The following was sent to me by a dear friend of mine that went on to his reward in October of 2024. Craig Wray was a man that I looked up to and was an inspiration to me and many others. He was diagnosed with stage 4 Esophageal cancer in June of 2023 that had spread to his liver. Before Thanksgiving of 2023, he sent me this text to use for the invitation on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so don’t be surprised if you hear it again. Here’s what Craig wrote:
“Thanksgiving 2023: Undoubtedly this will be the best Thanksgiving holiday ever for me. I’ve always loved Thanksgiving. It’s a time we can reflect on what we’re thankful for. Up to this point my favorite and most memorable thanksgiving was in 1990 which was my first Thanksgiving as a Dad. Our daughter had been born a few weeks prior at 29 weeks gestation. She would then be in the NICU for 2 months. Lori and I went to the hospital that day to see her and spend some time with her beside her bed. We had our Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital cafeteria. We never thought of what we were missing by not being with our family because we now had our own family! In June this year I was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer that had spread to my liver. It was a real shocker. Almost immediately my thoughts went to my family. Had I done enough, taught enough, been a good enough example? What have I left undone? What messes had I made that I need to clean up? I quickly realized that most of the things we get so wrapped up in are meaningless. Most of the things we act like are so important, aren’t! I think of someone cutting me off in traffic. Oh, that can make me so angry! But what did it really cost me? Two seconds? Five seconds? Big deal!!! More importantly I need to ask myself what have I done that makes a real difference? Have I made a positive impact or have I spread negativity? Is there anything I’ve been needing to do but I’ve put it off? Are there ones that I need to talk to about becoming a Christian? Are there ones that only I can reach before its too late? I always had the mindset that I need to share the Gospel with others before its too late…for them, before their time runs out. I had never thought about needing to do this before “my” time runs out! I’m reminded of Paul Harvey’s news broadcast 60 years ago today reporting on the assassination of JFK, “For weeks a big debate raged over who of the city’s luminaries would get to sit at the head table this noon. Nobody did. Now on the President’s White House desk tonight are the calls and the callers and the documents and the urgent things to be done which could not possibly await his attention for another day, but they will wait now.” When life, or more accurately death, hits us in the face, all these vain (meaningless) things should always be just that and should be views as such, meaningless! I’m sort of thankful for my cancer diagnosis because it has caused me to be more full of thought, more aware of precious time and to not get caught up in the things that really are meaningless. Sure I’d like the cancer to go away but I sure don’t want this mindset to disappear!”
May we all find that mindset and be more thankful for the wonderful gift that the Lord has given us!
-Josh Romo