Faith is Being Sure of What We Hope For (Heb. 11:1a)

Hebrews 11:1 - "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Linda Marshall is my amazing, God-fearing, loving, kind, gentle, selfless, compassionate, words cannot describe her... Super-MOM!  This post is dedicated to her recent journey.  A few days ago, I read Hebrews 11.  I have read Hebrews 11 a few times before, but never did it become more alive to me than now in view of my mom's battle with colon cancer.

It was July 3, 2010...easily one of the best days of my life.  It was the day that I married Josh Kilpatrick.  After a wonderful wedding, we went back to Fort Rucker, AL where Josh had to report on Tuesday for work (flight school).  We didn't have time for a honeymoon due to Josh's rigorous flight school schedule, but we were overjoyed to finally be together!  Plus, Danielle and Casey were planning on coming to visit Thursday afternoon.  They would be staying for a week!  Josh and I were so excited to have them come!

They arrived on Thursday, and we spent a few wonderful days in Enterprise, Monroeville, and Gulf Shores.  On Wednesday, Danielle was getting ready to go back to Louisville.  We hugged each other goodbye, and Casey and I had one more day together before I would be driving her back to Louisville.  That Thursday, July 15 my dad called to tell me that Mama had been to the doctor for a thyroid check.  They did a few other tests while she was there, one was a colonoscopy.  She had just had her 50-year physical/colonoscopy the year before, so nothing was expected to come back abnormal.  But, the unexpected happened.  Daddy called and told me to pray for Mama because they found a medium-sized tumor on her colon.

"What?!"  I thought to myself.  "It must be benign.  She's never had an issue and has no apparent symptoms of cancer."  We discussed the situation, and I decided to leave for Louisville the following morning.

About four hours into the trip, Daddy called Casey and I.  The results were confirmed.  The biopsy had been done, and Mama had a malignant tumor.  How could this be happening?  Twelve days after the wedding, a time of great joy and thanksgiving.  Now, I felt like someone was laughing in my face as they knocked the wind out of me.  My mind started racing.  What did this mean?  What was the next course of action?  Surgery?  Radiation?  Chemo?  She is too young.  You are not supposed to get cancer at 51 yrs. old, right?  My faith...where are you?  I would not survive without faith.  Faith in the only one true God, the master physician, creator of the universe.  Surely He was powerful enough to handle this.  Yes, He is.

We entered the season of waiting.  Multiple appointments were set.  The appointments came and went; they seemed to provide us with no more information than we already had.  A CT scan was run, ultrasound, and another biopsy.  Mama was scared, very scared.  Finally, a course of action was decided.  She needed to have surgery followed by 6 months of chemo.  She would have 10 inches of her colon removed, including the tumor and several lymph nodes.

I will never forget the day that my mom went to meet the surgeon.  I sat at home feeling helpless.  All I wanted to do was help in some way.  I wanted to be there for my mom, but I was 550 miles away in Enterprise, AL.  I had always lived within 45 min of my parents, and now, right after I moved away...this was happening.  I cannot explain the pain I felt through the separation.  I felt as if I was betraying Mama by not being there.  She had always been there for me through my hospital stays, sickness, injury, pain, etc.  Now, I could not reciprocate the care.  But, what an amazing God we serve.  As I sat at home, praying, reading and fiddling around waiting for my dad to call, I got a text.  It was Heather Barker.  Heather is a dear friend of mine from UofL.  She's in Medical school at UofL, and that day, she had been assigned to be the assistant doctor on my Mama's case!  Thank you God.  It was such an encouragement for Mama to walk into such a scary appointment and see a familiar face.  Heather was an answered prayer.  She called me and told me the details about the appointment.  Mama would have surgery August 5, the day before her and my dad's 27th anniversary.

Praise the Lord, her surgery went beautifully.  She recovered exceptionally well, and was discharged by the weekend.  Amazingly, that same weekend, Josh and I moved Geena and Casey to Tupelo, Mississippi.  My dad received his dream job around the same time as my mom received her diagnosis.  But, that is an entirely different story for another post.  So, we brought Mama home.  Got her settled and then took her baby girls to Tupelo to be with Daddy until Mama was ready to make the move.  She would follow as she was physically able.

God is good, so good.  Mama was able to come to Tupelo shortly after the surgery.  However, there was the question of where she would have her treatment...in Louisville, where my grandparents could take care of her?  or in Tupelo, so she could be with her family?  Mama met with the oncologist in Louisville, and after that appointment, it was black and white.  She would not be away from her family for 6 months.  She decided to get her chemo treatment in Tupelo.  She has 6 months of treatments, 24 weeks.  Week 1 is down...only 23 to go.  She goes to the hospital for an infusion on Mondays.  They send her home with a pump tied like a necklace around her neck.  She gets it changed out on Wednesdays with more medicine, and Thursdays she gets it taken off!  Then, she has a week off, no infusions.  It's an off/on type of process.

Right now, I am here in Tupelo.  It is week 2, so no infusions this week.  Mama had a bad headache yesterday, but has been feeling great today!  I am sure that God is healing her...I am sure because I have faith....faith through Christ.  "Faith is being sure of what you hope for"...I am sure that Mama is being healed, and "certain of what we do not see"...I am certain that all Mama's cells that I cannot see are being restored.  And, I have this faith because of Christ.

Dream Job

Well the day has come for me to have my debut for my dream job. This Thursday September 30th I will be sideline reporting my first football game. The game will be Shelby County vs. Eastern Highschool. It has been an up and down battle for me. I would get opportunities for this and then the door would be closed. I continously kept praying to God that HE would lead me in the right direction. I want to follow God's plan for me and as we all know sometimes it gets frustrating when the doors seem to always be closed.

If there is one thing that I learned that every time you get a "no" that always means you are getting closer to a "yes". I have really focused on when I pray to not pray for one thing. I pray that God will give me direction that corresponds with HIS plan for me. When I do that he brings me contentment and I have no worries.

So the moral of this blog is you are going to have up and downs that's life, but if you are living it the way God wants you...then their is no doubt in my mind that you be successful in anything you heart desires!!

"Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." - James 1:24, RSV

Some things never change...wait yes they do!!!!

When Jessie asked me if I wanted to start blogging back and forth about our lives and I immediatley said that is the greatest idea ever. Though I do have a funny story about blogging. When I was a freshman in college (goodness I feel soooo old) I had an English class that we had to blog twice a week and I will admit I thought it was the biggest waste of time ever!!!!! I told myself I would never ever blog again, well God was laughing at me and He said "Oh yes you will!" So yes things do change and I am blogging again.

Jessie and I have been friends since the 3rd grade. So if you think about it we have been friends over 15 years. I have never thought about it that way, but that is AWESOME!!!! We have encountered so many battles together and I think this is the best way to share what God has done in our lives. As you read these blogs there might be tears, laughing, giggling, and probably a lot of stuff you can relate to. So enjoy reading our posts and please do not hesistate to comment!!!!!!

God is in Control!

Do you ever look back on the past year and think, "Wow, so much has changed!"  I have been doing that a lot lately.  A lot, A lot!  There have been times to laugh and times to cry, but one thing I know is for sure...God is in Control!  Not me, not disease, not school, not family, not anything!  God, the one and only God is in control.  By grace I have been saved, through faith, and this is not of my own doing...it is the gift of God (Eph 2: 8).  Before another word, you must know: Jesus Christ is my Savior, the son of the one and only God, who came from heaven to earth...because "God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16)."  Jesus lived a perfect life; He never sinned; and He was crucified on the cross.  His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, paved the way for me and you to be with Him forever.  His grace and mercy are overwhelming.  I am nothing, He is everything.  Everything good you see in me is from Him.  And you must know that before anything.  I pray that Jesus is your Savior too!  If you do not know Him, please contact me.  I would love to talk to you, and pray that you would accept Him as your Savior too!  He is waiting for you.  All you have to do is ask Him, and He accepts you with open arms.  Jesus Loves you!  Nothing else is more true.

So, Danielle and I decided to start this blog.  The purpose of Together Faith is simply to relay what we are learning together, as friends and sisters in Christ, on this journey of faith, following our Lord as He leads us.  We will share updates about our families, each other, and lessons we are learning in life.  It may not be grammatically correct, full of typos, and maybe senseless at times...but we trust that God is in control!  That's why we continue together in faith because we rest in the peace God has given us because He is in control.