by Linda McCullough, Breast Cancer

Praises for Cancer

Father, you have blessed me many times in my life but never so graciously as you have when I discovered I had breast cancer.

Father, thank you for allowing me to discover a lump when I did and seek medical care.

Thank you for making available to me the knowledge I needed to make informed decisions.

Father, thank you for sending me a surgeon that was honest and forthright while being compassionate and caring.

Father, thank you for allowing my surgery to be part of a clinical trial that will ultimately have a positive impact on future breast cancer patients. Father I am so grateful that surgery was even an option for me.

Father, thank you for sending me an oncologist that gave me good direction in my choice of chemotherapy and that has a heart filled with compassion for his patients.

Father, thank you for once again giving me the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial during my chemotherapy. And for putting me in a chemotherapy clinic where I met and made friends that enriched my life.

Father, thank you for nurses and staff that understand the trauma and concerns of a cancer patient and made me feel that those concerns were legitimate and important to them too.

Father, thank you for making my hair so thin during chemo that I looked kind of like a baby doll whose hair had been combed one time too many by a 5 year old. It gave me an excuse to have my girls buzz cut and bleach my hair. We had so much fun that day and laughed so hard. And once my chemo was finished, I liked the look so much I kept it. I would never have had the courage to do that before cancer. That day and the time the three of us spent together is one of my most cherished memories.

Father, thank you for a family that loves me and supported me through my surgery and chemotherapy. Chemo is no picnic, its true, but they hung in there for me. Many aren’t so lucky. I have a husband, children, and grandchildren that didn’t care what was cut off as long as they could keep me a little longer. And Lord, it made losing a breast a lot easier.

Father, thank you for the prayers and support of friends and co-workers at my job. Many people go their whole lives and never find out just how many people really do care about them. What a blessing to find that the folks you spend every day with, that have seen you cranky and stressed, care as deeply as these people do. And Father, I am especially grateful that they were able to laugh and joke with me about the trials and tribulations of being just about bald and even about being a “lefty”.

Father, thank you for a church that prayed for me and loved me through every minute of my ordeal. From getting ready for surgery all the way through all my chemotherapy. I am so grateful to belong to a church that is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Father, thank you for a Sunday school class and a Wednesday night ladies group that listened to me and never tired of keeping me on their prayer list. I love these people dearly and how wonderful to have them not just say they love me but really show me too.

Father, because I have cancer, you have made me open to others that have cancer. You have put people in my path that have become friends that I would never have otherwise known. Some of these people have since gone on to be with You but they have enriched my life and taught me all about strength and courage. Others will be my friends for years to come. Each one so precious.

Father, thank you for giving me opportunities to use my cancer as a witness to unbelievers. To tell them the wonder of Your love and salvation. I have often been shy about talking to others about You but now I am so filled with excitement about what you have done that I long to share my experience with others.

Father, I have often thought about my faith and felt your presence, but how many of us actually are fortunate enough to have our faith put to the test. Better yet, when I asked, You stood firmly beside me and I knew You walked every step of the way with me. I felt Your arms around me as surely as I did my husband’s as he hugged me before I went into surgery. What a glorious thing to feel Your support so strongly.

Father, thank you for reminding me that everyday is so very precious and should be enjoyed and used to glorify You. Now I don’t complain when I have to walk into work in the rain because rainy days are as precious to me as sunny ones. Today I drove into work and looked up and there was the most beautiful rainbow. Without the rain it wouldn’t have been there. Father, that’s how You have made me see cancer.

Father, I hold my grandchildren a little bit closer now. I breathe in the smell of their hair and absorb the feel of their little bodies in my arms and I am so grateful. I learned that money and bills and “things” aren’t as important as I thought they were but people are more precious than gold. Thank you for that lesson and for giving me a little more time, no matter how brief it may turn out to be, to let people know how important and worthwhile they really are.

Father, I have faced other challenges since my diagnosis. Some have been far more heartbreaking than the physical pain of cancer. But You have used cancer to prepare me and assure me that You are there, no matter what the situation.

Father, thank you for reminding me that I cannot go through this world alone. That I need to put all things in your hands because every little thing is a part of Your plan for me. Thank you for humbling me that I might continually be reminded that You are in control.

Father, I have never been a particularly brave person, but you have shielded me from fear. I know without a doubt that only You could have done that.

Father, how many times I have recited Romans 8:28 “ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose”. Thank you for revealing to me what that scripture means.

Father, thank you for allowing me to have cancer because I would never have even thought to ask for the blessings You gave me. And Father, if you call me home tomorrow, I have experienced your love in more ways that many get to experience in a lifetime. I humbly ask for continued strength and Your guidance to use what You have shown me to help others, whether they are sick in body or spirit. Thank you Father for loving me.

In the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen