Dalsi krok na ceste – 22 mesicu v remisi
Celebrating another step - 22 months in remission
Nebyla to oslava, jen jsem si splnil male prani a pustil jsem si film Everest. Obraz udoli a horskych hrebenu provazi muj boj s leukemii od zacatku. Jak uz jsem jednou zminil, kdyz se ohlednu zpatky, tak ty nejhorsi okamziky fyzicky, byly zaroven nejkrasnejsi vyhlidky do Boziho kralovstvi a meho vztahu s Nim. Bylo to za cenu vystupu do zony smrti, o ktere sami horolezci vi, ze nase telo neni stvoreno aby v ni prezilo (to je vyborne znazorneno ve filmu). Cetl jsem vice podrobnosti o te vyprave a co se tehdy stalo. Behal mi mraz po zadech, zvlaste kdyz vis, ze nektere rozhovory jsou prepsane slovo od slova z autentickych nahravek rozhovoru. Touha vs. limity, radost a krasa vs bolest a utrpeni, celistvost vs. zmrzacenost. Tvrda realita bez prikrasleni. Vsichni chteji dosahnout vrcholu. Spouste z nich se to podari. Je ale taky dost tech, kteri dosahnou vrcholu, a pak se zrani nebo prijdou o zivot na ceste zpatky.
To “celebrate”, I watched the movie Everest. Valleys and mountain tops is somewhat of a theme for my fight with leukemia. I have mentioned once before, that in retrospective I view the hardest moments of my fight not as the deepest valleys, but the mountain tops, in which God allowed me to see a beauty of his kingdom, you only get to see when you enter a death zone, “for which your body was not made.” (quoted from the scene where the climbers look at the death zone path to the peak). Reading more about the true story and knowing that some of the dialogues are authentic word by word, it gives you chills. Desire vs. limits, joy and beauty vs. pain and suffering, wholeness vs. brokenness. Graphic, authentic, real. Many desire to reach the top, and they do. However, many of them don’t make it back to camp and loose their life on the way down.
Stejne tak je to s pacienty s rakovinou, kteri si projdou chemoterapii a ozarovanim. Ne vsichni se muzou vratit do normalniho zivota. S vdecnosti si uvedomuji, ze mi Buh pridal dny meho zivota a to co prozivam uz se blizi normalnimu, vsednimu zivotu. Udoli a horske hrebeny jsou “ skoro “minulosti. Jeste mam pred sebou min. dve chemoterapie, ale pokud vsechno pujde jako do ted, s Bozi milosti mam jen par “skrabancu”, ktere doufam neprerostou v zadne komplikace. Pomalu bych se chtel zacit rozhlizet a planovat co bude dal.
Many of the cancer patients are not returning from chemo and radiations to normal life. God, in His grace, had spared me and added days to my life. I am slowly returning to life with its busyness and everyday-ness. The valleys and mountain tops are sort of in the past. I know there are at least two more chemos, I will have to undergo. But so far, I am coming back to “normal life” with only a few scars, that with gratitude will call “minor.” Yes, I am slowly entering the stage where I would like to start planning what’s next.
Nas planovany odchod z Young Lifu po 12-lete spolupraci byl dovrsen rozloucenim s evropskym teamem. Tady je na miste podekovat zvlaste Dave Martinovi a Alu Andersonovi, kteri nas na setkani pozvali a mohli jsme se tak se vsemi rozloucit osobne. To bylo pro nas velke pozehnani!!!!
Our transition from YL has been a blessing because of everyone’s effort to allow us to have a healthy closure after 12 years! Special thanks goes to Dave Martin and Al Anderson, who planned a time for us to to say good-bye in person to the European YL team.
Buh nadale vyslycha nase modlitby a stara se, ze mame dostatek. Jane si uziva role pani ucitelky a hodne z toho, co se uci v magisterskem programu muze hned pouzit v praxi behem hodin anglictiny. Studenty jeji hodiny bavi a u nekterych uz je videt I mirny pokrok! Ted je to ale poprve, co musi znamkovat a chodit na rodicaky jako pani ucitelka!!!
God has provided for our needs in the midst of stepping into the unknown. Jane is enjoying implementing what she learns in her Master’s program directly in the classroom and so far she is surprised how well the students are responding to her efforts to teach them English. This is the first time that she has to give grades and communicate with parents!
Ja nadale pomaham Markovi Sramkovi s fundraisingem a planovanim cesty do USA. Cideru se dari, pomalu rosteme a tak si I pridavam pomalu pocet hodin, kterymi se snazim prispet k tomu, aby vsechno bezelo hladce. Kdykoliv muzu a mam dost sil, snazim se pracovat rukama, coz mi pomaha zlepsovat si fyzickou kondici. Je to skvely pracovat nekolik hodin a hned videt kolik prace je hotove. Spolu s nasimi nejblizsimi sousedy a kamarady, v pomeru 4 rodice na 4 deti, rozvazime deti do skol a skolek, na krouzky a usetreny cas nam dava vic casu na domaci ukoly, stolni hry, vareni a peceni, a spoustu navstev!!
I continue to help Marek Sramek (YL Prague) with fundraising and plans for his US trip in January. The cider business continues to grow and so I am slowly adding “a few more hours here and there” to contribute and bring the best out of the potential that it has. I am also enjoying some manual labor, which helps me to build more of physical strength. I also like how the result is immediately visible. Together with our friends we parent-pool to get their kids together with Sofia and Mia to the right places at the right times -school, after school activities, visits with friends etc. This allows us to have more time for home work, family games, cooking and baking, having visitors..
Nas zivot vypada skoro normalne a za to jsem moc vdecny Bohu. Pro lidi, kteri nas neznaji, uz neni tak snadne videt na prvni pohled cim jsme si prosli. Na druhou stranu je pro nas prekvapenim, kolik z nasich “novych” kamaradu ma za sebou podobne zkusenosti a jejich skrabance jsou dost casto vetsi nez ty nase. Jsou nazivu, ale tezce zraneni. , Prosim modlete se s nami, abychom s nimi mohli sdilet nasi viru a nadeji v Jezisi Kristu.
I am thankful to God, that right now, our lives look semi-normal. For the outsiders, people who don’t know, they really can’t tell where we have been. But we noticed something new – we are being invited into new relationships with people, who have somehow experienced the “mountain tops” and came down scarred. They are alive, but broken. Please pray for us, that we will be able to share with them our trust and hope in Jesus Christ.
Dalsi kontrolu mam 27. Listopadu. Dekujeme za Vasi vytrvalost, pratelstvi a primluvne modlitby!
V Kristu,
My next appointment is November 27th.
Thank you for your ongoing support, friendship and prayers!
In Christ,
Martin
