Category: 2014 Posts

Posted on in 2014 Posts

It’s My One Year Cancer Free Anniversary!

cancer free 1
Thanks to my cousin and fellow survivor, Jeanne, for the shirt!

Anniversaries are good.  They cause us to reflect.  In my case, it overwhelms me a bit to go back and think about where I have been.  It also strengthens me to think about where I have been, knowing that I have made it another year.  I am what they call a survivor!

I was reading what I wrote over a year ago when I sat down to write my blog tonight.  It reminded me how I was struggling with anger knowing that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer.  As I was whining one day about my circumstances, a man who works at my publishing company called.  He was asking me about my upcoming speaking and writing schedule, when I told him I just didn’t know what tomorrow held.  The things I have on the calendar today may all look differently after I figure out what this disease is going to do to me.  He told me, “I think I should tell you, I am cancer free for 10 years this month!” Then he went on to say, “I was angry for about fifteen minutes and then I decided to fight, never looking back.”  What great wisdom there was in his words.  They were exactly the words I needed to hear.  I believe God sent him to me that day.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

I was also able to see my fears in my writings. As I was waiting for my diagnosis, I penned these words… So tonight in the darkness I fight the enemy.  I say, “Get you behind me Satan!”  I am a child of the King…a princess in His eyes and He will take care of me in the days ahead.  I do not need to fear or panic about what tomorrow might bring.  For when the sun arises, once again I get another day.  That was on a good day.  When I couldn’t be strong, He always seemed to intervene through my circumstances or through others.  I thank God for His strength when I was weak.

Psalm 94:18-19 (NIV)  When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

I am thankful that the worst appears to be over.  It’s been a hard year and has cramped my style in a lot of ways.  However, it’s moments like the phone call I received from my publisher that I knew God was there.  In fact, He had appointed an army of warriors to pray for me, call me, encourage me, send me cards and notes, and offer their help in many ways.  There were several times that He made Himself evident in my situation and comforted me through others.  It is a wonderful thing to serve a God that meets us where we are.  I will be forever grateful for those who joined the fight with me by answering His call.

Many of you that I don’t even know in person, left encouraging comments, sent private messages and even sent cards.  Even though I was stubborn and didn’t allow friends to go to my appointments and tests with me, they offered.  For that, I am also thankful.  I appreciated those who sent texts and scriptures at just the right time, made phone calls, or invited me out to lunch to get my mind off of my circumstances.  You are angels in disguise.

My last day of radiation with two of the best radiation therapists around! Bless you Holly and Jenny!
My last day of radiation with two of the best radiation therapists around! Bless you Holly and Jenny!

For those caretakers who took the time to ease my fears and give me a hug when I needed one…you were a true blessing from God.  And, Jim.  You stood by me and put up with me through it all.  What a wonderful man God gave me in him.  I love you, sweetheart!

To my friends who are currently in the battle of disease, my prayers are with you. I am humbled by how gracefully some of you are going through it. For you…I offer my testimony that even when life gets very difficult and you think the struggle will never end…God is Good.  Cling to Him.  Call out to Him.  Let Him show you His stuff.

You don’t have to do it alone. 

He is faithful.

I love this video as it shows people helping other people through the battle.  Perhaps you know someone that has been recently diagnosed or is going through treatments.  Pray and ask God how you might be able to join them in His army to encourage and assist them in battle!  Click here and be inspired!

Posted on in 2014 Posts

It’s a Cat, It’s a Raccoon, It’s an El Chupacabra!

footprints in snowOne morning this week, I looked out the side door to find animal tracks leading from the flowerbed to under my side steps.  I started freaking out a little because I noticed there were only one set of prints.  This told me that the animal was either under my steps and left or it went under my steps and never came out!  So, I did what any wise woman would do before exiting my home through my side door and consulted my trusted Facebook friends!

I posted this photo and got these responses:

  1. At least it is a small animal
  2. I thought maybe a raccoon, Jim thought possibly one of the wild cats in the neighborhood.
  3. That’s a nice straight line.  I’m with you on a raccoon.
  4. Sasquatch for sure!
  5. Not Big Foot (from one of my encourager friends!)
  6. Saw last night on the news that there are bobcats popping up in Ohio and they mentioned your county.
  7. If you are standing in your house, it looks like the tracks are going away from your house and they do look like raccoon prints on a few of them where a thumb print appears.
  8. That is definitely a Southern Ohio Snipe or maybe even El Chupacabra tracks!
  9. I’m with you on a nice fat raccoon.
  10. Looks like a raccoon spent the night under your steps…like he does every night.
  11. Or a skunk.

I am sure now you can see why I consulted my trusted advisors!  Ha!  I was scared to death to leave the house that morning thinking a monster had taken up residency in my driveway! Your mind can play horrible tricks on you when something like this occurs.  However, as I pulled away, I realized that my fears were unfounded.  My friend with comment number 7 was actually correct.  The footsteps were actually leading away from my home and there was no longer an animal to be seen.

I was amazed when I thought about it how much your footprints can say about you.  The person that actually took the time to analyze them could guess more accurately the type of animal and could even tell what direction they were headed.  I am sure there is someone on earth whose feet are backwards either from an accident or birth defect.   However, almost every living creature’s feet face forward on their body; thus giving a logical conclusion of the direction of the animal.

I think that it is cool that our bodies were designed in this way.  Since we are designed in God’s image, I think this is a beautiful way of Him showing us that He is a forward-moving God.   Several times in the Bible, there have been scriptures telling someone, “Don’t look back.”  I think there is some wisdom to be gleaned from this.  If God wanted us to linger in the past, I think He would have given us feet that took us more easily backwards than ours are designed to do.

Detectives often scan for shoe prints around a crime scene.  They can get a lot of information from a footprint.  Did they wear shoes?  If they did, were they professional business shoes, tennis shoes, boots, flip-flops, etc?  They can even guess their size and possibly their gender by the size and shape of their footprints.  They might also know if they were running, walking slowly, and could tell if they changed direction or stooped at one point or another.  I know this because I watch, Castle.

The truth is, we all leave tracks of where we have been and where we are going.  They are not always physical tracks per say.  I think it is good to analyze our paths every so often.  It is important not to dwell on the past and let your mind run crazy about where you’ve been.  Your mind can play tricks and make your past seem much worse than it really was.  If you’re not careful, your mind can keep you in an unhealthy place, dwelling on a past that can’t be changed.  It is more important to be headed in the right direction now.  If you’ve asked for forgiveness of your past, God doesn’t even remember where you’ve been.  I can’t think of a better time than at the beginning of a new year to re-access our pathways.

As always, if you’re not analyzing your steps, someone else will!  With that in mind, spiritually speaking, do your steps lead those who come behind to your Lord and Savior? Can someone look at your prints and know that you are a Christian committed to your faith?  If not, today can be the day that your track changes course.  Then it’s full speed ahead.  God is standing patiently at the end of your trail prodding you to keep moving forward toward your final destination with Him in heaven someday.  It’s a wonderful thing to serve a forward- moving Savior who will direct our paths to Him!  It’s just up to you to take the first step!

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 119:105  Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Posted on in 2014 Posts

What’s Your Word for 2014?

sunrise on Christmas morn
This was a beautiful sunrise Christmas morning, 2013.

I’m never good at keeping New Year resolutions, so I decided several years ago not to even try.  However, I’m not sure why, but it seems that God gives me insight for the year ahead each January.  In fact, last year I went into 2013 kicking and screaming with what I felt was ahead.  I was prepared for the worst and it came, plus some.  This year, though, I am at peace.  I feel in my heart that 2014 is going to be a year of blessings—so that is my word for 2014.  Blessings.

We have all been through several years now of uncertainty having lived through the recession, job losses, cutbacks, high gas prices, changes in healthcare and other various stressors just to mention a few.  Some of us were better prepared than others.  However, I don’t think any of us have walked through the last few years unscathed.  Through these lean years, our household has cut back dramatically on eating out, vacations, and other things we would typically have done in the past just in order to save a few dollars to make ends meet.  Perhaps you’ve done the same.

Maybe it’s just me…or maybe you will relate.  It seems like when we go through lean times like these that we tend to get our priorities in line a little better than when times are easier and more certain.  Sometimes when things go smoothly in everything we do, we take things for granted.  In today’s world, when you go to work and come home with your job intact, it is a good day.  So many people I know in the last few years have struggled financially just because they were out of work or perhaps their job was cut back to part time to avoid high insurance costs for their company.  In 2013, God showed me how He provides.  He taught me once again to praise Him for His provision and reminded me to pray for my husband’s career and mine.  He gently pointed out to me that I should not put my faith into our employers; rather, I need to trust Him daily and seek His direction for our income.

Also, a year ago this week, it was confirmed that I had breast cancer.  Talk about your world losing control.  As a matter of fact, most of 2013 was spent going to appointments related to treating either my condition or the residual effects of the cancer.  It was just a couple of weeks ago that I can actually say, “I feel like myself again for the first time in a year!”  God taught me in 2013 that no one’s good health is guaranteed.  We can eat all of the right foods, exercise and get 8 hours of sleep every night and still get a disease that can threaten our life.  He taught me to slow down and do only the things of importance for a while.  The house can wait.  I may not be able to be superwoman to my kids and grandkids for a season.  He met me every morning, faithfully, and showed me through His Word that He was taking care of me and it was OK not to be so independent.  He spoke to me about the fact that I am human, living in a temporary world.  He designed life so that we could depend on Him to get us through whatever comes our way.  He gave me renewed hope of an eternity with no more suffering someday.

I say all of this because even though 2013 was a year of suffering, depression, uncertainty and lots of unexpected expenses; God has proven Himself, once again, to be faithful.  I can go through life like I started out last January, kicking and screaming; or, I can simply choose to trust God.  If we experience despair in our finances, health, and other circumstances, we can make the choice to put God in a box and don’t believe He can.  Or, we can seek Him through our situations and marvel at how He takes us through the valleys so gracefully.  I went into 2013 scared and uncertain about tomorrow.  Today in 2014, I still don’t know what tomorrow brings.  However, I am grateful for a year of suffering so that when God’s blessings fall, I will no longer take them for granted. I look forward to trusting God even more and growing into a deeper relationship with Him in 2014.

God never lets us down. He may not answer how or when we would like, but He is always there.  Today I am rejoicing through the days ahead in 2014 knowing He has my best interest at heart.  I am looking towards 2014 as the year for blessings because I have learned; blessings may even come disguised as trials and tribulations.  Every year is a year of blessings if our hearts are set on Him!

Ephesians 1:3 (NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

What’s your word for 2014?