Our Journey to Healing: Andrea's Journal Entry May 9th 2007

Friday, January 11, 2008

Andrea's Journal Entry May 9th 2007

Again I feel I have nothing to Andrea's words. For those of you who were blessed to meet Andrea she was in private as you saw her. She loved God first. I miss her faith. But as she told me that time, Jim what are you going to do when this is over? You need to have your own faith and it can not be based only on the intensity of this trial. You need to have a faith that will stand up when this is over. Now my giant of faith is gone and it is my time to stand up and be counted as a believer. To have my own faith, a faith I live with when life is easy. Sometimes that is harder then having faith when you are lost in helplessness. I hope Andrea knows. I think she does. I'm glad she saw me begin to change before she passed. I think it was God's gift to her.

Here is her Journal entry:

Tonight at church we sang "Shout to the Lord" and when we got to the part, "Nothing compares to the promise I have in you." I thought how true that is for me. The doctors can only offer me, "Management of the cancer", or to keep me, "As comfortable as possible" but God offers healing. He offers me a plan to bless me and not harm me. To see the goodness of Lord in the land of the living and I will declare the works of the Lord. Praise God. I love that. Nothing compares to the promise I have in God. And after this life, eternal life life with our savior in heavenly bliss! I can hardly wait. I pray for a life fulfilled here on earth, serving God and my family. And then life eternal. Praise God.

Then we sang, "This is the air I breathe, your holy presence in me!" And again I thought how when I was sick and having trouble breathing, you were my breath. I could hardly breath and you intervened for me. I want to remember when I feel short of breath that you are the air I breath, your holy presence in me!

I love you Lord and I thank you so much for the service tonight on suffering. It's not the cancer that makes me suffer for Christ but my attitude that determines if I am suffering for Christ. I pray I suffer for you Lord and I never loose focus of that.

Thank you for my life. I am so blessed. Thank you for Sevgi (our cat) who is at the foot of our bed snoring right now. She's your creature and a gift from you.

I love you Lord God Almighty,
A

1 comment:

gina marieJanuary 11, 2008 at 11:02 PM
Thank you for sharing her with us. I love hearing her voice. I miss her. Her faith is amazing! Nothing short of a miracle.
Love, Gina
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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."

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Friday, January 11, 2008

Andrea's Journal Entry May 9th 2007

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