Strength to the Weary

“Cheaters!” 

The taunt emanated from the mouth of a man in his thirties, fit and slim, riding a ten-speed city bike traveling in the opposite direction of our small group of elderly, disabled, and cancer-ridden e-Bikers, wanting to get out for some fresh air and exercise.  I had smiled at the man as he sped toward us, but after his rude comment reached my ears, my smile faded and I asked my friends “Did he say what I thought he said?” 

“Yeah,” my friend replied.  “He said ‘cheaters’.  I’ve heard it many times when we ride our e-Bikes.”  He and his wife had bought their bikes several years previously because of their many medical conditions, which hinder their ability to work out as they used to.  With the e-Bikes, they’re still able to get some aerobic activity and get out into God’s beautiful creation.

I used to be in great shape, riding for miles on my mountain bike on the dirt roads in our rural, woodsy neighborhood (all the while keeping a sharp eye out for moose and bears).  Cancer changed all that.  As soon as I got past that horrible start to my cancer treatments, I once again began mild, low-level workouts once or twice a week, working my way back up to working out several times a week with aerobics and weights.  

Four years later, things are much different.  As the cancer progressed, I got weaker.  It was harder to get back into any kind of exercise routine in between chemo and/or radiation treatments.  I got weaker, I lost muscle mass, and I lost weight.  Now, during certain phases of my treatment, I get winded just walking up the stairs and have to quickly sit on the coffee table in the entertainment room outside our bedroom to catch my breath.  Then I have to sit down again on the bed once I reach the bedroom.  What happened to that crazy lady who used to jog around the bedroom, kick like a Rockette, and lift weights?  Those activities will need to wait for my resurrection body.  For now, I do housework, take walks, and when the weather is nice, ride my e-Bike.

I really wanted to yell back at that young man, “I have Stage IV cancer! Give me a break!”  Of course, by that time, he was around the corner and out of sight.  My friends told me not to worry about it.  He was just ignorant about what e-Bikes provide people like us.  Freedom.  A chance to join with everyone else out there getting exercise and enjoying the birds and other wildlife, the lakes and rivers, and cheerfully greeting the other, kinder riders on the path.

I feel my body getting weak and frail.  I’m digging down in my dresser, pulling out the next smallest size jeans because the ones I’m wearing now are falling off of me.  I have to ask my husband for help getting lids off of bottles, or lifting appliances I used to maneuver with one hand.  Things are changing.  But I’m still here.  Even when I feel lousy, there are things to do around the house and they are my things to do.  Bruce and I have always had a very equitable split of tasks and duties around the house and property, and they play to our strengths.  We enjoy doing what is assigned to us because it is holy work.  We are stewarding what God gave us.  I sometimes acquiesce one of my tasks to Bruce, usually when I’m in the throes of taking chemo pills and feeling nauseous and tired.  But I continue to do what I can, when I can. Where do I get the strength?

“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives strength to the weary, 
And to the one who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.”

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NASB)