May 2025, one year ago: walking into the cancer ward at Abbotsford Hospital, holding faith and uncertainty in the same hands.
Deanna’s support team became one of God’s green pastures for us, family, friends, doctors, nurses, and caring praying companions around the globe.
Ringing the bell after her final treatment. There is a unique feeling that happens when you ring that particular bell. You discover it in that moment.
A year ago in May, Deanna and I walked into the cancer ward at Abbotsford Hospital not knowing what lay ahead.
Deanna chose to return to Canada for treatment primarily because of the people God had placed around her.
This week, on Wednesday, she completed her final treatment.
We are deeply grateful.
Grateful for Deanna’s life.
Grateful for family and friends.
Grateful for every prayer.
Grateful for skilled doctors, nurses, and the medical system.
Grateful for the quiet mercy of God that carried us day after day.
As I reflected this week, Psalm 23 kept returning to my heart.
Not as a childhood memory.
As a lived experience.
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The Shepherd Knows the Way
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
As I sat with these words, I looked out the window where I often have my morning devotions.
There they were.
Green pastures. Quiet waters.
It felt as though the Lord was gently reminding me:
“I led you here.”
And as I looked back, I remembered how undeniable His leading had felt at the time.
Leaders can be tempted to second-guess themselves.
What if I had chosen differently?
What if I had seen things sooner?
What if I had taken another road?
But Psalm 23 calls us back to a simpler and deeper truth.
The Lord is my shepherd.
Not my plans.
Not my strategies.
Not my ability to control outcomes.
The Lord.
Peace comes when we stop trying to shepherd ourselves and remember who is leading us.
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The Valley Is Not the Destination
We did not plan for these seasons.
We expected to spend more time in ministry in Brazil, and possibly Portugal.
Instead, God led us through another wilderness.
First came the beautiful, challenging months with our premature twin grandchildren in the NICU.
We learned to love intensely, let God carry the weight, and do whatever came next.
The season was a gift.
Then came Deanna’s cancer diagnosis.
Nobody plans for cancer.
Yet Psalm 23 never promises that God will lead us around every valley.
It promises He will walk with us through it.
“Even though I walk through The valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”
Those five words became precious to us: “…for You are with me.”
God’s greatest gift is often not an explanation. It is His presence.
Our sending church in Chilliwack has surrounded us with prayer, friendship, and steady love. We are deeply grateful for Pastors Justin and Heidi, and for City Life Church, where Deanna grew up and where missions has long been part of the family story.
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The Glorious Table in the Middle of the Chaos
One verse surprised me this year more than any other.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
Notice what David does not say.
God does not remove the enemies first. He sets the table first.
Some of our enemies this year had names:
Fear.
Waiting.
Uncertainty.
Disrupted plans.
Yet God prepared a feast anyway.
Family gatherings.
Grandchildren.
Deep conversations.
Friends who prayed.
Unexpected laughter.
Quiet mornings with Him.
At Christmas, our family gathered in a cabin and shared the highlights and challenges of the year.
When it came to Deanna’s turn, she paused. Then she said something remarkable. In that moment, she could hardly remember the difficulties. Not because they weren’t real. But because God’s feast had become even more real.
Joy is not the absence of hardship. It is the presence of God within it.
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The Hounds of Heaven
In the 1980s, at a Bible school in Texas, I heard a sermon I have never forgotten. I remember almost nothing else about it. Only the title: The Hounds of Heaven.
The preacher was speaking about Psalm 23:6.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
The word follow is stronger than it sounds.
It means pursue.
Chase after.
Stay on the trail.
I have a friend in Brazil who used to own hunting dogs. Once they caught a scent, they would not let go.
Over hills.
Through brush.
Across difficult terrain.
They stayed on the trail.
That is the picture David gives us.
God’s Goodness and Faithfulness are not wandering somewhere behind us, confused and trying to catch up.
They are pursuing us.
Relentlessly.
Faithfully.
Patiently.
The Shepherd leads from the front.
Goodness and Faithfulness follow from behind.
And we walk safely in the middle.
Even when you cannot see God’s goodness and faithfulness ahead of you, you can discover them following closely behind.
Deanna’s parents, Harold and Joan Hansen, have been part of this trail of goodness from the beginning. They encouraged Deanna into missions, strengthened us in the early years of church planting in Northern Brazil, and are still cheering us on today.
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Looking Back
As we celebrate the end of Deanna’s treatment, we are grateful for answered prayer.
We are grateful for healing.
But we are also grateful for something else.
The journey itself.
Not because we would have chosen it.
But because God met us in it.
The Shepherd was there.
The table was there.
The overflowing cup was there.
And the hounds of heaven never lost the trail.
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Some of the significant people God used to strengthen Deanna this year, encouraging her not from a distance, but from places of their own vulnerability, faith, and love.
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A Final Thought
Psalm 23 is not only a psalm to believe.
It is a psalm to inhabit.
It is one thing to agree that God was David’s shepherd.
It is another thing to discover, slowly and personally: He is my Shepherd too.
This week, if you are walking through a valley, look for one sign of God’s goodness and one sign of His faithfulness.
You may discover that the hounds of heaven are closer than you think.
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Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Thank You for being our Shepherd in every season.
Thank You for green pastures and dark valleys, For prepared tables and overflowing cups.
Teach us to recognize Your goodness when life is easy And to trust Your faithfulness when life is hard.
Help us to remember that we are never alone.
You are before us. Goodness and Faithfulness are behind us. And Your love surrounds us.
