Good evening from Wheaton! I realize it’s been a while since my last post, but there hasn’t really been a lot on which to update. Nevertheless, if that somehow left you hanging, I’m so sorry.

I finished my 6th treatment yesterday at Northwestern, so now I am officially at least halfway done! PTL!!! AND, if we get to finish after 4 rounds, then I am 3/4 of the way finished! On that note, that is a continued prayer request. I guess my parents have been praying that the doctors would have absolute wisdom over my case so that we would stop treatment only when all the cancer cells are permanently gone and no sooner. I, on the other hand have been praying to only have to do 8 total treatments…guess I can always learn more from my parents and can always learn more about prayer…

Also on the note of prayer requests, my nurse Michelle should be back in the States from Africa tomorrow, and she will start back at Northwestern on Monday, so please be praying for her as she re-adjusts to the US and debriefs and processes her time in Africa. Also, I’m praying for great conversations about the trip as she comes back and for some openings for great conversation.

I’m jumping around a lot right now, but as to how I’m feeling, I’m doing ok right now. Sometimes the first couple nights post-treatment are irritating because I can’t sleep straight through the night. Usually I wake up at 1 or 3am and watch a movie for a couple hours before I can fall back asleep, but last night I woke up at 6:30am and tried to sleep until 7, at which point the light was seeping into my room and I could hear some movement in our house, so I gave up trying to fall back asleep for a couple hours and finished the book Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot. So, bummer that I’m pretty tired, but at least I had a great read…more on that to come.

Anyway, I went to club practice with Brooke tonight–which was actually a more successful practice, so that was a blessing–and then I’ve just been crashing again tonight. Otherwise, not much has been going on with me. Actually, there are a couple things of note: first, I have officially sent in two applications to schools in Hawaii! PTL indeed!!! They’ve been a weight on my shoulders that are just not that hard to do but nevertheless, have just taken me a while, so it’s such a relief and praise to have sent those applications in! So, if you’re already praying for my recovery and to feel well, feel free to throw out some more prayers for peace for me, that the apps would find favor with the two schools, and that I would be listening for and have the ears to hear where God’s leading me. Secondly, the Wheaton Women’s Basketball team had a “Think Pink” night at it’s conference game vs. Millikin University on Tuesday night here, and it was to raise money for a cancer fund. There were pre-game festivities, including at least 10 people who cut their hair on the spot to donate for Locks of Love, and then they honored Kirsten Friedl and me, as her tennis coach and my volleyball coach Jen each walked out to half court with pink roses for us and as both of our respective teams and the other fans cheered us on. It was a little awkward (luckily Kirsten was there, too, feeling the same awkwardness with me!)–it was somewhat like Senior Night for volleyball with the set-up, but this was to celebrate I guess just us and fighting cancer…when the real people to be celebrating are our doctors, technically. Anyway, I did tear up a little, especially just with having my team there–they’ve seriously been HUGE in this process and are going to make it so hard to say goodbye come May. And it was just so cool that people were willing to donate to Locks of Love and the cancer fund. I was really touched, basically.

As for updates on treatment or anything, there’s not much new to report. My next treatment will be Wednesday, March 4th at 12pm, and we’ll meet with the doctor at that one. Plus, it’s TCA’s spring break, so my mom and Madelyn will fly up on Tuesday the 3rd and leave Thursday the 5th, so it’ll be good to see them again. Also, we switched this week to Wednesday, which was supposed to make me feel ok for class the following Tuesday, but I’m not so sure I’m a huge fan of Wednesdays. First of all, they had warned us of this, but it’s the most busy day at Northwestern, and we were an hour late getting back for treatment and probably didn’t start for another half hour after getting back there. Because of the delay, we hit bad traffic coming home, which wasn’t fun. Furthermore, with Wednesdays, it’s not as good for my parents to come because it’s in the middle of the week and is too much time to take off for either of my parents and then stay through the weekend. So, after the next one on March 4th (which is a Wednesday), I may be switching back to Thursdays for treatment…I know, so complicated and things keep changing. But, I haven’t positively decided that yet…just a heads-up.

And now, back to what I read in Through Gates of Splendor this morning: In the epilogue, Elizabeth Elliot is reflecting about the significance of the deaths of her husband and the four other missionaries to Ecuador in the 50s. She writes,

“God is God. If He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in His will, and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.”

My situation does not even come close to comparing with her story there, but at the same time, God gives each of us just what we need to draw near to Him and bring Him glory. So on that note, I just loved reading that this morning. There are so many times when, as I’ve mentioned, my plans pretty much never turn out how I plan them. But, God’s are so much better than I could’ve imagined–and for some reason it just takes me a while to get on board with His plans. But Elliot’s comments are so true–and probably so poignant in such an unstable time in general for everyone right now–there is rest nowhere but in Him, and His will truly is so much better than any inkling I could try to devise about what He is doing in my life and in the larger scheme of things. I just thought I’d pass on that quote and then tell you that if you’re looking for a good read, Through Gates of Splendor is just that.

Thankyou thankyou thankyou for your love, constant support, faithful and quiet prayers that do NOT go unappreciated, and for your witness to His love and support. Have a blessed weekend!

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,

Hannah