And suddenly in that moment nothing else mattered. In that moment every typical worry I was facing as a high school senior became nonexistent; failing a test, having a bad hair day, wondering which college to choose became the least of my concern.
All that took over my world was cancer.
Just that one word is enough to make someone cringe. Well, that's how I felt when my dad was diagnosed with liver cancer. It's the news people hear about but just hope to God they never are in that position. I was lost in my own footsteps. To make matters worse the unimaginable happened a couple weeks later, that same awful month of January 2016. My mom went in to have her first mammogram. When she kept having to go back for more tests, I was worried. "What are the odds?" is what I kept hearing for the next six months of my life. Well, the odds were not in my family's favor, that's for sure. I knew the odds were slim that she too would be diagnosed with cancer, but deep down I had a sick gut feeling in my stomach that happened to turn out true. My mom had breast cancer and I felt like my whole world had shattered into ten billion little pieces. It felt like I was experiencing a rollercoaster that had hit it's all time low.
Why does God allow one to suffer? Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Those were the thoughts that were running through my head. My parents are two of the sweetest people I know and I had watched the unpredictable unfold right before my eyes. My dad doesn't even drink alcohol. For goodness sake, it was my mother's first mammogram. No one deserved this, especially not the two most loving people in this world.
When low points happen in life, one can choose to run as far away from God as possible or can use it as a way to get closer to Him. It is so easy to blame God for everything wrong in the world. It is so easy to become mad at Him, but this is not the solution. Believe me, I know how hard it is to trust in God when you feel like your whole world is shattered. It is very easy to get discouraged and down and feel like no one really understands what you are going through, but do not give up on God. Throughout everything that went on this past year of my life I found God has been there when I have been at my lowest. God is there when you are crying yourself to sleep at night. He hears you and He heals.
One bible verse that really helped me through the lowest time in my life was 2 Kings 20:5. In this verse you will find I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. This became my favorite bible verse and also my lock screen on my phone for a while.
It is through many, many prayers I started seeing the rainbow during my storm. Even though finding out both my parents have cancer at the same time was very hard to go through, it was actually a blessing they found it when they did. My mom was found between stage zero and one. After two surgeries and weeks of radiation, she is now cancer free. If her cancer would have been found six months down the road, it could have been a different story.
My father is still fighting through this disease. They had originally found his cancer on accident after he had switched to a new doctor. If it wouldn't have been for this, it could've been found at a later time where it would be too late to treat. At first, the doctors didn't think they could perform surgery on my father but were going to talk to a specialist for the final say. Thanks to this specialist, my dad did receive surgery where his tumor was burned. My dad is still fighting, but I know he will win this battle.
So here I write to you, to everyone who is going through cancer or has a loved one fighting cancer, to put your trust in God. The battle belongs to The Lord (2 Chronicles 20:15).
As said in 1 Timothy 4:17, But The Lord Stood With Me And Gave Me Strength.
