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Eccl 3:1There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to speak, and a time to build,
a time to love and a time to heal….
“FRIENDS” was
born in my heart on April 4, 2006 when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast
cancer. All of my family, including my only daughter, Nicole, lived out of
town. From the very first moment of finding the cancerous lumps, my daughter
and all my friends sacrificed and prayed for me. It included many trips to the
doctor’s office with me to confirm the findings, biopsies, several
surgeries, more doctor appointments, enduring radical chemo, radiation and
hospital stays in ICU. It also meant spending the night with me, grocery
shopping for me, etc. You name it; God surrounded me with “friends”
to help carry me through when I was too weak and sick to do it for myself alone.
My main hope and faith has
always been in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to heal me and bring me
through this terrifying trial. However, the love of God
shown through my daughter, family members, employer, and Pastor, co-workers
plus the incredible care and excellence of the doctors and their staff gave me
a confidence I was among “friends.”
God gave me a peace from
the beginning my course in this life was not finished.
It was my only desire that I would bring honor to God during this cancer
journey and take His hope everywhere this trial would take me. God assured me
through my inner peace and His Word He was going to take this hard and
challenging trial of cancer and make something beautiful out of it. He
certainly did!
From the beginning, I felt
impressed by God to
pray and quote His Word in…
Ps91:1 HE WHO dwells in the secret place
of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty
[Whose power no foe can withstand].
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge
and my Fortress, my God; on Him, I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently]
trust! 3 For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from
the deadly pestilence.
Every day I prayed and
quoted this psalm in the Holy Bible with my mom and daughter.
God had brought me through so many trials of life from losing my husband to
every experience you can imagine and He has restored me fully. My hope was in God, but I soon found out
the first week I also needed “friends” to help me, as I was too
sick and weak to take care of myself alone.
On the very first visit to
my Oncologist, Dr. Morris S. Dees, III, my daughter and I soon found out he was
not your average doctor. Dr. Dees soon became not only my medical advisor, for
Nicole and I, Dr. Dees became a close spiritual friend.
Dr. Dees had the exact same
vision for healing through the power of Jesus Christ and he acknowledged that
day, “I am just a vessel God uses and flows through, but God is the
ultimate Healer.” We prayed together and discussed that
the vital need for overcoming and managing cancer was spiritual well being; a
personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, “FRIENDS” was born!
It was all my friends
standing with me and helping me that allowed me to concentrate on the goal and
that was to get well. It
is the desire of Dr. Dees and me now to take the message to the medical
community and all those affected by cancer in the world, that “working
together for health and healing through faith and prayer” is possible and
medically proven vital for overcoming and managing cancer. Our “FRIENDS” group is making this possible!
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