Cancer is a funny thing. You hear all the statistics, you know it is happening all around you, but until it hits close to home it’s hard to even imagine how you might deal with it. In March of this year my mom found a lump in her breast, but since she’s had several lumps over the years she wasn’t overly concerned when she went to the doctor to have it checked out.

I’ll never forget that day, I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, the sun was shining, the wind was blowing and it was if at that moment everything stopped when she told me that the doctor did a biopsy of the lump and it came back as Breast Cancer.

Shock, horror, tears, fear, and sadness smacked me in the face as I stood there in utter belief that this could be happening to “my” mom. She’s the rock of the family, the one who is always taking care of the rest of us, and now on this day the giver became the recipient. To say it has turned our family upside down is an understatement, but to say it has been a blessing is the biggest shock of it all.

She immediately went in for surgery and within a month of the diagnosis had started her first chemo treatment. My head was spinning and to make things even more hectic I had just started a ministry position at my church and was trying to get my bearings there and also prepare for Good Friday and Easter while trying to be there for her.

Mom went on to have seven more chemotherapy treatments after that first one and at her last chemo treatment we brought in pink balloons, a pink boa, and a pink ribbon cake to celebrate her “graduation” as they call it. She sat in those chairs every other week for hours and hours while she talked to the other ladies in treatment, encouraging their families, and even joked around with the doctors and nurses.

I am not any closer to knowing why this happened to my mom now then I was five months ago when this journey began, but what I do know is this; God is good all the time. Mom starts radiation this week and after she completes her thirty-three radiation treatments she will be finally finished with this part of the breast cancer journey. We’re not sure what God has in store next, but we are absolutely certain that He does and we are finding peace and rest in Him.

The journey hasn’t been exactly what I would have chosen for her or my family, but His grace and goodness continue to blanket our family even in the midst of the storm. So, here we go, one day at a time, choosing to listen to His words and do not fear but walk by faith.