You Had to Know I Have a Thankful Speech This Year!!

I will keep it short and sweet~ I think it goes without saying (much) that I am very thankful for the way God took care of me this year, especially since my diagnosis of stage II breast cancer in mid-June. I have kept a good attitude, but there are times when it was OH SO HARD to not worry about future doctor appointments, treatments, and thinking about possibly leaving this earth far earlier than I had ever imagined.

Some of my short prayers included:
"God, if my work here is done, take me. If not, please get me through this."
"God, please have mercy on me~ don't let me have to do chemo (I know so many other of your children go through it, but please have mercy on me)."
"God, I don't want to take medicine, but since you spared me from radiation and chemo, it's the least I can do. Just give my body what is good from it and get rid of the rest!"
"God, thank you so much for taking care of me!"

In addition, this experience has helped me feel more deeply the pain others are going through with their medical issues. It doesn't have to be cancer, just anything.

I am so thankful for all the prayers, cards, texts, e-mails, Bible verses, and calls of people just reaching out to me in my time of need. It is so hard to express the gratitude I have. If God lays on your heart to reach out to someone, don't ignore it. It will mean the world to them.  There was a period of time between my diagnosis in June and my masectomy on Oct. 2, where I received at least one text, card, e-mail or phone call EVERY DAY~ like God had it all planned out to give me a bit of encouragement each day to get me through. It was truly amazing. Some days I woke up saying, "I wonder who I will hear from today?"~ it was GREAT!