HOPE--One of the Three Sisters

I haven't had time to write--all the recent doctor visits and my life changing so fast and all. I have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I go in next week for a partial mastectomy on the left side and and a removal of a benign papaloma on the right. I feel blessed at this stage that it was caught early. So far the doctors say I have a "low risk" breast cancer. Because I opted for a lumpectomy (partial mastectomy), I will have to have radation. That requires travelling to the hospital for 5 days a week for six weeks. Talk about ruin a summer of fun! After the surgery, my auxillary lymph nodes will be sent out to California for a test called an Oncotype DX which measures your risk of cancer throughout the rest of the body. If this test comes back below a score of 17, then I will NOT have to have chemo. It looks like I should be in good shape that way too. So you might ask yourself, "where does the title of this article come in to all of this?" Well, let's take a look at HOPE. We don't always know what is in store for us--what the good Lord's purposes may be, but we have to trust in him. Even though the puzzle pieces aren't all coming together for me or aren't all there yet, I have learned through past experience that the Lord does come through. So HOPE is more than just a cross of the fingers--it's the experience I have had to know that HOPE combined with FAITH can work miracles for us.

Twelve years ago, I went through an interesting health scare. At that time my daughter was only in 8th grade. Now she is 25 and living in NYC. I asked her how she was feeling with all of the news. She replied, "You know mom, our last experience taught me a lot about faith and that the Lord will help us get through this one too. It has given me confidence to know He is in charge and knows all." Yes, I thought. He has ALL the pieces of the puzzle. If I possessed all the pieces, I would never have to exercise FAITH and find HOPE in the experience I have had with Him.

Photo Credit: © Jaromír Ondra Dreamstime.com