As most of you are I'm sure (maybe even how you get to THIS blog), I am guilty of blog lurking. This is when you look at a friend of a friend of a friend...'s blog. You get so hooked on this person's stories or experiences or whatever that you feel so connected and keep updated with their blog. Whether you post comments or not, you keep going back. This is one of the great but weird things about blogs, facebook, websites, twitter, etc. of today's culture. You can "know" someone without really "knowing" them.
Well, some of you know about a blog that I have been checking quite frequently. This blog was found through a series of blogs that I randomly checked - aka blog stalking. Anyways, this blog was the journaling of a teacher/pastor in Pennsylvania, James Michael Bond, who was battling Ewing's Sarcoma. What began with pains in his shins, turned out to be a tumor in his legs and over a year long battle with this cancer.
After discovering his blog, I quickly made it habit to check his blog regularly. Some days were good and others were quite a struggle. Yet, his faith in God and love for his family remained strong. You see, he counted it a privilege to stay here on earth with his family but an even greater privilege if God chose to allow him to die because "Absent with the body is to be present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) He would journal about his family and what they were going through, how they tried to remain at some point of "normal", and would bring out Scripture lessons that he learned through it all. What an amazing testimony through such a difficult struggle.
Well, recently, they discovered that he had a fracture in his leg and because he was at a terminal level (knowing that he did not have much more time on earth, unless God decided otherwise), they decided against any surgery to correct the fracture. Knowing that it would be difficult to go back home to a 2 story home, friends of their family offered their home to this precious family. They joined both families together (12 in all!) to take care of each other and for him during what would be a difficult journey, not knowing how long it would last. His wife and son (who had put his college at West Point on hold to come home and care for his dad) became his primary caregivers while this family helped with the other children and other normal family tasks. Slowly, the blog entries became fewer although his teenage daughter was keeping updates on her own blog.
Well, knowing that time was short, I have been checking their blog with anxiety knowing that it could be the last. Today was that day. What a privilege to "know" this family and this man who fought the good fight and kept the faith even until the end. I know God rejoiced this morning in saying , "Well done, good and faithful servant."
To read more about James Michael Bond and his journey with Ewing's Sarcoma, please check out his blog. What an amazing testimony of a man of faith, a family who had the right perspective, and friends who lifted each other up during an incredible time of need with no expectations. May I/we learn from them!
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