Our Journey to Healing: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Okay, I know it has been a while sense Ginger and I have posted anything on the blog. It's not that we have not had anything to post it is just finding the time to sit down and write that has been the issue. Although life has been busy, we have not forgotten the miracle that is our family.

One of my goals has been to take Andrea's journal writings and make a book that I could send to the chemo room in North Carolina. Andrea loved the people there and she always felt a compassion for the other patients who had to endure chemo. She would meet the new patients and offer encouragement as she knew the fear that came with walking into the chemo room for the first time. I remember when Andrea and I had our first tour of the chemo room. We walked into this large room of Lazy Boy recliners and I remember hoping we would have our own private room. We had just been told Andrea had cancer and I think in a way we did not believe it. You don't see yourself as one of those people in the room as if you don't belong and having a private room is a way of denying the truth that you do belong there. That somehow this is all a mistake and you don't have cancer. The words the doctor spoke sink on just a little more and your life has forever changed.

As it turned out being in the chemo room was a blessing, although you want to be alone, that is the last thing you need. When Jesus faced the cross he asked his closest disciples to pray with Him in the garden, we are not meant to face life's trials alone and having friends in the chemo room turned out to be the greatest blessing to Andrea and me. So leaving a book of her writings was was my way of continuing Andrea's desire to help others and our way to still be there with them.

Over the past two weeks I have started transferring Andrea's writings into my computer. It has been difficult as I read her words of hope and desire to be healed, but the pages were also filled with trust, wisdom and faith of a Godly woman. I decided to post some of her writings to the blog during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

All of these journal entries were written in 2005-2007 when Andrea was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. At the time the cancer had spread to her liver, lungs and bones. There was a lot of growth in our faith over those two years. There were times of despair, confusion and but God kept giving us a consistent message. I believe His message was specific to our needs but the example of God's faithfulness and love is what applies to all of us. I know the end result was not what Andrea nor I wanted, but I pray that does not distract you from words Andrea wrote. Sometimes life is not about what we want but what a sovereign God desires. In the end it came down to trust. I can tell you God provided all we needed just as His word say He will. I'm not sure what God is asking of you today as you read this blog, but I pray you will know your creator and sovereign God loves you. He has not left you nor forgotten you

I pray these entries encourage you if you are facing a trial or difficult situation in your life.

Jim

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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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