Certain days in life are memorable, and April 1, 1999, will become an unforgettable day for the Halls because it flings them down a path they could never have foreseen. Deborah goes to her exercise class and then to her annual physical. Every year she goes in, gets the routine pronouncement of good health, and makes her appointment for the following year; and she goes to that appointment without fail.

Hall goes to his office and looks forward to his lunch date with his daughter Regan. Though Regan has gotten some education in the arts and now works in her father’s gallery, she does not enjoy it. Their son, Carson, is a senior at TCU and is also living at home, and Deborah is enjoying having both her children around her, at least for now. At lunch, Hall and Regan are discussing what else Regan might do with her life when Hall gets a phone call from Deborah.

Her voice is strained as she tells her husband that the doctor felt something in her abdomen and wants to do a sonogram in his office and then send her to the hospital for X-rays. She asks if Hall will meet her at the hospital, and of course he does. He embraces Deborah for a long time and asks if she is okay; all she can do is nod and smile weakly.

Deborah gets the X-rays as well as a CAT scan, and when the doctor clips the film to the light board, the milky white blob in the midst of gray means nothing to Hall. As the doctor points and talks, Hall now sees shadows completely covering Deborah’s liver. Several more doctors enter the room, and a few try to be hopeful—but none of them will look the Halls directly in the eyes. The word cancer floats through Hall’s mind like a poisonous gas, but he does not dare to speak the word. Deborah will have a colonoscopy in the morning, and until then the doctors will withhold their judgments.

That night in bed, Deborah shares the story of Joshua and Caleb, two of the men Moses sent to spy on the Promised Land and bring back a report for the children of Israel. The two men brought back both good news and bad news: the good news was that it is a prosperous country as God promised; the bad news was that giants inhabited the land. The Israelites wept with fear, but Joshua and Caleb did not, reminding everyone that if the Lord were pleased with them He would give them the land and they should not be afraid. At the end of the story, Deborah confesses that she is afraid. Hall holds her as they pray that the Lord will be pleased with them and the doctors will bring back a good report after tomorrow’s procedure.

At the hospital the next morning, twenty or so of the Halls’ friends are gathered to pray for Deborah. They wheel her away and Hall waits just outside the door, as close to her as anyone will let him get, and paces while he prays. Finally Hall sees the nurses wheel Deborah into the recovery room and rushes to join her. She looks up at him with an expression she has only when she is truly sad and mouths the word cancer, attempting a smile to soften the blow. Tiny tears appear in the corners of her eyes. As the tears spill down her cheeks, Hall thinks about the giants in the Promised Land.