Day 365: The Ghost of Christmas Past

December 16 is day 365 since my stem cell transplant at Mayo Clinic. It seams like a dream now. I keep having "memories" for lack of a better word, maybe "haunting." When I dress for cold weather with the clothes I wore last year while in Rochester, Minnesota, I just automatically begin thinking about the experiences we had last year especially the unrelenting cold. It also makes it more difficult to ignore my disease while I'm thinking about it all the time. I suppose I'm being haunted by the ghost of Christmas past. Bah, humbug!

December 16 is also the anniversary of my father's death. It is amazing how dates converge sometimes. My dad's birthday was May 13 and mine is May 12. My dad's sister, my mother, and my daughter's birthdays are June 17, 18 and 19. My sister's mother-in-law and my grand daughter both born December 24.

I had my quarterly serum electrophoresis test which was pretty much the same as last time. I am thankful to God for answering the prayers of those who are still praying for me by not allowing the disease to progress.

While we are on the subject of praying for others, our Wednesday night Bible class is studying Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra is basically about the Israelites being allowed to return to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The Israelites were captives of the Babylonians for about 70 years. The Babylonian empire is basically the forerunner to modern Iraq. Persia was located approximately in the area where Iran is today. Cyrus, king of Persia basically united the Meads (located north of Babylon) and Persia and conquered Babylon in 539.

Here is an amazing fact, Isaiah prophesied a 70 year Babylonian captivity of the Israelites 200 years before it happened and even mentioned the name of the king, Cyrus, who would return them to Israel (Is. 45:1). King Cyrus obviously believed in the God of the Israelites. One of the reasons he let them go and rebuild the temple is as follows:

"Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons." (Ezra 6:9, 10)

Praying for people goes back a long way. In the case above, it goes back to about 539 BC. I am glad people are praying for me today.