Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

The Holy Grail for Cancer Patients

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The words every cancer patient wants to hear are…”You’re in remission.”  The surgeries, the infusions, the pills and the alternative therapies are all to receive this blissful state of remission.  The painful recoveries and horrible side effects are prayerfully endured to march us toward a cancer-free body – at least that is the hope.

At medicinenet.com, the definition of remission is, “disappearance of the signs and symptoms of cancer or other disease.  A remission can be temporary or permanent.”  Cancer.gov expands the description to include partial remission, where some, but not all, signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared.  But as I jumped off medical websites to look at a more generalized explanation, the medical definition (“a diminution of the seriousness or intensity of disease or pain; a temporary recovery”) is listed as the second meaning of the word.  The first?  “the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty.”

Deuteronomy 15:1-2 says, “At the end of every seven years you shall grant remission of debts.  This is the manner of remission:  every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed.”  (KJV)  No bankruptcy proceedings necessary.  No court involved.  No evaluating of assets or working out a payment plan.  Debt is forgiven.  Every seven years.  Never to be spoken of again.  This Old Testament law is a beautiful picture of my final definition.

The third meaning assigned to the word remission by dictionary.com is “forgiveness of sins”.  In Matthew 26:28 Jesus, having His last meal with His disciples before His death said, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (KJV)  Using symbolism, Jesus explained that the  blood he was about to spill on the cross would be the only payment necessary for our sins.  He would pay with His perfect life so we wouldn’t have to.  And Peter tells us in Acts 2:38 how to receive that gift.  “Repent and be baptized every on of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  (KJV)  (Repent – admit that you sin, but you are tired of living this way and want God’s way instead.  Understand that belief in what Jesus did for us is the only way to that forgiveness and invite Him and His gift into your life.

Remission is a beautiful word, regardless of the context it’s used.  Freedom is the common theme that runs through it.  Freedom from a debt owed.  Freedom from the cause or symptoms of disease.  Freedom from sin.  Unlike the remission of debt, however, you don’t have to wait seven years for God to forgive your sins.  When you ask, it is done immediately.  And unlike remission from disease, remission of sin is never partial.  When God forgives you, He pardons the little white lie you told and He forgives the deepest, darkest deeds in your heart.  And unlike cancer remission, God’s forgiveness is never temporary.  “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18a)  Once…For…All!

…and I think I’m buying this hat:

To Wig or Not to Wig

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Today was wig day.  My sister Erin and niece Cora came and went shopping with me.  I didn’t, at first, think I wanted one, but when I found out my insurance would pay for it, I thought, “What the heck.  Could be fun.”  And if it gives me a headache or makes me sweat like a stuck pig, I’m out no money if I don’t wear it much.  We went to three different shops and tried on many wigs, as you can see in the pics below.                                                

It really was kind of fun.  And I learned two things about myself.  First, I have a huge head.  I’ve always suspected I was overly blessed in the area of cranial girth based on the number of hats that have driven me to aspirin over the years.  Now, I have confirmation – from women who try wigs on women for a living.  Some (and by that, I mean my family) would say I have a sakidophalic head.  You won’t catch that reference unless you have an affectionate obsession with 1940’s Hollywood musicals.  I also learned that it is really hard to find synthetic hair that looks even close to natural.  At least I’m struggling to wrap my mind around it.  Maybe I’ll feel differently after chemo starts and I truly am bald.  When a wig is the only hair I have, I just might embrace it.  But for now, I’ve decided that it’s nice to have the option, even if it feels weird.  And in case you are trying to figure out which one I chose, you won’t find it here.
“Now if a man loses the hair of his head, he is bald; he is clean.  If his head becomes bald at the front and sides, he is bald on the forehead; he is clean.  But if on the bald head or the bald forehead, there occurs a reddish-white infection, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or on his bald forehead.”  Leviticus 13:40-42
Disclaimer:  These verses have absolutely nothing to do with my post and taken here, out of context, will not in any way enhance your spiritual walk. 

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