In 2007, the “breast cancer” diagnosis was not a total surprise.  My mom and sister had it, so it was not totally ‘out of the blue’ but it rocked my world.  The news that the cell type was highly metastatic left me broken and afraid. The treatment plan of yearlong chemo, then radiation, was horrifying!  

At that news, I skipped right over the denial stage of grief and landed with both feet in ANGER.  I told God that this wasn’t right!  “I have plans Lord! I want to lead and teach women’s Bible Study plus I have a new grandbaby to love!”  What about MY plans God?!  I was mad and I was LOUD about it!  

If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him about your plans!  My plans changed. But Jesus was always there and walked me through breast cancer simply fine.  Nothing is too hard for God.  He healed my brokenness. Today, I thank Him for my gains.  My faith muscle needed exercise to be strong!  If I was going to teach women, I needed to know what Jesus’ peace feels like.  It’s AWESOME!  If you aren’t living in His peace today ask God for it.  He freely gives.  I am more than a survivor of breast cancer.  I am an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony.

Yesterday a friend asked me to close my eyes and picture where Jesus is. I could see Jesus, right by my side where He always has been.  What love!  Jesus has one hand on my shoulder and the other ready to go firmly over my mouth when needed.  What a great friend He is!  What amazing plans God has for our lives.  His plans are good, and He has the Words of eternal life.  

Jesus loves you more than you can imagine!  He knows you and generously gives comfort, guidance, and peace.  All gifts from a loving God!

Regarding what happened with MY plans during those treatment years – they changed a bit but my commitment to serve God did not waver. I made it through because He gave me His strength.  Was it all easy?  NO!  “But God”.

Those Words in the Bible are important to me.  When life is overwhelming, and we just can’t do it, God shows up and shows off.

My plans to serve God enlarged from the church to the treatment waiting rooms.  There is no greater opportunity to share the message of God’s love and power than at the hospital.  

Breast cancer is no longer a death sentence as medical advancements are phenomenal, but Our Healer is Jesus Christ alone.  That’s the God we worship. He is not the God of brokenness, but the God of wholeness. He cures. He restores. He resurrects. That is why He is Jehovah Rapha, “the God who heals.”

“He is not the God of brokenness, but the God of wholeness. He cures. He restores. He resurrects.” Michael Youssef, Leading the Way.

Don’t forget who Jesus is.

When you start steering that struggle bus – and you will – licensed or not.

When you are crushed and consumed by all the things – trying to claw your way out of a cave.

When you’re just too tired – too tired to take one more step.

When it’s been one thing after another. After another. After another.

Don’t forget who Jesus is.

Don’t forget what Jesus did.

Don’t forget what He has said.

Remember the walls that came falling down.

Remember the waves that no longer crashed.

Remember the man no longer crippled.

Remember the stone.

The one that was rolled away.

Remember.

Don’t forget who Jesus is.

Alpha and Omega.

Mighty Counselor.

Way Maker.

Miracle Worker.

8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8

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!

My story is truly one of God’s Amazing Grace!

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.❤️