I came across a question today through WhatNext.com. If you are unfamiliar with it, and are still in treatment (or not), GO THERE! www.whatnext.com. It is a social networking site for cancer patients/survivors/loved ones...and you can get matched up with people who are dealing with the same diagnosis as you. Lots of great Q & As....check it out...it's well worth it!
OK...so about the question. How do you keep the faith when your prayers don't seem to be getting answered....
One of my favorite quotes is this: "If God brings you to it, he'll bring you through it." When I was in the hospital, many people were praying for me. Sometimes it just takes some time for those prayers to be answered. Remember the movie "Bruce Almighty" with Jim Carey? There is a scene in that movie after Bruce "becomes" God...where he is freaking out because of the constant barrage of prayers...and tries to organize them so as to better deal with them. Something like a 4 million emails asking for this or that come through his inbox. Don't you think God gets overwhelmed with everything we ask for, too? My best advice: be patient! and above all STAY POSITIVE!
One thing I do is call my best friend every morning and say "Page number, please?" She picks a number, say 37, and we both open our book called "Now is the Time" (available on Amazon.com). Turning to the page, one of us reads it aloud and then we discuss. Some messages are faithful, some are inspirational, some are motivational. But one thing is always constant....we get our day off to a great start. A bit of helpful advice, and talking to my best friend every day....what could be more supportive than that?
Also, if you are still in the hospital, make sure you ask to have the hospital Chaplain visit you every day. Mine was always there to ask how I was doing, we'd discuss the ups and downs of the day, chit chat a bit, learn about each other, and she was full of positive messages ~ like God loves me. We'd always end the visit with her praying with me. She became a good friend. So here's to you, Chaplain Maria...
I also used to pray for my past loved ones to come to me in my dreams. One night I had a dream/vision where passed relatives showed up one by one on a cloud. By the end, they ALL were there watching over me...showering me with love and support. I asked...and they came. I'll never forget that image and from that night on...I was at peace with whatever came next in my journey with cancer.
So surround yourself with loved ones, positivity, find a motivational book to share, and remember: don't sweat the small stuff. Cancer is definitely not small stuff...but break it down into manageable parts and you can take it one step at a time until you're there....SURVIVORSHIP!
Blessings to you in your recovery and remission,
Lisa
Here's the link to the question about faith:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.whatnext.com/questions/faith
Hello all. Chris Lathrop here. Hopefully my few words will help someone. When it comes to the challenges of life I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. You may not know the reason for a few days or maybe a few weeks, perhaps even not figuring out the reason for many years, but EVERYTHING happens for a reason. Why did Lisa get Leukemia? I still haven’t figured that one out yet. The best I can come up with is that we were supposed to move to Omaha Nebraska from Minot North Dakota. So, here we are in Omaha. Every person I have met has made some sort of impact on my life, and I am sure Lisa will say the same. Some people have bigger impacts then others. Each and every person we have met, we have met for some reason. Maybe they needed our help or advice on something, or maybe they just needed a good conversation over a cup of coffee. Whatever the case, what has happened was meant to happen exactly the way it was intended. Whatever the outcomes are, they are meant to happen that way. Maybe someday I will figure out exactly why Lisa got Leukemia. I still won’t like the fact that it ever happened, but I can accept the fact that it was meant to happen.
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