By now I think most of you have heard that our vacation travels ended with me in the hospital for surgery as the beginning of my dealing with ovarian cancer. Surgery went well and I am recovering at home. Thank you for all your prayers and many expressions of love, concern, and care.

I’m tired. I doze off and take frequent naps these days. I know that recovery from injury or surgery requires a great deal of energy. I also know that pain medications can make one drowsy. So I’m sleeping a lot these days.

But there is one who does not sleep.

It is he, the Lord of Israel, who has called me, and who has called you by name. It is he, the Lord of all the Earth, who holds me and holds you in his hand, in his love, and in his care.

Saying that I have cancer is a surreal thing. I know that many of you have claimed those words for yourselves long before these cells began to grow in me. Many of you know that cancer is quite survivable these days, though we also know the reality that not all people do survive it.

But whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. And that is the reality that defines us. We are not cancer patients or cancer victims or cancer survivors. We are children of God, held by God by his infinite love and grace, and held into the promise of eternal life with him.

That is what defines me and that is what holds me now.

His love is made known in many and various ways, including through the Body of Christ – through the community of believers. Thank you for being his presence to me and to our family at this time – for caring, for praying, for serving, for witnessing, for holding. Through you we know God’s love and promise.

May God bless you in your service to us and to one another, and may you know his promise and strength for your life.

In Christ,

Pastor Marcia Solberg