Those of you who have been faithfully reading Your Daily Cup of Inspiration for the past few years, were first introduced to Patrice, my beautiful sister-in-law from North Carolina, in a blog post dated October 8. At that time, I shared with you her Breast Cancer diagnosis that rocked our family. I also wrote about Patrice again in April 2009, when she did something that moved me deeply. Feel free to read those two posts after you have read this one.
Many of you prayed with me and sent your love during the whole ordeal. Well, this is her posing with me in the above picture taken yesterday evening at my mom's house. Doesn't she look great?
Trice, as I call her, is a Breast Cancer survivor, and one of my favorite people. She and my brother Joe surprised everyone when they, and my two beautiful nieces, popped in unannounced to offer their love and moral support to my mom.
Mom just cried.
She was ecstatic to see them.
It was really sweet.
The visit came at precisely the right time—the night before the first official day of mom's chemotherapy treatment. Trice's presence here in Buffalo feels so comforting because she has already been through what mom is going through right now. My dear sister-in-law stands as a cancer-free testimony of God's grace and healing power!
You know what else is is pretty amazing? Just like mom, Trice discovered her cancer in Stage 1, before it had an opportunity to spread. She, too, was diagnosed with "Triple Negative," the rare form of Breast Cancer that only accounts for 10-20% of all cases.
As we sat talking for more than an hour—I had a lot of questions Daily Cup family!—Trice inspired me so greatly. She laid out the facts and shared her experience, while remaining positive and full of faith.
There I was, sitting with a healthy, happy, and whole, Triple Negative Breast Cancer survivor.
God is so sovereign.
He knew this storm would hit our family, again.
And the Lord also knew He would use Trice, who, in 2008, essentially had the exact same diagnosis as mom, as a witness that He is able! Trice's health battle was fierce and took some unexpected turns. But look at what the Lord has done.
Did I mention how sovereign our God is?
This is what it truly means to have your test become a testimony.
So, on this day, I am encouraged by something God impressed upon my heart; I want to share it with you.
Sickness, hurt, pain, and struggle, can all seem so senseless and meaningless. It can be really hard to understand why God allows the winds of hardship and transition to blow through our lives. There are just some things we will never fully comprehend.
But we can be sure of this one thing.
When God allows us to survive the darkest, lowest, roughest place in our lives, we are then equipped to shine the light of His glory throughout the earth. We become the perfect candidate to act as a conduit through which divine restoration, healing, comfort, and freedom, is delivered to many others.
In other words, our own hurt qualifies us to become healers. Isn't that just awesome?
This is a great place to send up a praise to God and interject a very fitting scripture: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
TODAY'S PRAYER: God, it can be hard to believe that there is any purpose in my pain. At times, the darkness of the cloud makes it difficult to see any silver lining. That's why I thank You, dear Lord, for reminding me at this very moment, that my struggles are not in vain. And when I come through this, You will use what started out as a bad situation, as a great testimony of your power to carry your people through any test. In Jesus' name, Amen.
