In her journal she kept during her cancer years, Nanci quoted Charles Spurgeon: "Oh, that we may know our God—His power, His faithfulness, His immutable love. He is one whose character excites our enthusiasm. Oh, that we may know our God by familiar fellowship with Him."

We don’t know what lies ahead in life, but our sovereign God does. What comfort!

Psalm 107 begins, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say this.” The psalmist details the sufferings of God’s people, wandering in desert wastelands, without homes, hungry, and thirsty.

God knows everything, including every contingency, and He knows what is ultimately best in ways we cannot. God can see ultimate purposes and plans that we can’t.

Writing about Nanci’s life, my grief, and our blood-bought hope in Christ has been therapeutic for me. I’ve often wished for a single page where what I’ve written is listed in one place, to share with those who ask questions and want to know Nanci’s story.

Tomorrow, March 28, marks two years since Nanci entered the presence of Jesus, after a four-year battle with cancer. I’ve been reflecting on what God has been teaching me since her death and its first-year anniversary.

Here is another gem from Nanci’s journal she kept during her cancer years. She wrote this while anticipating some bad news about her health, and about our dog, Maggie.

What if I had not met Nanci (all the odds were against it) and come to Jesus a year later? Since my name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, I won’t ask the question of whether I would’ve come to Jesus without meeting Nanci, but I certainly believe she was central to His plan in drawing me to Christ.

Recently I read “9 Lessons from God Concerning Sickness” from J. C. Ryle, an Anglican bishop (1816–1900). Every lesson he shares applies to how Nanci lived out her last years before relocating to Heaven.