One Year! Ring the Bell!

 

April 6, 2020 is a day I will not soon forget, if ever. It is the day I had a hemi-colectomy (surgery) to remove a portion on my large intestine where a small tumor resided with cancer growing inside.

Some people may call it a second chance while others call it a new beginning. I call it my health-a-versary. One short year ago my (and my family's) world was turned upside down, inside out, and backward. I had a choice to make. We all had a choice to make. Either trust what we knew to be true and follow the promises of the living God, or crawl into a hole and feel sorry for ourselves. Let's be honest, there were moments when feeling sorry for myself seemed legitimate and I don't think anyone would have thought it was misplaced sorrow, but I knew that was not how my story was meant to play out. 

This month I celebrate One Year Cancer Free! If I have to say the "C" word out loud, directed at myself, this is the only way I wish to say it. 

Cancer Free!

Hilton Head Island - Spring Break 2021

I am learning how to navigate both faith and fear, doubt and trust, understanding that with God by my side I already have an advantage. This is still a journey, and I still have a lifetime to walk this road and make right choices surrounding my health. I will continue searching for answers that will help others heal, and growing in knowledge so I can be a resource and light for my community. 

 I do not have to live in fear just because I may feel afraid. I know that greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world! Sometimes it feels difficult to trust when we are flooded with news of all that is wrong in our fallen world. Living through a pandemic, not knowing who to trust with what information, being bombarded with negative news, and finally dealing with our own personal struggles leaves us seriously wondering where God is through it all.

"We don't always get to choose our situations, but we can choose how we live through them." ~ Lysa Terkeurst

I want to live gracefully and with great hope through life's circumstances. I choose to trust God and His perfect plan. The current events of our world do not catch him by surprise. God has a perfect plan. I know this because He says it in His word, and I believe that the promises of God are true today just as they were true thousands of years ago. God is never changing! 

When patients with cancer complete their chemotherapy, they get to ring a bell as they walk out of the treatment center for the final time, declaring their victory over cancer. I consider this my Bell-Ringing moment!! Let's ring that bell loud and proud for the whole world to hear!

Ringing my Bell,

~Steph

**Stay Tuned for a Food Related post in the next few weeks. I am always excited about the fascinating world of food, and how what we eat literally transforms our lives. :-)