I mentioned earlier that my daughter Chelise was
recently diagnosed with JMDS, an incurable skin disease. We were distraught with
worry for her. But Chelise, a child like the children whom Jesus urged his
disciples to emulate, wasn't so concerned. She had difficulty climbing stairs,
and she no longer could dance around the living room as she once had. But tell
Chelise that she was sick and she would only roll her eyes.
"I'm not sick, silly," she would say. "I only have a disease!" In her young
believing mind, this ailment was only a passing inconvenience called disease.
When the doctor prescribed large doses of prednisone to settle her immune
system, she gathered the family with great pride, showing how she could swallow
the pills without water. She couldn't skip around the coffee table because of
her pain, but she could still sing the same endless, make-believe songs that she
always had.
Her condition has improved tremendously since that day several months ago, and
the disease is expected to go into complete remission within two years. It will
be a long battle, but our hope is strong.
Ted Dekker The Slumber of Christianity. Nashville: Nelson Books, 2005, p.
186.
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