Meet Jacque. With a radiant smile and a gentle spirit she brightens any room she enters.
No one saw the darkness lurking around the corner. In the context a routine doctor’s appointment, her life took an unexpected left-hand turn, and without warning, she found herself fighting for her life. You guessed it – breast cancer.
Out of the blue, this woman’s world turned upside down. For this math-teacher mom, questions drastically shifted from What’s for dinner to What if?
While cancer changed her life, and quite frankly, her life of faith, Jacque allowed our Growth Group to taste her struggles firsthand. Week after week - often around Marilyn's kitchen table - we sat in rapt attention as she innocently made known to us the way of God - a mystery in the midst of this reality. Because of her authenticity and vulnerability, I am a better person.
Over the agonizingly long months of surgeries and treatments, Jacque talked about her battle. As she did, she taught me about God. Her raw honesty revealed brilliant wisdom.
Without even trying, she silently modeled glorifying God in the face of an unknown future. From within the cauldron of suffering, her convictions of Christ brought clarity to the murky, cloudy confusion of a mean disease.
And, when the mystery of her disease encountered the Mystery of her Faith, Jacque stood firm. I listened over time as she shared:
Some places you can’t take anybody with you; you have to go by yourself. (a mystery)
Sometimes the pain is so great, I feel I am in the Presence of God in the Holy of Holies. (a mystery)
Throughout this cancer, I have experienced God’s love for me. (a mystery)
Think about this...sometimes we try so hard to figure things out when God just asks us to live them out. Do you agree?
Jacque's journey reminds me of Job 23:10: But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. This is no mystery!
Living with Eternal Intentionality: What has someone battling cancer taught you?
