Cancer can’t stop me… Scratch that…it almost did a couple of times… Months of being sick…many, many doctor’s appointments to get the official diagnosis of cancer and begin treatment…before it was even official cancer stopped me… I was miserable… Once diagnosed, cancer stopped me by taking all my time with doctor’s appointments and all my physical energy from the effects of chemo/radiation while continuing to work… After I was told I was in remission, cancer stopped me emotionally…withdrawing for 3 years I tried to make sense of the person I became during and now after cancer…unrecognizable, to myself and others I floundered…the other people in my life didn’t know what to do with me… I was lost… It has only been a couple of years post ‘remission identity crisis’ and no longer do I let cancer have the power to stop me… When I have to have a follow up scan and I am tempted to become anxious that the cancer has returned…cancer does not have the power to stop me… When I get low grade fever at night, lose a couple of pounds without trying, or have a night where I wake up to sweat soaked sheets…I don’t automatically think ‘symptoms’…because, …Read more
Today is the first post for the #discoverfreedomproject where a participate shares their story…if you would like to share your story…or want to know more about sharing your story, helping others discover freedom…contact me… Allison is an amazing photographer who is currently living her dream as a humanitarian photojournalist in Haiti check out her work on her website… she is also the creator of the photos I use everywhere…she made me look amazing! Her story of freedom is inspirational… I STAYED CLOSE TO GOD, AND HE HAS DELIVERED. If you know me, you know that I’m likely to have a witty answer for everything. I love to laugh and smile, and so much of what has happened in my life I’ve made it through with a positive attitude. Occasionally too positive, but it’s the lesser of two evils. Today we had another opportunity to visit the village. I love interacting with Haitians in an authentic environment. Some of the Haitian women were teasing us, and asking, do you have a boyfriend? Sara said no, Heidi said no, I said no. Then I said “I was already married once, that was enough!” Cathi translated for the Haitians, and the look on their …Read more
Week THREE of the #discoverfreedomproject…I have been honored, and blown away by the support and participation in this dream…Will you dream with me on the impact this can have on those around us? Can you imagine if everyone was able to live in freedom from the things weighing us down? I hope to see your #discoverfreedomproject declaration this week…remember it doesn’t have to be the phrasing I used this week…there aren’t a lot of rules…just celebrate freedom no matter how big or small…and if you are ready, share your story even if it is to ONE person…you never know… Anxiety controlled my life from high school until well into my adulthood…it showed up in all kind of ways…anxiety showed up in the way that I had to control most aspects of my life…anxiety showed up in the way I couldn’t be in a group of people without breaking down…anxiety showed up in the odd quirks I’d developed, the OCD tendencies that delicately held my fragile world together… I dealt with anxiety by retreating inside myself and inside my home…it controlled the decisions I made daily…and it was EXHAUSTING! I found freedom from anxiety when I went to treatment and learned …Read more
Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed… that exhilarating finish in and with God… he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right along side God… Hebrews 12:2-3 Joy…it is a word that we often substitute with happy, cheerful, glad, jolly, gleeful, lalala…All those words are all surface compared to JOY…When I think of JOY I imagine something so deep set in your soul that it can’t be stolen…that image helps me reconcile how I could have such moments of hope in the middle of the deepest despair of depression… My foundation in Christ is what saved me from harming, or trying to harm myself …Read more
