My mom with my dad and Dave at Dave's airborne graduation doing what mom's do best...loving!
What can I say tomorrow is Mother's Day and I have been blessed with the best mom in the world. I'm not kidding...I really feel that way. I am so thankful for her. I've included an excerpt from my new book Breaking the Discipleship Code that my mom wrote. Let me set it up...The third part of the book answers the question, "What does a missional follower of Jesus look like in...?" My mom has been through a lot including an ongoing life threatening illness. Recently she has been part of a clinical trial that is kicking the backside of her disease and bringing about a cure for all. As I wrote about being missional in the context of suffering I included this as a missional snapshot at the end of the chapter. Take a moment to read it and take a longer moment to celebrate your mom.
Tomorrow I will get to see her for a few moments and I will give a copy of the book...I can't wait.(Patricia Putman – awesome mom, artist, school teacher, pastor’s wife, and cancer survivor.)
My
husband and I just returned home from Houston,Texas last night marking the
second anniversary of my treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center. I was
diagnosed in 1992 with Polycythemia. From 1992 until 2005 my red cell
blood count would rise until I would have to undergo a phlebotomy. I was
constantly fatigue and iron deficient from the treatments. In 2005 the doctor indicated that I was coming
up on a day that I would enter into the spent phase of my disease where my bone
morrow would stop making cells and then I would die.
For a brief time I was depressed but
it wasn't long before I was on the internet searching for a clinical trial. No
doubt the Lord led me to the MD Anderson website where there was a clinical
trials open for Polycythemia Vera and other Mmyeloproliferative disorders. Through a series of communication and
referrals I became part of the trial. I am now in complete remission, and my doctor has assured me that
this trial is about a cure for PV. I
believe that it is only a matter of time before I am cured.
It
has not been easy. At one point I really
wanted to quit. As time passed and I grew stronger I began to realize
that I had to see the trial through to the finish. I came to understand that not only my life
depended on the research, but those in the future that would become sick with
Polycythemia Vera were depending on me and the others in the trial. Now they won't have to fear a
disease that had at one time carried a death sentence.
Hi,
I'm David's mom. I don't deserve all the wonderful things that he says about me, I feel like a wretched sinner most of the time. However, I am a sinner saved by His marvelous grace. Sometimes I wonder why I was born in the first place. I know that bringing David into this world is a huge part of my being here.
I am so thankful for my only son and my three daughters. May God help us all "to live, love and leave behind what Jesus did" when He
walked planet earth.
David, I love your book. Thanks, Mom
Posted by: pat putman | May 21, 2008 at 01:28 PM