Fight Club

I was talking with a friend yesterday who for the past couple of years has had one battle after another. Before I moved here he was bitten by a spider and had to seek medical attention for that and afterwards he developed a staff infection and then he had to get over that. About a year ago they found cancer cells in his esophagus and so he went to a specialist and they decided to burn it off . Well they burned so much that his esophagus was not working at all and causing real problems when he ate. Months later he went to another specialist and they suggested that they remove his esophagus and move his stomach near his shoulder. This is very common for cancer patients. He went through this surgery and did great. We all were at the hospital praying and waiting to here how he was doing. After the surgery I went back to his room and talked with him and if you know this person he is usually laughing and goofing off. I went back there and he was the same person that I had grown to love. His family was strong and knew that God would protect his life and trusted that all would be well.

After the surgery we thought he would be in the clear but when he would try to eat food he would continue to vomit it back up. He couldn't keep anything down. Of course the doctors thought this was just his stomach reacting to the last surgery and so we thought this would past, it didn't. To this day he can not keep any food down and two weeks ago he went to the Mayo Clinic and they told him his stomach was not working at all. The dietitian met with him and said that if this last surgery did not work then he would be on liquids the rest of his life. I talked with him yesterday and he had lost three pounds in one day. Needless to say he has had it rough the past couple of years.

Jesus said "I have come to bring you life to the fullest..." Now for someone like my friend I wonder what he thinks Jesus means. For someone stuck in the hospital, nursing home, the unloved or the abandoned, what does that life look like? I see people fighting to live. Just to live. Such a simply yet complicated thing sometimes. I have talked with people on their death bed, getting ready for surgery and those whose stomach's do not work and yet all of them see life with Jesus as life to the fullest. Life to the fullest does not mean you are rich or will sky dive with a friend, but a life that is full means that your life is filled with the presence of God. I see so many people willing to fight for that life with Jesus here and now. I guess that is what is so amazing about God. Life with God does not start when you go to heaven but when you accept his grace. I think we are all in a fight to live. We are all in this fight for life to the fullest. May we continue to fight and may we know that Jesus is really all we NEED!!