Positive results from the latest scan!

SO SORRY I"M JUST SENDING THIS OUT!!!

Jon had his chest x-ray yesterday (last MONDAY) and it was CLEAR!  And his blood work was normal!  HALLELUJAH!  We are rejoicing.  You know God has performed a miracle in Jon's life.  A great reminder at this Christmas season what God did for us by sending His Son.  He loves us so much and He still performs miracles today!!

You know, this process is such a grueling process.  It is such an up and down process.  We are very grateful we have gotten to the point of having scans every 4 months.  And it is nice not to be living day by day wondering what news we would receive.  But there is part of us that lives 4 months to 4 months.  Because I can promise you, sitting in that patient room, waiting for the doctor to come in and announce "your body is free of cancer OR your cancer has come back" is the most excruciating experience.  Jon and I literally sat there on Monday in that IU patient room waiting for Dr. Einhorn to come in and thought, we could either walk out of here jumping for joy OR we could walk out of here with our world rocked once again.  We could walk out of that office and continue life as usual, or we could be making the next plan to kill cancer that had returned.  We could walk out smiling OR crying!  Thank goodness we walked out jumping for joy and Praising God for the great news. And praising God for Dr. Einhorn!  He is the BOMB!

God gave us a great weekend and gave our children a great weekend with Jon's parents.  When Jon and I go to Indy, we try to make the most of our stay in the city.  We love shopping, eating dinner at places we don't normally get to eat at, and just enjoying each other's company (since there is not a whole lot of time for that in our everyday lives).  So this weekend was especially special, thanks to several of our friends.  Saturday, we got picked up by a friend  and headed over to the Butler game.  Now this friend has the HOOK UP.  I will keep it a secret who they are--but if you are reading this, you know who you are!!:o)  She not only picked us up, but we got prime parking.  We had access to the hospitality room where all the big wigs mingle:o)  And then our seats were incredible.  Jon and I LOVE to go to sporting events and because of where we live do not have many opportunities to do that.  Jon and I were in heaven.  It was a great game AND Butler won!  And NO I did not let Jon wear his Duke gear to the game like he threatened!

So then on Sunday, after attending our Indy church service, we enjoyed shopping together and having a dinner date.

Then Monday night we were invited to an event by our dear friend who is in leadership with Dream Alive at the Colts practice facility.  That was way cool because I personally have never been in an NFL practice facility.  I am not going to take time to explain Dream Alive but here is a link

It is a great organization!  Please read about it.

http://dreamaliveinc.org

Anyways, some of you may remember that Coach Pagano (Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts) reached out to Jon at the very beginning of his treatment in Indy.  So they emailed back and forth and have kept up throughout the year.  Well, since we were at his practice facility and office, we were able to thank him face to face for the encouragement he was during that time.  We were able to spend time in his office sharing stories and seeing things that meant alot to him that people did during his battle.  He showed us how he has our picture in his office amongst others that he reaches out to and prays for.  You know, some people may look at this somewhat like meeting a celebrity, we saw it as meeting a friend that had helped us during a very difficult time and has walked the same road!  He just happens to be the coach of an NFL team and is SUPER BUSY!  I am not trying to put him on a pedestal, because he is just a man that cares about others, but in the middle of his season, he took the time to meet with us and allow us to thank him.  I think we can all learn from this.  He is definitely an inspiration to Jon and I as we too try to reach out to cancer patients but get caught up in the busyness of life.  NO EXCUSES!  Very happy for Jon as most of you know he is a HUGE sports fan!  Definitely a fun experience, not everyday do you get to sit in the office of an NFL coach and chit chat.

#CHUCKSTRONG
#COLTSTRONG
#JONSTRONG (as Coach Pagano always writes)

But we will always and forever be:

GODSTRONG!!!!

because without HIM we would be nowhere.

Mark Waghalter's Celebration Service.

Jon and I felt God leading us to go to Mark's funeral.  Not only did God allow us to attend but to also be a part of this celebration of Mark Waghalter's life.  Candace, his fiancee asked me to read what she wrote to Mark and Jon was asked to say a few words from someone that had "walked that road."

This was probably the most moving, touching funeral I have ever been to and it was truly a CELEBRATION of Mark's life.   I would love to take a little time to share some clips of the service.  It was truly life changing for me and my hope is that it was life-changing for many others.

Hundres of people heard the gospel (several times) at the celebration service a few weeks ago.  

Mark,

Your life made an impact, and in case you were wondering--you did make a difference in people's lives.  Your legacy will live on and many lives will be changed!

When your youth pastor, Mr. Dale shared that you affirmed your salvation in the hospital a few weeks before you passed it was very touching.   Touching to know that you vocalized being a sinner and knowing that God sent his Son to die for your sins and accepting Him as your Saviour so you could live forever with Him.  Thankful for Mr. Dale who told his wife he was going to let the Holy Spirit lead what he said to you in that hospital room. Thankful for a man who was willing to lay it all out and be bold in sharing God's salvation message with you and Candace, who later accepted Christ as her Savior.  We loved hearing how Mr. Dale continued to visit you in the coming weeks and how you had a deep desire for him to read the Bible to you so you can learn more about Jesus.

Then how touching it was to hear your brother talk about you holding his hand a few days before you passed and telling him that you wanted Him to know God so that you would see him again in heaven.  And then when your brother shared how you had not spoken for a couple of hours, but you lifted your hand to heaven right before you took your last breath and said "God, open the gates of heaven, Mark is coming through."  Some very powerful stuff!

Jon and I are so thankful to know you, Candace and your parents.  And we came to find out quickly you have an awesome extended family too!  You come from a great Christian heritage and people that care deeply for you.  Jon and I loved hearing the story of how you would wear your GODSTRONG bracelet everywhere and call Candace out when she didn't have hers on.  And by the way, she probably didn't have it on because it didn't match her outfit on that given day.  We were moved to know that Luke 1:37 meant so much to you, "For nothing is impossible with God."  We are touched that we could be a part of your life even if it was through the most difficult time.  We loved how up beat and positive you were through the most toughest time of your life, always saying how blessed you were.  And always telling us you were staying positive and keeping a good mindset.  Thank you for being willing to help out a fellow testicular cancer patient who was in a similiar situation with you.  You were so selfless, only worried about others even through your darkest days.  Jon was so moved and actually broke down when your grandfather told him what an awesome impact he had spiritually on your life.  Again, we are so humbled and honored to have been a small part of your life because you, Candace and your parents were such a huge incredible inspiration and encouragement to us during tough days.

\

I love this picture of you and Candace praying with your Godstrong bracelet.  I remember the day Candace texted this to me.  I had a happy heart!  I loved how we would trade pictures back and forth of being WAGSTRONG and GODSTRONG! 

It was painful to watch your family receive visitors at your funeral.  It was painful to know that Candace will be without you when her and I talked so many times about God healing you (on this earth) and ya'll have a future together.  It was painful to watch your parents, brother, sister, sister-in-law and extended family have to say good bye to you at way too young of an age.  

This is a conversation my twins had the other day.  It went something like this:

Emma Kate:  If you believe in Jesus, you will go to heaven.  If you don't believe in Jesus, you won't go to heaven.  Wyan, do you believe in Jesus?

Ryan:  No!  I don't want to go to heaven.  I just want to stay home!

Outside of this story being super precious, it is so true!  We don't want to leave this earth because we can't imagine what is being prepared for us in heaven.  We just want to stay "home" in our comfort zone.  But Mark, you accepted your fate.  You accepted that God would not heal your earthly body but that he would give you a brand new body in heaven.  So many people heard the gospel because you knew the Lord as your personal Savior and you were surrounded by many Godly people with your parents being at the top of the list! 

It was exciting to see you grow in the Lord through your cancer journey.  It was a GOD THING that we met you that November day almost exactly 1 year ago.  And we are thankful that you remained WAGSTRONG and GODSTRONG throughout your harrowing journey. 

Until we see you again...

Jon and Donna Strebe