book excerpt

“The reason why I decided to lay out what was going on in my life prior to being diagnosed with cancer is because it reveals what I had been dealing with on the brink of such a major diagnosis. I took some unexpected blows, and I still was able to respond in faith to my next major blow. This doesn’t just happen. Many fall apart after experiencing what I experienced. What made me different, why didn’t I fall apart? Because I CHOSE not to. How did I make this choice so easily? My only answer to this question is my upbringing.

At an early age, I watched my parents in how they responded to life and everything that comes with it. Their choices were silently making deposits in me. I didn’t understand back then, but looking back, their response to life then is the reason I know how to respond to life now. All those times life threw curveballs at them and they chose to respond in faith, I saw that; and it was quietly registering in me. What they were showing me with their choices was how to keep going and trust God no matter what.

My point is that you have to know how to respond, be strong enough to push through tough times, and not let things break you. Little did I know what lied ahead of me in less than a month was a cancer diagnosis. If I had allowed those other things to break me, I would not have been prepared for the fight.”