"The Impossible Is God's Opportunity To Show Off!"

Can I get an "AMEN!!!" to that?!

And we so desperately need to not only be reminded of that but to see it in action! YES!

This has really been a rough season in the Facebook melanoma community. We've been hit hard and slammed up against time after time. Rough patches need a spell of respite and we've gotten one that has been tremendous and then today I find a song that has several great lines but the best one, by far, to me, is "The impossible is God's opportunity to show off!"

And what a Divine Ham God is! At just the right time He speaks into our pain and another impending moment of dread and He stops the clock and says, "Uh-uh. Not now."

The "not now" is Steve Hock's moment of crossing the finish line. Steve has been adopted by many, loved by more, and prayer-supported by our community in a way that I haven't witnessed before. But to Steve's credit he has been very open, honest, and forth coming about his fight and his life. He has taken the pictures and generously said, "Share and tell." He has put his face on the pain and uncertainty. And he has been gently, yet strongly, tough in letting us all know his battle is drawing to a close.

He's a young man, early 30s, engaged, two young children...a son and a daughter. Yesterday, as I write, he underwent a grueling brain surgery to remove melanoma and it was his last chance at life. And he knows that despite the surgery, melanoma is closing in because he has the tumors everywhere, but removing them from his brain bought him more time. If he survived the surgery. Which he did.

He was told he that if he survived the surgery he may lose his speech. He didn't. He was talking immediately after surgery.

He was told that if he survived the surgery he may be in a vegetative state. He wasn't. He was able to obey his doctor's commands immediately after surgery.

He wanted to live to see his baby girl turn 2 today Saturday May 24th. He has accomplished that and so much more.

Even when Steve draws his last breath he will leave behind a legacy that will reach far beyond anything he could have fathomed before melanoma entered his life. God has taken this disease, blessed it and broken its bonds in this one man's life and in doing so has put a face on what it looks like when God takes the impossible and uses it as an opportunity to show off.

God has shown off and is still showing off big time in Steve Hock.

As I write, Steve is not only breathing, he's still in the fight. He has shown us all what the fight looks like, whether we have melanoma or not. He has shown us how big a deal life is and how precious a gift love is and family is worth fighting to live for. He has rallied people with faith and people without faith and taught us all.

Or should I say God has taken an opportunity to raise up the least among us, someone the rest of us didn't know existed until melanoma became part of his life and he became part of ours', someone who lived his life and was off the radar for most of us. Myself included.

But he wasn't off God's radar! And that, perhaps, is one of the greatest things Steve has borne witness to and that will, also perhaps, be his greatest legacy. None of us, no matter what our past, no matter what our present, are off God's radar.

And as for our future, well, God has the final say in when our final moment comes. Not melanoma. Not medicine. Not the world of research or technology. God.

And because God has the final say, He can take what the doctor says is our final moment and tell that doctor, "Think again. This is MY time to show off. I'm God and I can do that. Take a seat and watch."

And because we witness God showing off in Steve Hock's life, we know God can and does show off in our lives, too. We get filled with hope and those who also fight as hard as he does are reinvigorated to keep up the fight until God says, "Stop."

God bless us all and may we be in tune to those seasons in our lives when all seems hopeless and God speaks into our doom and gloom and says

THIS is MY opportunity to show off.

Thanks be to God.

Note: The day of this addition is Saturday June 2, 2012 and God is STILL showing off in Steve Hock's life! Yesterday they were getting him up, out of the wheelchair, and trying to use his legs.

Another Note, dated Friday June 22, 2012. Steve Hock battles on though the pain is horrendous now.  This is the link to his photo album on Facebook of he melanoma battle. Be sure and click on each picture as most have captions.

Last Note: Steve Hock died July 16, 2012.