Sandy's Journey of Faith: A Bumpy Start to 2014

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

A Bumpy Start to 2014

I really, really want 2014 to be a better year than 2013, and it will be! However, I started not feeling very energetic right after Christmas and was stubbornly ignoring some signs that something was not right. Shortness of breath and lethargy should always be my signs that perhaps my hemoglobin is low, but I was on a chemo break and bye-golly I was not going to COH!!!

I ended up going to COH...on a Saturday...in the middle of putting away Christmas decorations...in a not horribly serious, but serious enough condition. Two units of blood later, and my husband retrieving me at midnight, I am feeling better. Drama Queen!

Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 1 Corinthians 9:26

This is a year of many milestones for me. Rachel graduating High School and going off to college. Michelle being promoted from Jr. High to High School and hopefully making some sport teams. Jon has worked hard for us to enjoy a family trip to Hawaii to celebrate graduations. I have survived 7 years of cancer, and I turn 50!

This verse in Corinthians really speaks to me because I am not entering this year aimlessly. Though my body seems to be taking some big hits, I will fight back like a boxer with great purpose. There is always work to be done when your main goal is being a reflection of the God who made you, paid the price for you, and calls you His own. Right below this main goal of mine is the desire to not just survive 2014, but to enjoy every minute.

I like what Rick Warren says about goals:

Without goals you have no chance of a different 2014 than you experienced in 2013. The default in your life will always be more of the same. Long-term goals keep us from being discouraged by short-term setbacks.

So, though I was knocked down on day four of the New Year, I am right back up again and ready to keep fighting!!

Many people start out the New Year with goals in mind. Rick Warren also says this:

Goal setting isn’t just a good idea for productivity. It’s a spiritual discipline, like prayer, fasting, giving, and reading your Bible.

In fact, goal setting can be an act of stewardship as you attempt to make the most of all God has given you. You can waste your life. Plenty of people do it. To make the most of your life and invest it in a way that outlasts you, you’ll need goals.

One of the most important goals you can have in 2014, is to grow spiritually. Set a goal to read a Psalm a day. Start reading through the Bible, and don't worry if you don't finish it this year. Keep reading!! If you do not know who God is, reading the Bible will help you understand. Start out investing 5 minutes and see what happens.

Our dear friend, Joan Fink, passed away on December 30th after being in our home a week before. She was a faithful reader of my Blog, and gave me the gift of telling me that my written words lead her to Christ. I reminded her that SHE was the one that put reading a Blog into action. She took that step of faith, found a church close to her home and started studying God's Word. Joan told me that she was not expecting to be on this earth much longer. As we held hands for the last time, we joyfully talked about how great it will be when she sees Jesus' face the moment that last breath comes. In a very "Joan" way (strong willed woman x 1,000) she told me she would be there to greet me when my times comes, "but, I don't want to see you for a VERY LONG TIME!"

When Joan accepted Jesus into her heart, she had the assurance that someday she would be in the presence of God. If you have not taken that step of faith then make it your primary goal in 2014 to get to know God. If you already know Jesus, then you goals should be set with His will in mind for your life. It might mean being out of your comfort zone!!

Blessings to you all in 2014!
Sandy

The Salvation Prayer

This prayer is an example of what to say to Jesus when you want Him to come into your heart. It is a humble statement between you and God that recognizes that we all fall short of being good enough to face God on our own. Jesus had to pay the price for our sins so we could come before God pure and blameless. You don't need to clean up your life before you pray this prayer. Jesus will come in and help you draw close to him.

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

My Journey (Revised 07/12/13)

Romans 8:28 says that in everything, God works for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

This is often a tough verse to swallow. We see our life falling down around us due to finances, broken relationships, or disease, and it becomes difficult to trust that God can work through these trials if we look for His purpose and trust in Him. There are times when it seems impossible for God to work anything for the good because things are so bad.

I was diagnosed with cancer in April 2007 when I had a stiff neck that would not go away. For four months I tried chiropractic care, massages, and stretching to try and loosen the knots that were all over my neck and down into my upper back. The stiff neck made sense to me because we had moved into a new house and I thought I had strained something.

Four months later I could not stand the pain any longer. I went back to my trusted chiropractor and he sent me to have an MRI. It was through that test that he saw something horribly wrong. My C5 vertebrae was gone, and my neck had collapsed! He called my husband and I into his office and told us the news that would change our life. There was some type of disease in my neck. He suspected that it was metastatic breast cancer.

We contacted City of Hope, and they asked me to get a bone scan. My life plunged further into darkness when the test came back showing lesions all over my bones. Several tests later, a small tumor in my breast was found, and I was officially diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. It is incurable.

My family decended into the valley of the shadow of death. It was a dark and painful time, and all of our lives changed forever. However, it was during that time God revealed His purpose for me. I have cherished my relationship with God all of my life. Because I had a spiritual foundation, when the bottom of my world dropped out from under me, I had a loving God to catch me. In many ways I feel that God had prepared me for this battle my entire life.

We shared the news with more family and friends, and the prayer support was amazing. I visualized the "switchboard in heaven" completely lit up with prayers for me. We tried to keep up the communication with everyone via e-mail, but a better solution came to mind.

On the eve of my surgery to repair my neck at City of Hope, I started a Blog, and called it "Sandy's Journey of Faith." Little did I know that this was the gift and ministry that God had been training me for. It started with us giving updates, and then turned into a forum in which I could share my faith as I walked hand in hand with Jesus through this trial. Jon would sometimes be a guest writer, and we were getting lots of interest and encouragement from everyone to keep it up.

I am still in awe that I can continue to write and share the ups and downs of living with cancer in such a powerful way. God uses our technology for His glory. I am just the typist, but God is the true writer of this Blog. There are often times when I wake up in the middle of the night (when it is the most quiet) and just start writing something that God has placed on my heart. It is a humbling journey to know that the God of this Universe cares about my Blog, and can use it.

I am forever thankful for the brilliant, and compassionate doctors at City of Hope. I trust them to do what is necessary to give me a good quality of life. My cancer journey has been a roller coaster of chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries, and on going treatments. I believe that God brings doctors into our lives to help us, but He is the ultimate physician, and I have seen miraculous healing as well.

My journey still involves metastasized cancer. God has His reasons for not healing me, and I have learned that His road for me is better that mine. Through it all, I have grown personally closer to Jesus, and I have seen miracles in the lives of people around me that are better gifts that the healing of cancer. When a loved one comes to know this amazing and loving God that I worship, my cancer journey is worth it.

There are hundreds of promises that God has made to those He calls His own. My favorite promise is from Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave you or forsake you." I can say, without hesitation, that God has never left my side throughout this journey of mine. Sometimes the answers have come slower than I would have liked, and often times not in the way I would have envisioned, but God's love is constant and unconditional.

God has taken a broken vessel (me), and has shown His light through the cracks. I am humbled and thankful that you took time to read this Blog. I pray that it has inspired you to seek out a relationship with the one who went to the cross so that you can be free. Jesus makes promises, and He never breaks them.

-Sandy Boulware

Prayer for Salvation

There is not specific prayer that needs to be prayed word for word. It is just a humble statement between you and Jesus as you recognize all that He did because of His love for you. You don't need to clean up your life before saying this prayer. Jesus will help you find a way, through faith, to draw closer to Him.

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.