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Dear St. George's family,

Thank you for praying for Brit and our family. I want to tell you how she is.

Brit's surgery was on September 28. It was a long day, and she spent four days at Foothills before coming home. The surgeons were pleased with how it went, and she is healing well.

The pathology report came back this week, and it was harder news than we hoped. The cancer was more extensive than the scans showed, and the lymph nodes were more involved than we knew. That puts her at an advanced stage III. As far as we know, the cancer has not spread beyond the breast and nodes, and it is the type that responds well to hormone therapy. The next steps are chemotherapy, radiation, and long-term hormone therapy, all aimed at a cure. We haven't yet met the oncology team, and I'll share more when we know the plan. We are sad that this is more than we expected, and we are also hopeful. Brit is tired and sore, and the road ahead is long.

I'm still on leave and will be back on October 26. Thank you to Bill Pringle, Rev. RuthAnn Marley, and Rev. Brian Beveridge for leading worship, and to our wardens, Cathy, Rick, Jane, and Bill, for keeping everything steady.

Many of you have asked how to help. The Meal Train is still open and we're grateful for all those who have brougt us wonderful family dinners. Whole-food meals are best for Brit's healing, and for those who live far away, gift cards to IGA or the Banff Hospitality Collective are a real help. Brit shares how she is doing in a WhatsApp health updates group, which spares her from answering each message on her own. If you'd like to be added, just reply to this email and let me know.

We don't know what the coming months will hold, but our hope and joy are not anchored in circumstances. They are anchored in Christ, who gave his life for us and healed us of our deadliest peril, and we trust that he is with us in this journey. We have already seen him with us through you. Thank you for the meals that have filled our table, for the gift cards, and for the kind, encouraging messages in the WhatsApp group. Above all, thank you to each of you who has lifted us in prayer. Please keep praying with us for Brit's healing, for strength through the months of treatment, for our children, and for a peace that doesn't depend on the next report. We are praying for you too.

In Christ,
Rev. Seth