Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Proverbs 19:20 Knowledge is power. That is what I was taught as a twenty year old nursing student. We learned to empower our patients wherever we worked by sharing information with them. Whether we were preparing people for a procedure, or for a surgery, or for having a baby, or for living with a chronic illness, one … [Read more...] about Gather Information

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Genesis 2:7 Keep Breathing. These words stood in bold lettering on a card I gave a close friend. She had just received some painful news and was very distressed. She told me several days later that she carried that card with her everywhere she went so she would be reminded to take … [Read more...] about Keep Breathing

The truth will set you free. John 8: 23 Four days before Christmas in 2006 I had a phone appointment with my doctor. I was expecting to get the results of a breast biopsy that had been done a week earlier. At the time of the biopsy, I had been assured by the radiologist that everything looked normal, but as I sat down at the desk in my office and picked up the phone to call the doctor, … [Read more...] about Stay Grounded

I trust in your unfailing love. Psalm 13:5 After my second surgery my husband and I spent a week at the beach. Both of us needed to recuperate from the many weeks of uncertainty and strain. It was the week of our thirty-seventh wedding anniversary. So we needed to both rest and celebrate. We were no longer waiting for results. We were no longer anticipating the possibility of radiation … [Read more...] about Know That You Are Loved

Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39 One day while driving along a familiar road, I found myself accelerating through a yellow light. Everyone behind me had to stop, and I felt for an instant that I had “won.” It was as if we had all been racing and I had just pulled ahead and beat everyone. I enjoyed my small victory. But my pride didn’t last long. In order to … [Read more...] about Be Who You Are

He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Isaiah 40:11 One summer we took a trip to Maine to visit family. While there, we went to an island off the coast to spend a few days hiking. On one of our hikes, my husband commented on the fact that the trail we were on was no longer a trail but a long series of boulders we had to … [Read more...] about Let Yourself Be Carried

This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 The kind of cancer I had was not life-threatening, but because of the diagnosis, I came to know more directly than ever before that I am not immune from catastrophic illness and death. With this refresher course in personal mortality came a heightened capacity to taste the sweetness of life. Life is … [Read more...] about Celebrate Each Day