Time Flies...

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Three years, two months and twenty days ago the cancer was removed from my body. Today, as of this writing, I am doing well. I still have the after effects of the surgeries, like lymphedema, and the many side effects of continued drug therapy to keep it from coming back, but I am thankful those meds exist so that I can remain cancer free. I've just come through my latest checkups I have every 6 months now and all was good. I have a checkup with my cardiologist next week to check that the mild damage that was done from chemo has not worsened. I'd appreciate your prayers for that. 

When I look back at these last three years it seems insane what has happened. 

Diagnosed with breast cancer
Surgery for port placement
16 Chemotherapy Treatments
Double mastectomy with reconstruction & port removal
Complete hysterectomy
25 straight days of radiation
Rehab from mastectomy surgery & lymphedema treatment
Cardio Rehab due to mild heart damage from chemo
Shoulder Rehab due to pinched rotator cuff
Covid Lockdown
More Lymphedema rehab
Shingles
Ankle Surgery
Ankle Rehab
Knee Surgery
Knee Rehab
More Drs appointments & tests in between than I can keep up with to tweak anxiety meds, pain meds, etc, etc, etc. whew!!

If you had told me three years ago I would make it through all this I would not have believed you AT ALL. Without God, I would not have. I have heard people say they don't understand my trust in God because they feel that if He really loved me He wouldn't have allowed me to get cancer. They think I should be angry with God. I can understand where they're coming from because they are viewing it from an earthly perspective. But I can tell you 1000% that it's not God's fault I got cancer. He specifically tells us in John 16:33 that "in this world you will have trouble", in Act 14:22 it says that "through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God" and 365 times He tells us to "fear not". Why would He need to tell us that so many times if there were no bad things happening to fear? Just because I am a Christian doesn't make me exempt. This world is broken and sinful and God didn't do that. Man did. Through our sin, bad things, like sickness and death, entered the world and God told us, hang on...it's gonna be a rough ride, but in the end it'll all be worth it. The older I get, the more I realize just how short our lives are here on earth and the more I look forward to spending my eternity in the perfection of heaven.
The Bible never says we won't face trouble. In fact it warns us over and over that we will. Some of the greatest people in the Bible faced immense suffering. What God did promise was that if we place our trust in Him then in our suffering, through our difficult circumstances, He would never, ever leave us. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Joshua 1:5 says, "Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you." Joshua 1:9 says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Matthew 28:20 says, "...and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 
Even when we are making bad choices, God has not left us. He has told us how to live our lives and yet often times we ignore Him completely. We shut Him out completely and instead listen to the lies that satan likes to whisper in our ears. Even then, God will forgive us when we make horrible decisions, but the consequences of our actions still have to be faced. Our actions cannot be undone.
I could go on and on telling you how God has promised to never leave us when we are walking a difficult road. He loves you. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to spend eternity with you in a place more wonderful than we can ever fathom...but He won't force you. To do so would take away your own free will. Unless you make your own choice to follow Him, it is meaningless. So you have the choice of whether to accept His gift in this short life so that your eternity will be spent in the perfect beauty of heaven, where there is no death, no sickness, no reason to cry or you have the choice to refuse it and spend your eternity suffering and separated from all hope. My prayer is that you choose Him. 

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