What? I have breast Cancer?

It was two years ago today around 5:30 PM when I received the phone call from my doctor.  I was really waiting to hear "It was nothing, all is good," and instead I hear, "Unfortunately it is cancer."  As I state in my previous post I had several thoughts running through my mind.  The first people in my life I contacted was my husband, of course, who had just taken our Son to the park to practice baseball.  I then sent a text to my Mom, and two of my closest friends.  Within seconds, all three had called me to talk to me in person.  One of my closest friends happens to be our preacher's wife.  She immediately got a hold of several of our Elders (we actually call them Shepherds) from church and their wives and they all showed up to our house to pray over us a couple of hours later.

What emotions did I have?  I went through so many in such a short amount of time.  I remember being scared, sad, in disbelief, angry and numb.  I kept thinking, what could I have done better? After all, I exercised nearly everyday, ate right and drank a lot of water.  Maybe it was all the water in those plastic bottles or maybe it was the dessert I had last week or the candy I got in my stocking at Christmas.  I drove myself crazy trying to figure out how this happened to me. 

Then I went through the "What did I do wrong?  Am I being punished for something?" stage.  I finally realized it does not matter how or why this happened but how am I going to fight this.

When my friend asked me if it was OK to call the Shepherds to come over and pray, at first I thought, NO!  They have family and are probably doing something more important.  Then I thought, this is a battle and we need all the help we can get and what better way to begin a battle than to have a group of people praying over us.  Even though I continued to have a range of extreme
emotions, there was something powerful and comforting to know that people in my church that I consider friends had my back in this warfare.  They were there to walk with my family in anyway we needed.

I encourage you to seek out those people in your life that you can trust to help you on this journey.

My sweet family today........two years later!

 



You are not Alone

I am a wife of a Athletic Director/Coach and a Mom to two wonderful children.  Andrew is 10 and Anna is 7.  I am also a Choral Director of our local school and have taught choir/music for 19 years. 

Two years ago, I heard the dreaded words on the phone, "Unfortunately it is cancer."  My life and the life of my family forever changed.  Three thoughts crossed my mind;
1. What about my family?
2.  What about the Praise Team at Church? and
3. What about my kids at school? 

I knew right away that I would not quit singing on the Praise Team and certainly would not stop teaching choir to my students at school and also would continue to be a wife and mom.  But as much as I like to be independent, I knew I could not fight this battle alone.  I knew God would be with me but I knew it was going to be a community effort to get us through this crisis.

I plan to share with you my journey in hopes that it may help you know that others have and are going through what you are facing right now. You may have just found out you too have breast cancer or any cancer or you may be right in the middle of chemo........One of my favorite new verses from the Bible is:
"You only need to remain calm; the Lord will fight for you." Exodus 14:14
Wherever you are in your journey, look around and discover that you are not alone.

My family with Christian Comedian Bob Smiley May of 2012.