Our Journey to Healing: Part of the Plan

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Part of the Plan

I wrote this in July 2005.

It's about how God uses this trial for His good.

Yesterday we got Andrea’s PET scan results. They were a little scary. The cancer is in her liver and lungs as well as her bones. Satan seems to be piling on. But God has answered. Andrea and I know this is not a surprise to God and this news does not limit God. His hands are not suddenly tied. Never has nor never will this problem become too great for God.

I’m sitting outside the Oncologist office waiting to go in and see Andrea on her third chemo treatment. I feel God is providing us strength every day. I know that God is hearing our prayers and the prayers of other believers. I see the faith growing and being displayed in others, our friends, their children and it is so exciting. I know that if God can change lives like this he can heal Andrea.
It came to me that this cancer is not just about Andrea and me. God’s plan is much greater then my small view. Sometimes I get lost in the selfishness of my immediate surroundings and my personal prayers, but God is using this trial for His Kingdom. This cancer as much as it is changing me and my faith it is also being used in many others. Some I will never meet know or even hear about. At our prayer time I had a glimpse of how He is teaching others. When I hear others step out in faith, to believe and trust for Andrea. When I see them take that faith into their own lives and the lives of their children it excites me. I pray for those who God is reaching, both believers and non-believers. It is so humbling to be used by God in such a way. To be connected to His plan. We offer ourselves for His glory. That can be a little scary to say, to let go of your own desires, but our reward awaits us in heaven, in our eternal home where we will continually praise God in fellowship with other believers and meet people we never knew we impacted on this earth. When I think about that this is not so scary.

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About Us

This blog began as as an account of Andrea's and my journey though breast cancer and her eventual death. My intention was to chronicle our experiences from sickness to physical healing but God revealed His plan was beyond the mere physical. I have continued to experience healing in my life and now God has opened a door to a new chapter in my life. This journey has not ended but has transformed into a new normal and the hope of a new beginning

My monthly updates, which grew into this blog, reached an Air Force pilot's wife in Jan 2007 who had lost her husband two months prior. Her name is Ginger and her husband's name was Troy. Through this tragic bond developed a friendship. And now, through marriage, God has merged all of our journies to healing. This blog is a compilation of these four lives; two sadly taken and two left behind. In this common grief God has given Ginger and I a desire to journal our experiences as therapy for our pain and a source of encouragement to others who face life's most enormous challenges

Andrea was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer in Aug 2003 while we were stationed in Anchorage Alaska. After 6 months of chemo and radiation we moved to Washington DC. In June 2005 we moved again to Seymour Johnson AFB in NC. Two weeks later Andrea was told the pain in her hip was breast cancer that had spread to her bones. Two weeks later we were told the cancer was also in her liver and lungs. July 5th 2005 Andrea began chemo treatment. On Dec 17th 2007 Andrea lost her fight with cancer but won her place in eternity.

Troy was a loving father of 5 children, and like Andrea was a
faithful servant of Christ. Troy was an F-16 pilot who volunteered to serve in Iraq. He deployed in Sept 2006. One day during his tour there he was tasked to provide close air support to a special operations unit who had come under overwhelming enemy fire. In an attempt to limit civilian causalities Troy made two low level passes employing the gun from his F-16. After a successful first pass Troy attempted a second pass to ensure the safety of the American soldiers. It was during this pass that Troy's F-16 impacted the ground. On Nov 27th 2006, Troy lost the fight in Iraq and that day won his place in eternity.

This blog is about our experiences, what God has taught us and most importantly about God's faithfulness. It is about dealing with life with cancer and life after cancer. It is about dealing with the sudden tragic loss of a spouse. It is about death and life and the deep grieving and growing process we are going through. It is about our victories and our struggles. But always it is about God's unfailing love for us.

We write this blog to tell you what the Lord has placed on our hearts or simply our feelings at the moment in hopes that this helps you understand what we are going through as well as give you encouragement as you face trials in your own life.

Some writings will be from Jim, some will be from Ginger, some from both of us. Some are writings that express Andrea and Troy's faith and impact during their short lives on this earth.

With thankfulness to Christ,
Jim and Ginger

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the LORD, who is my refuge-
then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Our Journey to Healing

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