{"id":7040,"date":"2022-09-27T09:22:15","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T09:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/?p=7040"},"modified":"2024-11-11T11:56:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T11:56:50","slug":"timing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/09\/timing\/","title":{"rendered":"1 – Timing"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7041″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text]I keep a personal journal. I don’t write in it every day, and sometimes I won’t write in it for weeks. When I do write, it is generally a thought that I’ve had after reading something in the Bible. It’s a useful thought, one that should change me and how I think and how I live my life. I was inspired to write each entry.<\/p>\n

But thoughts are easy. Words are easy. I put them down on paper and sometimes I may as well have put them on the floor because I effectively walk away from them. I don’t often look back at them – they were for the moment and maybe they will also come in handy one day.<\/p>\n

Today was a day that I looked back. I looked back to a post I wrote on 9 August, just a few weeks ago. It was a comment which mainly referred to the future. This is the comment I made:[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]I need to be courageous. Life can be frightening and there will be scary things ahead of me. I need to know that my armour is strong. I need to know that my God is even stronger. I know that, one day, I shall face death, but I need to remember that death isn’t the end. I have every reason to be courageous!<\/em><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Just three weeks after I wrote that I was put on antibiotics because of pain I was experiencing, presumably from prostatitis. A couple of days later, I noticed a lot of swelling. I soldiered on, but things weren’t improving. Libby and I went to my grandson’s wedding in Cornwall on 10th September but we had to leave in the early evening because I couldn’t take the pain any longer. We cancelled our planned holiday in Cornwall and came home the next day so that I could get to the doctor on the Monday. I got a telephone consultation and he made an appointment for a physical examination on the Wednesday.<\/p>\n

At the physical, he said that the swelling is due to a blocked lymph node. He quickly decided to refer me to a consultant. I said that I would be prepared to go private if there was a long wait to see a consultant. He shook his head and said it wouldn’t be any quicker, because at the top of the referral letter would be the words “URGENT – SUSPICION OF CANCER.”<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Even though I had thought that cancer might be a possibility, it came as a shock to hear those words. Even though “I need to be courageous” like I said in my journal, tears welled up in my eyes and fear rose in my heart.<\/p>\n

It’s all a matter of timing, you see. My Dad passed away at the age of 95, my Mum is 96 and going strongly towards her 97th birthday. My Dad’s older sister is 97. I have cousins in their 70s and 80s. I have great genes! I’m fit. We go to the gym 3 or 4 days every week. We walk a lot. I have a resting pulse of 50. Nobody believes it when I tell them I’m 72 – they think I’m in my early 60s. My life expectancy must be well into my 90s – and way beyond that, eh?<\/p>\n

Timing.<\/p>\n

The problem is that I’ve got the timing totally wrong. Because of my genes and fitness regime, I think that when I write things in a journal saying that there will be scary things ahead of me I’m talking about years<\/em> away! I don’t need to be courageous until then.<\/p>\n

But timing isn’t just about when or then. Timing is also about the order of things. As I said in my journal, I need to\u00a0be<\/strong><\/em> courageous. That is not the same as being ready to be courageous – it’s in the present, not the future. If I had been prepared before hearing the doctor say those words, they would not have been quite so shocking.<\/p>\n

Libby cried as we hugged each other. Then we had a good, long talk. The courage started to build. We looked at it with the right thoughts in mind.
\nFirstly, it might not be cancer.
\nSecondly, if it is cancer, it might not be terminal.
\nThirdly, as I said in my journal, death isn’t the end!<\/p>\n

Watch this space. There is more to come[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7041″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text]I keep a personal journal. I don’t write in it every day, and sometimes I won’t write in it for weeks. When I do write, it is generally a thought that I’ve had after reading something in the Bible. It’s a useful thought, one that should change me and how I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[429],"tags":[427,216,33,35,41,428,64,77],"class_list":["post-7040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-cancer","tag-courage","tag-faith","tag-fear","tag-healing","tag-health","tag-prayer","tag-worry","category-429","description-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sfWaLo-timing","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7440,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2023\/07\/24-the-lucky-phew\/","url_meta":{"origin":7040,"position":0},"title":"24 – The Lucky Phew!","author":"Robert Pender","date":"25\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7441\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I should have written this way back at the start of July, but things got in the way. In my last post I was saying that the CT scan had been delayed and that they had decided to extend my chemo a bit. I'm glad to say\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7158,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/11\/badsadglad\/","url_meta":{"origin":7040,"position":1},"title":"8 – Bad Sad Glad","author":"Robert Pender","date":"20\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There is no photo at the top of this post because there isn't one which could cover everything that I am going to say. The three weeks since my last post have been a bit busy with appointments and it has been a whirlwind of emotions and news. There have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7131,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/10\/7-the-big-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":7040,"position":2},"title":"7 – The Big Sea","author":"Robert Pender","date":"27\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7132\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]For most of the first 20 years of my life I lived next to the Clyde, a beautiful river with stunning scenery around it. Where I was, the river was very wide and was for most of the time calm. Occasionally the wind would get up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7242,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/12\/14-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":7040,"position":3},"title":"14 – Plans","author":"Robert Pender","date":"16\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7243\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I have always been a great believer in making plans, especially when we are doing something special or going away somewhere. It is best to get it right and not miss anything out. Be in control! The trouble is that we are seldom, if ever in control.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7224,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/12\/13-how-are-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":7040,"position":4},"title":"13 – How are you?","author":"Robert Pender","date":"10\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7225\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text css=\"\"]Just three little words - How are you? How often do we say them? I think most of the time we don't even say them, we just let them out, because it's just a form of saying hello. Yes, we mean the hello bit of it,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4531,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2019\/05\/a-shadow-of-my-future-self\/","url_meta":{"origin":7040,"position":5},"title":"A shadow of my future self","author":"Robert Pender","date":"01\/05\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"4532\" img_size=\"full\"][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_column_text css=\"\"]Many years ago I had a very sore back. It would come and go every few months. First one side would hurt and, just as it was getting better, then the other side would start to hurt. 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