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Definition
for freedom:
NOUN
1. The state of
being free or
at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. Exemption from external control, interference, regulation,
etc.
3. The power to
determine action without restraint.
4. Political or
national independence.
5. Personal liberty,
as opposed to bondage or slavery: a
slave who bought his freedom.
Today is
the 4th of July – known as Independence Day. This day was set aside in the U.S. to observe
the freedoms that came from being independent of another nation. It was a hard fought battle for us to get to
that point.
It
continues to be a battle, more so in recent years as there are almost daily
attacks on our freedom around the globe and, unfortunately, also on our own
turf. We continue to fight for the
freedoms such as religious, speech, and so on.
Another
definition of freedom is defined as “personal liberty”. I could translate that as “freedom of
responsibility”. This was the case for
me when Mom was recently moved to a memory care facility. I cannot express what it felt for me to be
free of the responsibility of caring for her on a daily basis. The relief was instantaneous. The burden of care lifted from that “simple” act
felt as if tons of weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Co-workers and clients noticed that I acted
differently (something I was not even aware of). Sometimes having responsibilities shifting to
another can be freeing!
Yet
another definition of freedom is “exemption from external control, interference….” That is what we are personally striving for
when it comes to the cancer. We want a
body free from this horrible, external force that can be, at times, so debilitating
that we cannot enjoy the other freedoms mentioned above. When every waking moment is spent internally
battling the forces raging inside you cannot enjoy life itself. Every twinge, every ache, every movement
makes you wonder “Is it back?”, “Is it growing?” followed by “Will I ever feel
decent again?” or “Will there ever be a day I don’t think about this?” It tends to reign supreme over every other
piece of life itself. While we are
envious of those who are NED (No Evidence of Disease), I am sure even those
people are still looking over their shoulder wondering if or when it may come
back.
For every
victory of freedom a hard fought battle has taken place. No one gets to the point of victory without
first going through pain, loss or hardship.
Those moments make the victory taste sweeter for, as we know, it takes
the valleys of our lives to make the mountain tops feel so beautiful.
We are currently in
the valley of this cancerous journey. The bad days are more frequent than the good
days. With surgery pending, this is
going to be a long hike through the valley.
There will be moments of happy times and glimpses of the sun as we take
this journey once again. We plan on
fighting as hard as we can. With our God
watching over us, we pray for healing.
We pray that someday soon George can say, “I am free! Free at last!” of this dead disease. This
would be the consummate freedom for us to have here on earth. To be free from disease so we can get back to
the process of living life to the Glory of our God
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