One of the theme’s of Hope for the Journey is cancer and finding the strength to deal with it. I wrote of Emily’s cancer based on a woman I only met twice. But those two meetings were unforgettable and will forever be etched in my heart.
I met Cynthia on Christmas Eve of 2010. Her hair was thinning, she was very thin, but I’d never seen someone glow like that. Cynthia was the best friend of my dear friend, Terri. I was telling Terri about the book I wanted to write, and she suggested talking to Cynthia. When I spoke with her, she asked me why her. What made her story so special.
Cynthia’s story isn’t that different from other cancer patients. The doctor’s discovered her cancer, and though they did their best to get rid of it, she eventually left this world and went Home to be with Jesus.
Perhaps it wasn’t the story that affected me, but the person. Cynthia has two daughters under the age of 11 when her cancer hit. For me, I would’ve been devastated, questioning God at every turn. Why couldn’t I see my kids grow up? Who’s going to be there to love on them, to show them what a real woman of God is like? Who will guide them into womanhood?
No. Not Cynthia. As we sat at Applebee’s, she had me laughing and crying throughout my interview. First, she told me about her port placement in her chest. She didn’t like all the needles in her, so the doctor suggested the port placement. That’s how they hooked up the chemo. I get a little, no a lot, queasy when it comes to medical things. She kept telling me to touch it. I would decline, and she’d get this twinkle in her eye and push the subject a little more. I never did touch it, could barely stand to look at it when she showed me. It wasn’t gross. It just twisted my heart into a corkscrew to see it. That was where the laughter came in.
The tears began to flow when I asked her a personal question. “How are you dealing with all of it? Not seeing your girls grow up?” She leaned forward, rested her hands under her chin and said, “Joi, if God heals me, then I am blessed. I get to watch my kids grow up and live to be a cancer survivor. But if He doesn’t?” She shrugged, a soft smile flowing across her face. “Well, then, I am equally blessed because I get to leave this worn body and be united with my Savior.”
Oh my! The tears I’ve shed from that conversation! Cynthia’s faith amazed me. And so, I transferred that to Emily. Is Emily’s life reflecting that of Cynthia’s? No. But her faith does. And that’s what matters.
What about you? How’s your faith when trials and tough times hit? Honestly, I’m working on mine. I pray I can be like Cynthia and like Paul who said, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
About Hope for the Journey:
Kayla Musso has been married to her husband, Brad, for several years. Having just had a baby, Kayla feels her life couldn’t be more perfect. Then one day, Brad drops a bomb shell on her that threatens to destroy everything they have worked so hard for in their marriage. Suddenly she is faced with a choice to forgive or let go of the life she loves so much.
Emily Sorenson had always been the picture of health, but when a trip to the doctor becomes the shock of her life, she is faced with a decision, like Kayla, to either fight the battle before her or give up the life she loves. In addition, her husband Jake has to come to grips with the struggle before them as well. As he does, he begins to question God. How could He let Emily go through such pain? As he wrestles with his questions, he faces his own dilemma. Would he be willing to seek God in his time of despair or will he walk away from everything so dear to him?
Every marriage has it struggles. Into every life, rain must fall. At some point, we all question God and his motives. Although the characters in this much-anticipated follow up to Hope for Tomorrow are fictitious, the turmoils they face are very real for many people all over the world every day, and you may find the solutions are something you can apply to give you Hope for the Journey we call “life”.
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