Harder Family Adventures: Update 10/11/25: Fear

Isaiah 41:10 "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God."

Psalm 34:4 "I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears."

Psalm 56: 3-4 "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid..."

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind."

Fear is an emotion that many of us experience at times. According to God's Word, fear is not from God and we are to give our fears to God. Recently, I have had quite a few moments of fear rise up in my heart and mind. As I have matured in my walk with the God, I have learned that asking others to pray for and come along side me is the best way to handle difficult times like these. So what has been the cause of fear in my heart and mind? The main issue leading to fear has been concern about Wayne and what is ahead. It is easy to get caught up in the "what ifs" and fear what may be coming our way with his brain cancer. Secondly, my appointment on Tuesday with my oncologist left me feeling uncertain and fearful. I received another immunotherapy treatment, but my doctor informed me that a new study showed that it may not be beneficial to stay on immunotherapy as long. She decided that I will have my immunotherapy in November, a scan in December, and then a final immunotherapy at the end of December. We briefly talked about recurrence, which caused me to internally start to freak out. She said we have done everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen, but we will just have to wait it all out and see what happens since I had a unique cancer. It just felt like a hard and difficult conversation to have just days after Wayne's grand mal seizure. Looking at statistics can be intimidating. I have chosen to think of the glass half full instead of half empty. So if, for example, there is a 30% chance of recurrence, I am choosing to think that is an 70% chance of no recurrence. I don't know what my percent is since I had a unique case, but I'm trying to stay positive through all of this.

My mom shared an interesting thought with me when I shared all of this with her. She said, "God gives us manna for today." God provided daily manna for the Israelites during their time in the desert. He supplied their daily needs with this manna. After she shared that with me, Matthew 6:27, 33-34 came to my mind. "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?...But seem first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I could waste my time and energy worrying about how much time Wayne has left, when his next seizure may be, or if and when my cancer may return, but that would rob today of its joy and it distracts me from my job here on earth.

Our story is for God's glory! It is usually through suffering that we grow closer to God and it gives us the best opportunity to shine brightly to the world that is in desperate need of Jesus. I want to keep my eyes on my Savior and not fear the unknown. God knows my future and Wayne's future, and we will choose to trust Him. Keep praying for us though. Although this is our heart's desire, we are still human and have fears.

Starting this week, I am going to share some of Wayne's sermons that he preached before he had brain cancer. I will try to share one a week. I will start with his series on 1 Peter. It will be at the bottom of the post. Just click the picture and it should open the audio file (if I did it correctly).

Wayne Update: Wayne has done okay since his grand mal seizure last week. Thankfully, there haven't been any deficits from the seizure. His palliative nurse came this week to check on him. She was concerned about his seizure as well since he hasn't had any and he is on so much medicine. Wayne seems unfazed by it all. He feels like if a seizure is the way he goes, so be it. I have requested Wayne to consider getting an MRI so we can get some information as we move forward, but I know he really doesn't want to. Pray for wisdom for us.

Rebecca Update: Just what I mentioned before. My immunotherapy went well, I am just struggling with some fatigue this time from the treatment. Please pray that as we end my immunotherapy, that the cancer stays away.

Update on Kids: Abigail is now 37+ weeks pregnant. Our little granddaughter could come any time. Grace is finishing up her last few weeks in her surgical assistant program. She already has a job lined up at University of KY hospital. Naomi is moving along in her Biblical Studies program and is learning a lot. Shan and Sophia are halfway through their fall semester at BCTC and are busy applying for college. One more semester and they will be done with high school and their Associates in Science! Time is flying too quickly. Micaela and Joella are loving school. They are both involved in Beta Club, FCA, and are excelling in school. I love seeing all the friends and memories they are making.