Tough week!

This past week was pretty tough!! I had a lot of tests and scar tissue removed...to the tune of 13 total stitches. Painful, restricting, tiring, and just annoying are a few words to describe it. I had a few difficult conversations with Jaela about cancer. We pray daily for a dear friend of mine in England who has a rare form of terminal cancer. He has been such an encouragement to me. It is so hard to talk to people about my cancer situation because I feel like no one really understands what I am going through. It is a strange feeling to think that something could be killing you from the inside...even harder is when my Dr. calls it a silent killer. Though mine isn't terminal, and his is a lot worse than mine, he gets it. He is still the most positive man, no matter what. God has given him an amazing peace and I am trying my hardest to see that in my situation.

This is the most encouraging statement that he emailed me. It is by a Scottish lady named Margaret Lee-

'This is not the worse thing to ever happen! Cancer is so limited. It cannot cripple love, shatter hope, corrode faith, eat away peace, destroy confidence, kill friendship, shut out memories, silence courage, quench the Spirit or lessen the power of Jesus.'

This statement is so very true in many, many situations. I am trying to focus on the more positive things in life, and not worry about my cancer. A lot of people ask why I still smile, or why I still seem so happy. The only thing that this cancer has taken from me is my short term memory (only from time to time...at least as far as I remember. lol!!) and my hair. But it has given me so much more. I met a sweet lady with stage 3 ovarian cancer in the waiting room at M.D. Anderson. I say sweet, but she was an old hag...she said so herself!! One day she asked me why I still smile, given my circumstances. I told her that I have hope and know that I am healed and whole. She wanted to have that too, so I prayed with her. For the next 2 weeks, when I saw her in the waiting room, she would pat the seat next to her and say "come sit by the old hag!" I got a phone call 2 weeks after praying with her that she had passed away over night. She left a note and a necklace for me. The note read- I will be smiling in 50 years when you walk through the gates of heaven because of you. I will be so happy to see Liz (the old hag) again one day. Had it not been for my cancer I would not have met her.
God is really providing for our family in ways that we are amazed by! Most of you know that Jeremiah was laid off in November, then this cancer stuff, then Jeremiah had a pretty bad car accident...and the list goes on.... We found out today that Jeremiah will be signing a one year contract with our church to do graphics. Which means we can stay here with the best medical help, meet the needs of our family and stay where we feel God has called us and where we feel home is. Our church's latest outreach "HOPE for New Territory" -a worship CD by our worship team that Jeremiah leads- will be in 5100 mailboxes this week!! Our COBRA has been extended to February of 2011. Like I said before, the list goes on...but this time in an amazing way. We have so much to be thankful for, and I am going to focus on that!!! Though I am fighting cancer, I am blessed beyond measure.