big words, acronyms, and an amazing God (by Judy)

Sometimes I think I live my life lately with big words and acronyms:

– metastatic/metastasis
– inflammatory
– INR
– CBC
– navelbine
– herceptin
– coumadin (or warfarin)

etc. . . . .

It can make one very weary.

*sigh*

So how does one cope?

People who are living with a terminal illness cope in different ways. I’ve realized lately that, while I know about my disease and the facts about it, I do better if I don’t read or research about it too much. I guess I’m a head-in-the-sand coper, someone who needs to shut it out of her mind . . . as much as that’s possible anyways.

My faith helps me a great deal. My church family prays for me, family and friends pray for me, and of course I pray for myself. I believe in the power of prayer, and I also believe that so much of my illness is out of my hands. I want to live a long time, but I don’t know if that will happen. On the other hand, it might happen. I simply don’t know, and I put my faith in God. It’s then that I cope the best, when I put my faith in God and lean on people who believe in me and are pulling for me.

This past weekend I went to the Women of Faith conference in Columbus with six women from my church. It was an amazing, uplifting two days. One of the speakers was Angie Smith whose story can be found at the blog Bring the Rain. In short, she and her husband were expecting their fourth child, another girl, and found out during her pregnancy that their future daughter had severe health problems and wouldn’t be able to live outside the womb. That daughter, Audrey Caroline, lived two hours after she was born. I tell you, there wasn’t a dry eye in the auditorium when Angie told her story. At any rate, she ended with a statement that I don’t think I’ll ever forget:

I have a hard story, but I have an amazing God.

I related. Not in the same way as Angie or other women who had experienced the same or a similar loss could relate. But that statement resonated with me:

I have a hard story, but I have an amazing God.

So true, so very true. I do have a hard story . . . . but I also have the same amazing God.

And He gets me through the days . . . when I let him.

Readers . . . I have a hard story, but I have an amazing God.

And when I realize that, when I can live that, I know that no matter what happens, I’ll be OK.

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Cross-posted to Just Enjoy Him.