In our minds, we often erroneously define the word sojourn. We hear the word and immediately think of it as a type of journey. A sojourn is actually not a journey at all; but rather, it is almost the opposite of a journey. A sojourn is a temporary stay in a place. We are sojourning in this world for a time. It is not our ultimate home. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that ‘he has set eternity in our hearts.’ In our inner being, we all understand that we are only here for a temporary time. However, we often forget this fact as we become consumed with the daily cares of life. Recently, this truth of the ephemerality of life stared our family squarely in the face.

On October 3, 2022 my 10 children and I were at home eating supper together. We usually wait for Jon to eat supper with us, but that day he seemed to be running late. The food was ready, so, we decided to go ahead and get started. Jon usually calls if he is going to be late, so we expected him to walk in the door at any moment. As I was finishing up my meal, I wondered to myself why Jon had not called to say he was working late. Just a few moments later, I found out why when I received a phone call from a firefighter on my cell phone. Jon had been in an accident and ran his truck into the side of a house. He was less than a block from home. He sustained many injuries including broken hip, back, shoulder, and sternum. Upon investigation, they discovered that he had a brain tumor which caused him to have a seizure and black out. Over the course of the next week he had three different surgeries to repair his broken bones and also one to remove the tumor from his brain. He was in the neuro ICU, then a step down unit in the hospital, and finally in the in patient rehabilitation hospital for a total of 27 days. He had to learn how to walk again and how to do many daily activities. These were long grueling days for Jon. He worked so hard to regain his strength and mobility. We can truly say that it was only by the Lord’s sustaining power that we survived.

It took almost three weeks for us to get the results of the pathology from his brain tumor. It came one evening while he was still in the rehab hospital. The news of the results was unimaginable! Jon’s brain tumor was made up of a very aggressive brain cancer called Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). Even with treatment (radiation and chemotherapy), only 25% of glioblastoma patients survive more than one year and 5% of patients survive more than five years. The news was devastating for me. In an instant our whole world had changed. Jon insisted that he be the one to tell the news to the kids. He told them that God never told us how many days we have on this earth. We did not know his (Jon’s) days the day before his diagnosis and we still do not know. The important thing is to trust the Lord and remember that our hope lies in Christ alone. He told the kids that his greatest desire in the midst of all of this is that his children would trust in the Lord. When placed in the right perspective in light of eternity, this situation does not seem as big, scary and overwhelming as our human minds can contrive.

So, Jon went through six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. It was a demanding schedule going to the treatments daily and trying to juggle the demands of the kids, home and school. He finished up his last radiation treatment on December 27. He will have a four week break and then have an MRI to see if the treatments have helped. He will then begin another round of chemotherapy at a different dosage. This will last for a total of twenty-one more weeks. During this time, he will have an MRI every two months to check his progress. In many ways, this journey with cancer is just beginning. Yet, we trust the Lord for our every need. Since the beginning of this trial I have clung to these verses. They have become a sort of theme for us.

2 Corinthians 4:6-10

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
[we are] afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

Sojourn: a temporary stay in a place. No matter who you are or what your circumstances are, your stay on this earth is just a temporary one, a sojourn. If we try to cling to this world it will be a fruitless effort because our lives and this world will pass away eventually. How we live this life matters. Our sojourn matters. Are we living for Christ? Are we following His will for us? Are we striving toward greater and greater sanctification? All of the trials of the past three months have made it abundantly clear that this life is fleeting. I pray the Lord will give me the strength to hold fast to His word and His ways.