, and he was even doing it now as I hung up the phone. His courage and faith were evident, not a brave face, but real faith in the face of awful news. He will be there for his wife and they will put their heads down in prayer and they will make it through and they will bring glory to God in the process. And they will help others build stronger faith in the process. And along the way, he may need to talk to his friend from long ago far away across the country, who will have something to say, because that friend will have been inspired by his friend who put his head down and kept going.