The testing of our faith....

I know it's been quite a while since we posted on the blog but we felt we wanted to share our very recent and very personal battle we have gone through the past several weeks. As I type this now, I'm still having a hard time expressing in words exactly what's taken place. We have had our faith tested to the very core and had everything we believed in and stood upon shaken.

Our battle started with a routine doctor visit for me (Sheri). I went in for a yearly exam and as the doctor was doing his questioning, several things began to surface that caused him to express concern. By the time I left his office, I had received the words that his concern was the possibility of endometrial cancer. At that point, every thought the enemy could bring to my mind came rushing in. From hearing stories about that being one of the worsts types of cancers because it's so deep inside that once that find it, it's tough to beat, to the same battle that one of my family members was going through at the very moment, only a few steps ahead of me, so knowing what that would mean I had to go through, to every other negative thought he could throw my way. I'm not going to lie that I experienced emotions of fear and disbelief that this could even be a possibility in my body.

The doctor shared what the next steps would be to rule out that possibility. After he left the room and we prepared to leave his office, Rick spoke to me immediately to not say a word. Don't let one negative thing come out of my mouth. I knew he was right so we didn't say anything except speak the Word concerning our health. We also felt that at this point we were to keep this report to ourselves and fight it just us and God. We know we have wonderful people around us that would have supported us and fight this with us but this was how we believed God wanted us to handle it.

So, as I left that appointment, I had to schedule another appointment for an ultrasound. That was my next step. I had to wait about a week until that appointment. During that time, we saturated ourselves with the Word even more than ever. We knew it was very important what we were feeding our spirit man and what we were allowing to enter our minds.

The next week, I went for the ultrasound and saw my doctor immediately following. As he read the reading of the ultrasound, he began to speak words that really just became a bunch of slurred words as I look back. As he showed me the ultrasound pictures, he communicated that what we were seeing was not what we want to see. The pictures were showing confirmation of what he suspected although we still could not be sure without a biopsy.

So, at that same appointment, the doctor wanted to do the biopsy procedure. As I was lying there, all I could do was to pray in the Spirit and speak peace over my situation. Rick was right there, praying with me and speaking the same. The procedure itself wasn't so bad but the reason it was being done was much more of the battle for me. We left his office that Monday morning and were told that I should hear something by Thursday.

These few days, again we saturated ourselves with the Word, building our faith and speaking the Word, letting nothing else come out of our mouths and taking nothing else in. Up to this point, it was still something that only the two of us knew about.

The time between Monday and Thursday was the longest few days I think I've ever experienced. Finally Thursday came and I waited and waited. Finally around 2:30 pm, I called the doctors office. I had to leave a message but was told that someone would call me back. Around 5:30 pm, I received a call from my doctor. He began to tell me he had good news! "The biopsy came back negative for cancer!" Praise God! I was all thumbs up to Rick as I was talking to the doctor. Then as he continued talking, Rick said he could literally see the blood draining from my face and my countenance changing. As my doctor went on, he did say that even though the biopsy came back negative for cancer, it did show signs of pre-cancerous cells and that I would need surgery, a hysterectomy. That, I was not expecting!

Now, this call came in about one hour before I had to go to the church for She Cafe, our women's bible study. I was rather shaken about the news since I have never had surgery before or had to be hospitalized for anything, let alone the whole "pre-cancer" word the doctor had given me. But, Rick quickly helped me realize that I had to pull it together and walk in faith. I had a purpose for that evening and that was to go lead the women and make sure that the night went forward exactly as planned. And that's exactly what we did. Still, up to this point, no one else knew anything.

Of course, the night went great. Thankfully, God's grace kicked in, so that when I was speaking, I was able to speak as God directed with no distractions!

That phone call did shake me a bit. I was so overwhelmed with disappointment about the need for surgery that it seemed that was all I could think about. As we were driving to church the next Sunday, I had an exact moment where God showed me that I had been so consumed about the need for surgery, that I never stopped to thank him for the findings on the biopsy that came back "no cancer". From that moment on, I began to thank God for that and I had such a peace come over me about having the surgery. Rick had encouraged me that there are two ways we could go into this surgery.....we can go in in fear or we can go in in faith! We opted for the second! Of course, we're going in IN FAITH!

After that night, we began to share with those close to us about the surgery I was about to undergo. We told our family of course, and then our wonderful team at Gateway. Our instruction to them was to just pray that the first method of surgery would be successful since it's a much quicker and easier recovery time and that the pathologists report after surgery would be no cancer!

This is a big year end for us with Ashley's wedding coming up so I told my doctor that if I had to have surgery, then I wanted it as soon as possible so that I could be at my best by the time the month of the wedding arrived. My surgery was scheduled for less than two weeks away.

The two weeks passed quickly. I kept myself built up in the Word and kept my focus straight as I began to prepare. I had such a peace on submitting to the surgery that I was confident everything would be fine. Even though each step I took that got me closer to the day, I was a little nervous in the natural, I did my best to stay strong in my spirit man.

The surgery day arrived and I went in without any problems. The last thing I remember in pre-op was Rick being with me and just praying peace over me, and I was praying in the spirit as they wheeled me to the operating room. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery and it was all over. I can't tell you how wonderful that feeling was! Those of you who've been through it know what I'm talking about.

Shortly after, I was taken to my room where Rick was waiting. He shared that the doctor told him the surgery went perfectly! No problems whatsoever! Praise God! The first method was a success so my recovery would be much better!

I have to say, my time in the hospital was as great as it could be. One of my nurses that had been with me through the night even commented the next morning that I had to be the easiest patient that he'd ever had! That was because every time he came in to check, I was thumbs up, doing great! I didn't know it was supposed to be anything else. I had prayed for an easy surgery and quick recovery and God performed His Word over me.

I was so happy to be leaving the hospital to get home. Now to just recover and then we're back in life! I couldn't wait. I just had to schedule a follow up appointment with my doctor in a week for a check up.

The week passed and my time at home recovering has been great. We've had so many great people taking care of us, bringing us food, picking up groceries for us, whatever we needed done, they took care of. We have the best team!

So finally, yesterday, I went in for my one week follow up. The doctor said everything is healing perfectly. I have had to take hardly any of my pain meds, no problems at all. Thank you God!

Then, the total unexpected came.....he proceeded to share with us the findings of the pathologists report. His words rang in me and hit me like a ball bat as he proceeded, "Well, I hate to tell you this but it was cancer". Rick and I both at the same time had the same reply, "HUH???" Like surely we had missed something....surely you had the wrong report....

It took a minute to come to our senses I think. The doctor proceeded to tell us exactly what the report read and to explain everything to us. I think we were still in disbelief. He told us that he was sending me to an oncologist for his expert opinion and he would discuss my options, whether another surgery to remove lymph nodes, chemo, or radiation. While my doctor was very encouraging, the report was still the same.

Again, he left the room and I looked at Rick in disbelief. He again raised his finger and told me "Don't say a word". I knew again what that meant. We honestly had not even a thought that we would get that report. We were so sure that the biopsy was correct and they would just do the surgery and again the report would be no cancer. The thought never even entered our mind that it would come back like it did.

However, this is where we found ourselves. Driving home, Rick again spoke the Word and was declaring that God's Word had not changed since we woke up that morning. His Word is still the same. The report doesn't matter, God's Word matters and that's what we are standing on. We didn't speak one negative word. If it wasn't faith or the Word, we kept our mouths shut! If the negative thoughts came, we spoke the Word to cast down those thoughts.

A short time after we got home, I already received a call from the oncologists office to schedule an appointment. They had an opening Thursday as the doctor is only in on Tuesday or Thursday afternoons. I told her that would be fine and I wanted to get in as soon as possible, even today if they could get me in since it was Tuesday. Thankfully, she called me back and told me to come in that afternoon and the doctor would see me.

The time between those two appointments was the battle of our lives. I know it doesn't seem like much but it might as well have been years to us. I believe those few hours were the most crucial to us. All I could do was look at the Word, look at my healing scriptures and confessions. I had to counteract everything I had been fed from the doctors up to that point. I had to get the truth of God's Word in me.

We arrived at the oncologists office that afternoon, which in itself was a battle. Everywhere you look are signs about cancer, confirming you have cancer, people who are in the battle of cancer. I remember telling Rick, "I should not be here! I am a covenant child of God". And again, we just wait....as I wait I'm reading the scriptures tucked away in my purse. As I look around the room, my eyes fall on a woman about my age sitting with her husband, waiting as well. I looked at her in her ballcap with no hair....this thing came over me and thoughts in my head. I again quickly looked at the scriptures I had tucked away. The first scripture my eyes fell on was in Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties." That was the scripture I was holding onto at that moment. Because at that moment, the terror around me was being in that place, seeing those people who represent the very thing that is contrary to the Word of God in me.

Shortly after that, we were called into the doctor's room. We waited for the doctor to come in and through tears, all I could do was speak the Word. Rick encouraging me the whole time that no matter what he says, God's Word is still the same. We'll do what we have to do in the natural but God's Word hasn't changed.

The doctor came in and reviewed the report with us. I thanked him for getting me in so soon. He proceeded to explain to us that there are four factors he looks at when reviewing these types of reports. The concern for my first doctor was whether or not the cancer had spread to the lymph glands. The oncologist reviewed each one of the factors with us. As he went down the list of the four factors, he began checking off each one that I was cleared on. His communication was that his opinion was that the cancer was localized only in the endometrial tissue and there was no indication that it could have spread elsewhere. There was no further treatment he was recommending! PRAISE GOD! I can't tell you the relief we felt. As we left his office, he congratulated me on being healthy and told me to go enjoy life! Not something you usually hear in an oncologist's office!

I felt like I could have danced all the way outside that office, down the elevator and through the parking lot (even though I'm still slow from the surgery!). I can't begin to explain the gratitude we feel for just how good God is. Now, we know there are a lot of people who are still fighting their battle and maybe have a bigger fight ahead of them or have already had to go through more than what we have. But we just couldn't keep silent about what God did for us.

We know the fight the enemy has against this ministry. We know that his biggest attack will be on us. We won't be silenced about the healing power of God. We have seen so many cancers healed, and miraculous testimonies of healing! That is our voice. The enemy will try to silence your voice anyway he can. Only now, we can speak about the healing goodness of our God even more loudly and with even more passion!

We share this now because if our testimony can encourage or help even one person then that's what we want it to do. Some things we don't know the answer to. I don't know why the report came back as cancer! I don't know why but I don't ask why! What I do know is that my God is the ultimate healer and that we face things we don't understand but He always gets us through. No one is exempt from experiencing things in life but we can get through them and come out on the other side even stronger than we were before.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. And to our awesome team and Gateway Family, you have been amazing through this time. Your support means more to us than you'll ever know. We believe that God has unified us even more through this battle and we will be even stronger!