Life Lessons Learned Through Having Cancer by Lynn Dove

No one likes those valley experiences.  We want to stay on the mountaintop and bask in the sunshine or Sonshine as some may call it.  The thing is, I tend to learn the most life-changing lessons not on the mountaintop but down deep in the valley.  Look at Psalm 23, particularly verse 4. 

A psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

The Lord is with me always, but it is in those valley experiences, I cling to Him for survival!  On my own strength, I would not be able to get through those dark valleys, and I learn the greatest life lessons during those most challenging times.  

In 2001, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  My mother had passed away from the disease in 1990 and I felt a great sense of foreboding at my initial diagnosis.  I had two young children and a teenager, and I cried out to God about the unfairness of this situation not just for me but for my husband and children.  How could He allow this to happen to us?  Fear and trepidation threatened to overwhelm me until God began to reveal a greater plan and purpose for me and my family through this experience with cancer. 

The first life lesson I learned quickly was that I was not alone.  God never leaves or forsakes us during crisis times. (Deuteronomy 31:6)  I experienced His Presence profoundly throughout my cancer journey.  God's Word was a constant Source of comfort and encouragement.  I was surrounded by an amazing support system of family, friends and church family.  People poured themselves out in service to my family and to my own specific needs.  The freezer was filled with food, the house was regularly cleaned, my children were looked after, and when I was too weak from chemotherapy treatments to attend church, the Worship team came to my house for a private time of worship!  

The next life lesson I embraced was that God did not want me to "waste" this experience.  John Piper wrote an article I read and took to heart about 10 ways to waste your cancer.  If God had purposed that I go through this experience, I knew He would be glorified in it.  God gave me the strength and wherewithal to face the surgeries, and chemo treatments with as positive an attitude as I could muster.  This allowed my young children to not be fearful and we could talk openly and honestly about cancer and about how God was good no matter what was happening to me.  I prayed with my surgeons and nurses, and had opportunities to share my faith with them.  When I joined a women's support group for those going through breast cancer, I prayed for those precious women who were in the throes of battle with me.  I have had numerous opportunities then and now to share my journey with cancer either through writing about it, or speaking about it.  In a 9 part series on my personal blog, "Journey Thoughts", I wrote about my cancer journey about what it means to be a "Thriver", because that is exactly how God changed my entire perspective about surviving to thriving through cancer.

Lastly, I do not take for granted the time God has given me this side of Heaven.  I would not wish cancer on anyone, nor would I like to go through that journey again.  That said, I praise God for healing me and allowing me the opportunity to experience Him in ways I never would have had it not been for cancer.  I pray I did not "waste" cancer, but used that valley experience to draw closer to God, to point others to God, and to always remember the life lessons that He taught me along the way.

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com 

Coming Down from the Mountain by Connie Inglis

  http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/parks/olympus-greece/

Well, the Olympics are over, and with it all the hype and attention surrounding individual athletes. Thus I thought it only fitting to consider what it’s like to come down from those mountaintop experiences both as writers and as Jesus-followers.

I must admit, I’m not an Olympian. The closest thing I ever came to athletic success was in college. I played on the women’s hockey team and in our final tournament of the year, I scored the overtime goal to win the trophy! I was suddenly trounced upon by a team of girls, screaming and shouting. I still call that goal one of my “claim to fame” moments. I guess it’s my “Olympic” moment. But then on Monday it was back to classes and exams and the daily routine.

 

For a true Olympian, the distance between the high of the Olympics and the quotidian days following can be extreme. Rick Madonick of The Toronto Star refers to it as, “Post Olympic Stress Disorder.”

https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2012/08/18/after_the_games_many_athletes_experience_a_kind_post_olympic_stress_disorder.html

There are some excellent thoughts in this article that can also pertain to us in our writing  journey and our faith journey.

If you’ve ever had anything published, I’m sure you remember that moment when you receive your first copy in the mail as a medal-winning moment. You touch the cover, you flip it around in your hands, you breathe in that smell of new paper, new print. You are ecstatic and your close friends and family are excited for you. That lasts for about a week, maybe more, but then you suddenly find yourself kicked over the edge of a high precipice to hit the hard ground below…and nothing. No more interest, no sales, no following. And your writing hits a slump. How do you keep going in the dark valley?

Our faith can be the same. We go to a Christian conference, a retreat, or we just experience an amazing morning of God’s presence on Sunday morning. We feel SO close to God, we hear His voice, we sense His guidance in our lives. Then Monday morning hits: you had a sleepless night because one of the kids vomited all night and now you’re yelling at all the kids, you go to start the car but it won’t turn over because someone forgot to plug it in and it’s 30 below, your computer has decided to crash while you were sleeping and you forgot to back it up, you get “the phone call” that someone close has unexpectedly passed away. Now what??!!! The mountain has been flattened by the mundane issues of life and God seems far away. 

Jesus, the ultimate medal winner, hears our "now what"s and understands. He understands because He Himself CHOSE to come down from Mount Zion to live in the valley of humanity. He chose to walk in the valley that He knew would lead to His death, FOR US! (Philippians 2) He became a servant, washing dirty, dusty feet as an example to us and then He told us to follow His example (John 13:15) of servanthood. 

There is another mountain story found in Matthew 17. Jesus takes three of his disciples up to a mountain for a mountaintop experience. They see Jesus shining brilliantly, a white light, and God proclaims Jesus' Sonship from heaven. The disciples are in awe. Peter wants to immediately build shelters but Jesus tells them to keep silent--and they quietly walk down from the mountain and into the valley of the enemy. Jesus is immediately confronted by a demon-possessed boy--He is back in the valley, healing, helping, serving. He heals the boy but not without confronting the disciples' lack of faith. And I don't think it coincidence that Jesus includes a mountain when referencing faith i.e. having enough faith to move a mountain from here to there (vs. 20). Jesus is telling us that even in the valley, we can move mountains.

But let me go back to the transfiguration. Jesus speaks two phrases to the disciples who are on their faces, frozen in fear--two phrases that we need to remember as we walk through life: "Get up." and "Don't be afraid." Jesus is encouraging us to keep moving and not give up. Psalm 37:24 says, "though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand." Jesus is also encouraging us to cast off fear. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Mountaintop experiences matter. We need them to keep going through the humdrum like a memorial of strength. But God doesn’t call us to go from mountaintop to mountaintop. He calls us to persevere in the valley of the everyday, to walk with Him along the rocky, pot-holed road of life because that’s where true grace happens and that’s where medals are won or lost. And He sent His Son Jesus to be our true example of what that looks like. 

Olympians get very few minutes of glory compared to the days, months and years of training. So it is in our writing—God asks us to write faithfully and consistently, even if it’s just 100 words at a time. And so it is in our faith—God asks us to press on faithfully and consistently, even if it’s just a few steps at a time. 

What is truly beautiful and revitalizing in all of it, is that God is always with us. We can look up at the mountains from the valley and know God's splendor. But God's splendor is also with us in the valley in the form of His Spirit and through His Son Jesus. May we not forget that.