Inspired.

I just finished reading a wonderful book titled My Once Upon a Time by Sarah Liborio.  Sarah is a missionary who previously lived in the Dominican Republic.  The book is a wonderful love story based on her life.  It is a love story of how she met, dated and married her husband, but also a story of her love for the Lord, as well as her husband's Love for the Lord.  Sarah inspired me in so many ways with her story.  She inspired me to seek God's will for my life at all cost.  Not just when it fits in with my desires.  She inspired me to be a better wife to my husband, because that is what God wants and expects from me.  She inspired me to continue sharing my story even when I start to think no one would want to hear it, because you never know who you are touching by sharing your story or how.  I am honored to have met Sarah while in the Dominican Republic and to get to do some street ministry with her before she moved on to Costa Rica, where I know she is inspiring a whole new nation and giving God all the glory for it! 

Power of Pink

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, my sisters and mom ran out and started buying every pink ribbon item they could get their hands on.  Although pink has always been my favorite color, I didn't want to see anything pink, wear anything pink or even hear the word pink for a long long time.  I just didn't want to think about having cancer on the days that I wasn't in treatment, recoverying from treatment or recovering from surgery.  I just wanted to be the old me on those days....not the new cancer patient me.  I felt bad for this attitude because I feared that if I didn't stop feeling that way that God wouldn't be able to use me for whatever he was planning to use me for. Well by the grace of God, I now love pink again, lol, and will go to every Pink event for breast cancer that I can possibly go to!  Friday night my family and I headed to Tuscaloosa to the Power of Pink Gymnastics Meet.  We love our BAMA no matter what sport it is and especially when they are sporting for our cause!  It was breathtaking walking up to the Colosieum all lit up in pink and everywhere you looked you saw pink tshirts and the occasional pink feather boa (like mine!).  We arrived in time to see the pre game ceremonies where they honored several breast cancer survivors and then asked all of us to stand and be recognized.  Sometimes I have a problem with that because I didn't do anything special...I'm just a girl who had cancer.  God deserves all the glory for me surviving it!  Then I am reminded that the more I wear pink and pink ribbons and allow myself to be recognized as a survivor, the more I CAN glorify God by telling my story and all that he did for me and my family!  So pink it up Survivors!  Wherever you are, wherever you go....wear someting to identify yourself as a survivor and maybe you will be blessed with a divine appointment and meet someone who needs to know about Jesus and how the Lord saves....both physically here on earth and eternally!

Cancer Days

Every now and again I experience days that throw me right back into the realization that I am a cancer patient.   I call these my cancer days.  Although my surgery was almost 2 years ago, I just celebrated 1 year since my last chemo treatment, and my 1 year anniversary since radiation ended is just around the corner.....I am still a cancer patient.  A SURVIVOR, definitely, but a cancer patient all the same.  Normally, I take this title with a grain of salt, and a thankful heart and the title has no negative connotation at all to me.  Every now and then though, the pain, irritation, and side effects get to me.  I always feel guilty when I have down days because I have so much that I am thankful for in my life and a lot of it came through my cancer journey, but I am only human and sometimes I believe that God allows me to have these "cancer days" so that I am better equipped to empathize and share with my fellow cancer patients.  I don't ever want to forget what being a cancer patient feels like, as crazy as that may sound, because I want to always be able to share with others going through what I went through. "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."  All the affirmation I need to get through my cancer days knowing that God is always in control and I will continue to pray that God will continue to use me and my cancer for His plan to help others and further His kingdom.