A scaredy-cat in the moment – usually involving shenanigans from my daredevil of a husband – 100 percent yes.
But not a worrier.
So I was a little thrown off a few weeks back when I placed my head on my pillow and couldn’t let something go. It’s just not who I am.
But it was taunting me.
Teasing me.
Let me be honest – it was straight up freaking me out.
I started playing scenarios over and over in my head. I literally could have won an academy award that night with the script I was vividly scribbling out in my mind. A best seller full of drama, and I was the star. It went on for hours.
The next day my sweet friend (who didn’t know anything was even bothering me) asked me if there was anything she could pray about for me. I said, “Girl, you don’t even know.” And then she prayed.
And then God.
The situation I was so worried about played out in the most beautiful way. Like unimaginable- not possible without God’s hand. I wish I could give you all the details, but I can’t. You’ll just have to trust me.
I can say this though – bring your burdens to the Lord. All of them.
And try your dadgum best to lay them at His feet. And if for some reason you just can’t let them go – keep trying.
And keep trying.
And keep trying.
Y’all, you don’t have to worry. God’s for real got you.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
In 2016, I got the dreaded call that no one wants to get. The call that confirmed I had breast cancer.
The day I was going to Houston for my first surgery, I was a nervous wreck. Having surgery was bad enough, but I wouldn’t know if the cancer had spread until after surgery. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, all I could think about was the dreaded C word, and needing to be there to raise my two young sons.
My parents were driving me to Houston and I was in the back seat reading my Bible. I was praying God would give me a sign that everything was going to be ok, but I didn’t know where to look. I remember as we were getting into Houston I could see the skyscrapers in the city. That made me even more terrified because we were almost at the hospital. I looked out the window and I saw a truck beside us on the freeway. On the back of the truck it said Jeremiah 29:11. I’ve gone to church all of my life, but I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never really memorized scripture, so I quickly turned to it in my Bible. God had given me the exact words I needed to calm my fears. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
This is now my favorite Bible verse. This verse made me realize that even through hard times, God will be with me. This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering, or hardship. The next year and a half I dealt with 5 surgeries, too many procedures to list, chemo and radiation, and as if that is not enough, I was also going through a divorce. Any of those things in and of itself would be too hard for me to handle alone, but not too hard for God. I’m not going to lie and say it was always easy, but with God’s help I made it through, and I learned many great lessons in the process.
A lot of blessings came out of that time in my life. My dad decided to go to the doctor because I had cancer, and they found out he too had cancer, so they were able to catch it in time to remove it. God sent me a loving Christian husband towards the end of that year and a half that took care of me and was with me through chemo and radiation. God gave me parents that were with me at every single doctor’s appointment and everything in between. He also gave me the best family and friends a girl could ask for, they prayed for me and helped me in ways I didn’t even know I needed. Most of all, my relationship with God grew. God has a reason for allowing things to happen. We may never understand, but we simply have to trust him.
The day my doctor called in 2016, I was thinking it was the worst day of my life. Thinking back to that day now, it was not the worst day of my life, it was probably one of the best days of my life. It actually was a blessing from God, so that my dad and I could become cancer free. Even through all of the bad times, God has always been so good to me!
In 2016, I got the dreaded call that no one wants to get. The call that confirmed I had breast cancer.
The day I was going to Houston for my first surgery, I was a nervous wreck. Having surgery was bad enough, but I wouldn’t know if the cancer had spread until after surgery. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, all I could think about was the dreaded C word, and needing to be there to raise my two young sons.
My parents were driving me to Houston and I was in the back seat reading my Bible. I was praying God would give me a sign that everything was going to be ok, but I didn’t know where to look. I remember as we were getting into Houston I could see the skyscrapers in the city. That made me even more terrified because we were almost at the hospital. I looked out the window and I saw a truck beside us on the freeway. On the back of the truck it said Jeremiah 29:11. I’ve gone to church all of my life, but I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never really memorized scripture, so I quickly turned to it in my Bible. God had given me the exact words I needed to calm my fears. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
This is now my favorite Bible verse. This verse made me realize that even through hard times, God will be with me. This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering, or hardship. The next year and a half I dealt with 5 surgeries, too many procedures to list, chemo and radiation, and as if that is not enough, I was also going through a divorce. Any of those things in and of itself would be too hard for me to handle alone, but not too hard for God. I’m not going to lie and say it was always easy, but with God’s help I made it through, and I learned many great lessons in the process.
A lot of blessings came out of that time in my life. My dad decided to go to the doctor because I had cancer, and they found out he too had cancer, so they were able to catch it in time to remove it. God sent me a loving Christian husband towards the end of that year and a half that took care of me and was with me through chemo and radiation. God gave me parents that were with me at every single doctor’s appointment and everything in between. He also gave me the best family and friends a girl could ask for, they prayed for me and helped me in ways I didn’t even know I needed. Most of all, my relationship with God grew. God has a reason for allowing things to happen. We may never understand, but we simply have to trust him.
The day my doctor called in 2016, I was thinking it was the worst day of my life. Thinking back to that day now, it was not the worst day of my life, it was probably one of the best days of my life. It actually was a blessing from God, so that my dad and I could become cancer free. Even through all of the bad times, God has always been so good to me!
It was either Jan. or Feb. of 2007. I had myyearly mammogram, and was walking away with total confidence that it would be fine, after all, the last 10 had all came back clear.
A few days later the doctor’s office called. They had found a suspicious spot in my right breast, and I needed to come back for another mammogram.
They assured me that this wasn’t something to be overly concerned about just yet – sometimes these things happened and it turns out to be nothing. I think it was about a week before I got the phone call that it was indeed something that needed to be addressed – the sooner the better. I would need to have surgery.
That stopped me in my tracks, and all the things that it could mean began to wage war in my mind. Fighting cancer was not something I had thought much about. How could I pray and ask God to heal me or make this all ok, when I had been living in total opposition of what His Word said.
At this point, I had never even heard of God’s Grace or how much He loved me. The first 20 years of my life I lived with a religious code that made me feel like I could never be good enough to go to Heaven, and I had been running away from God and living life “my way” for about 28 years.
The thoughts were bombarding my mind with fear. I was the only parent my daughter had left….would I live to see my grandkids grow up….the thoughts and fears were endless. All the while I trying to act like I was ok so no one would see how afraid Ireally was.
Iwas able to get an appointment at M.D. Anderson pretty quick, but the appointment date was a few weeks out. The days before and between appointments seem to be the longest. I worried, then worried some more. Then once I got to M.D. Anderson, everything started over….they wanted their own mammograms, there were several different doctors I needed to see, the appointments seemed to go on forever, when all I wanted was for them to just get it out!
After they did the biopsy I was again in the waiting pattern! When they finally called, it was confirmed it was cancer and surgery needed to be scheduled. I had to have 2 surgeries because the first one didn’t get enough clear margins from around it to make sure it was all contained to that area. The good news is that it was caught in the earliest
stage…stage 0!
Because it was all contained in that one small area, all I needed was radiation….no chemo! I was so very thankful. I am now 15 yearscancer free and I give God all the glory!
In 2009, my husband and I gave our lives to The Lord and I daily give Him praise for His Amazing Grace before Ieven knew about it, His love for me when I did not deserve it, and His Mercy before I comprehended it.
What a very strange title to have – a breast cancer survivor…
I never in my wildest dreams (or nightmares) would have thought I would be one! I was diagnosed at 39, and in the beginning I often wondered why I had to go through this?!
I always thought how amazing it would be to go into my first Oncology appointment and her give me the results of my MRI and her say there was nothing there. I actually prayed that prayer many times. But that didn’t happen. The cancer was in fact there and fast growing.
I often wondered why God didn’t miraculously heal me because I believed He could. I now know that I had to walk that tough, long, and scary road because it had a purpose. I went through 5 long months of chemo and lost all of my hair, which is very hard for a women. I was the weakest I’ve ever been in my life. I had a double mastectomy and several surgeries to follow – all around a pandemic!
In the beginning, there were times that I had crippling fear. Facing very scary tests, appointments, taking scary medicines, surgeries, and I had to face them – no one else could do it for me. No one but the Lord.
When I say that there was a peace that surpasses all understanding that came over me…it’s not just a scripture you read in the Bible, it’s a very real thing. A peace came over me that I can’t even explain. The Lord literally was leading, guiding, and holding me through it al. And when fear would creep in, He always calmed me down and gave me that peace back.
Were there times of doubt and fear? I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t. But, joy always comes in the morning! I believe I went through those things to be a light for Jesus to the women who are facing this terrible disease, too. To help them in their scary times and point them to a God who can give them that same peace and love He gave me.
“So what the enemy meant for evil, God turns to good.” Genesis 50:20
God can turn any of your circumstances you’re facing into a blessing as well, if you would only trust Him.
(And now my PSA- Ladies, get your yearly mammograms and do your self breast examinations monthly! It can literally save your life, it did mine!)💗
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
Once upon a time we had one of those days. The unexpected happened. Ambulances, hospitals, surgery, life turned upside down. In the midst of the chaos a sweet friend sent me Deuteronomy 31:6, and it became an anchor in the midst of the storm.
That verse or some version of it is repeated many times throughout the Bible. God does not want us to be fearful or anxious. He wants us to put our faith and trust in Him. I know it is easier said than done, but we just need to take it one circumstance at a time.
What can you turn over to Him today? What step can you take to trust Him? He is big enough, His shoulders are strong enough, and He is faithful to come when we cry out for Him.
We need to turn down the volume of the world, quit trying to figure out every scenario, and focus on the truth of His Word. He is more than able to quiet any storm we are in. Thank you Jesus.❤️
Are you struggling with saying yes to God? I haven’t told this story in a long time, but I feel deep within my spirit that someone needs to hear it. Maybe it’s you.
Three years ago I was sitting on my floor folding laundry – minding my own business – and God came at me. He came at me with something that I thought was absolutely nuts.
He told me to start a non-profit.
A business.
A what?
That thought had never crossed my mind. It was not a dream I had ever dreamt.
I told Him I couldn’t.
I told Him I wouldn’t.
I told Him no.
And I didn’t tell a soul.
Now y’all know how close I am with my sisters, right? I tell them everything. But not this.
Uh-uh.
No way.
Nope.
I wasn’t about to speak this into existence.
And then we wrestled. For three long weeks. I wrestled with God. I bet you can guess who won.
Rays of Sunshine Inc has been running smoothly for three years now. I wish I knew the number of kids we’ve helped, but I don’t. I just know it’s a lot. And I know it’s exactly what God made me for.
This dream I didn’t dream.
This thing I wasn’t equipped to do.
And then God.
So listen up – if God is telling you to do something – just do it. Don’t waste time. Don’t wrestle. Don’t say no.
It’s time to live out the life you didn’t know you would. It’s time to live out His dreams for you.
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
In a world that’s going ninety to nothing how can we possibly “be still”?
We have this to do and this to do and this to do. Our calendars – and our kids’ calendars – are basically out of control.
With the hustle and the bustle comes a mind that just can’t chill. Trust me – I live in that world. Thoughts of what do I need to do next play on repeat in my mind.
So, how do we be still? As I began to look at different Bible verses trying to find the answer to this question, I quickly realized that most verses about being still were also about being anxious.
So there is a cause and an effect.
When we are anxious we cannot be still.
Our mind.
Our heart.
Our soul.
They will all wrestle with that very stillness that they so desperately long for if they are not “stayed on the Lord”.
▪️We need to stay in the word.
▪️We need to stay prayed up.
▪️We need to intentionally find a quiet place.
▪️We need to praise and worship.
▪️We need to 100% trust in God.
How do we get still? We need to fix our eyes on Jesus and only Jesus.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”Isaiah 26:3
Have you really sat down and pondered this question? When someone asks “Who are you” what do you say?
A lot of us will say something like: I am a Christian, Child of God, wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, granddaughter, teacher, and friend. Even though these tell the many hats we wear and who we are in these hats – they do not really tell us who we are.
For most of my life, through high school and beyond, I struggled with who I was. I never saw myself with value or of worth. In high school I really tried to be invisible and didn’t want people to notice or “see me”. I felt like I would not be of worth to them as a friend or person; therefore, I shut myself away from people. When you think you have no value as a human being you tend to shut down and not live life.
This is the value I saw in myself. “I’m ugly, not worthy, dumb, not smart, etc….” When you dwell on these things they take root in your life and you believe them and can’t see past them. These words were like a tape running over and over in my mind.
In 1995 I accepted Christ and only then did I begin to see my life as valuable and that I mattered to people. I saw that I mattered to Christ and that He died for me, so maybe I could matter to others.
All the years of the negative had to be rooted out, and I had to regrow the positive. One verse that helps me know who I am is Ephesians 1:3-7.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He [a]made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
There are 6 key words that stand out in the passage. Blessed, Chosen, Adopted, Accepted, Redeemed, and Forgiven.
I am Blessed through Christ with every spiritual blessing.
I am Chosen by Christ.
I am Adopted and receive the inheritance by being a Child of God,
I am Accepted just as I am by the work of Christ on the cross.
I am Redeemed. Christ paid the ransom for me and plucked me out of the miry clay.
I am Forgiven. God’s limitless grace is given to me.
So now instead of the ugly tape that runs through my mind – this tape runs instead. I am blessed, chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven,
So know when you are asked who you are you say: I am blessed, chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven.
Rays of Sunshine inc 