Breast cancer stories. Yeah. I have my own.
Ah, breast cancer. Because my life wasn’t hard enough.
An abnormal mammogram. A biopsy. One lumpectomy. Followed by a mastectomy.
Yeah.
How exciting. You have got to be kidding.
And just like that, life as I knew it was flushed down the proverbial drain.
My one thought? I only thought I had problems before. But now, I would give anything to go back to what I thought were problems.
But it was too late.
Hope and my sense of humor crashed like 1929’s stock market crash!
I made a few phone calls after I got “the call.”
That’s when the people came. And the texts and phone calls.
I feel fairly isolated in my single mom’s life, but not this time.
Breast cancer stories include friends and family.
I’m a busy woman. And my family and friends are busy, too. But this time, time stopped.
While I was trying to understand what was happening, they were planning meals and care.
These people who dropped everything were the first showers of hope.
The compassionate doctors and nurses were other voices of comfort.
And people who have been there are lifelines!
No one went hungry, and once the surgery was over, it was a splash of color in a very dark place.
A diagnosis means that you need a place to fix your eyes.
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 KJV
We need a place to look and to keep our eyes fastened on. I’m reeling now.
I am a single mom. My responsibilities never end. And now this?
Looking at my circumstances brings a sense of hopelessness. Looking up to Jesus and past my circumstances keeps me from straight-out-panic.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3 KJV
Making God’s promises personal.
What I once went to as comfort has since become a lifeline.
Seeking God’s promises for me isn’t an option. They’re what keep me from despair.
The following verses have become precious to me.
The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.
Psalms 41:3 NKJV
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 41:31
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalms 103:1-5 KJV
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Psalms 34:19 KJV
Focus on God’s love for you.
Sitting in the living room chair, I couldn’t fathom how I was supposed to look at this. I felt so abandoned and betrayed.
I typically picture God sitting in the chair beside me when I pray. Not that night. He was sitting clear across the room. And darkness was closing in.
Then I read this verse.
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
1 John 3:1a NKJV
I’m not the best parent, but there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my children. Their heartbreak is my heartbreak. Regarding goals, I intend to give them the best life and happy childhood.
Maybe not a life without pain, but a life with so much good in it that the pain is bearable.
Would God do any less for me?
I may be limited in what I can provide and complete for my family, but he is not.
God has not abandoned us and can bring us hope, healing, and life.
Turn and fight.
This is one of the first verses I received from a friend. Her courage inspired me.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Romans 8:37 KJV
I only know this about courage.
It’s not easy to come by.
And it’s a choice.
So, you get to choose. What will you do when your boat has a hole in it, and you can see the sharks circling? How are we going to do this?
We are going to take a deep breath and look around. What comes next? The next doctor’s appointment. The next treatment.
It’s making the best daily choices. Every day, until we can see the future again.
It’s one day at a time, Sweet Jesus!
