10 years

Everyone's life goes back to "Normal" but here we are.  Should I just approach it like any other day? Why am I so emotional over memories and milestones? Some of you may not remember that day with me 10 years ago, but many of you have stood by our side, championed prayers, and witnessed the miracle. Today is a day that truly marks a significant milestone in the life of those post cancer diagnosis, and for me too. Aug 7th 2014 feels like an eternity away, yet eerily like yesterday. At least it marks a moment in my life that changed the forward trajectory of never being the same again....

The phone call came that August 7th morning while I sat on the front step of my home watching my four littles run around me. I had a mole removed about a week prior because "when something grows or changed on your skin you should remove it" but they "were not concerned at all".  To the doctors surprise it was melanoma, and advanced at that point to where a further surgery was scheduled asap. What happened after that moment could not be articulated in one small article, but a life changing, life altering journey. A miracle happened that day, a calling, and a pinnacle moment in my life. You see there are stories I can tell going back yers before this day that I can be confident this story was written for my life. And now even so 10 years ahead I can look back over the arc of the last decade to clearly see that something unheard of was unraveling. As Davey Blackburn writes in his recent book, Nothing is Wasted, "I began to realize I am not the author of this book. I didn't come up with this story. God did. Im merely the reporter. Im the journalist showing you the goodness of God during the little part my family has played in His grand narrative. He's the author and perfecter of our life and faith. As you read this book, (for me as you watch my life) I don't want you to think that I'm someone special; rather, I want you to say, "WOW, God is really a good God. And if He can do that for "JOANNA" in the midst of her pain, He can do that for me in the midst of mine" 

So as I wake up today on my 10 year "cancerversary" truly a day statistically that I never imaged I would see, I want to encourage YOU.  One of the most difficult parts of my life is that God has called me into living daily in the cancer realm. I am reliving the phone call moment with so many weekly through my ministry at Radiant Hope. This, albeit challenging, keeps me grounded in faith, persevering in hope, and living for each moment as a gift. This is true for me, and this is true for you. Perhaps you have not had your phone call moment, in this life you may or may not. But I know one thing is true "in this world you will have trouble" You ask? "How does that bring any hope or encouragement to your life? Well, good question. Here is the truth. We are fleeting. We all know that and the older we get the more precious time is. This can bring so much anxiety OR we can let this propel us into living meaningful and purposeful days, months and years. Your story, my story, is part of something much larger than we can see. I want to be faithful with the life I have been gifted, content in the calling I was created for, and purposeful in the pain. I don't share much on this blog, or share openly the lasting health complications and struggles, after all I am thankful to be here. The reality is that cancer does change you. 

On my 10 year Cancerversary here is what I have learned:

1. Life is precious. Cancer perhaps makes you feel the precious fragility of time. Our days are numbered and they matter to God, and to others. If you have breath in your lungs today, you have purpose, meaning, and something to give to this world because God has not called you home. 

2. You will forever be your best advocate. There are amazing family members, friends, and medical professionals, but no one knows you, like you. Your feelings are real, your thoughts are real, you can control who you are and you have the power to make decisions to greatly impact your life. Your voice matters. 

3. Suffering comes in all shapes and forms and there is no two types of suffering the same. We all need more grace, more empathy, more praying, and more hoping. I say all the time the only thing we all have in common is suffering. 

4. Less maybe really is more. Less people in your circle, less stuff in your house, less items on your calendar, less advice to give. Having less means space for more. 

5. Approaching health takes a WHOLEISTIC approach. Your medical team is a piece of the pie, along with your spiritual faith, nutrition, therapy, community, and more. 

6. Love trumps everything. When your heart experiences the brokenness of this world there is an unending pit of empathy to love others. Get out and do, serve, use your gifts, and put your beliefs into action. 

7. Everything AD (After Diagnosis) is an "I get to" not "I have to". You get to live this beautiful, hard life. 

8. You can do all the things, be all the things, and it can still happen to you. Sometimes we cannot prevent or deter the path that is laid out before us. We cant choose the circumstances we are in, but we can choose what do to with it. 

9. Show up. Do something. You will never forget showing up in those moments that count for your people and I will never forget the ones that have done that for me. 

10. Jesus is all you need. 

" I shall not die but I will live to proclaim what the Lord has done." Psalm 118:17