Pink Ribbon Adventure

The Adventure Begins

Marcia:

It was now January 2013, and my husband (Dave) and I were in the doctor’s office hearing the words, “You have breast cancer.” Instantly the Lord brought back to my mind a lesson I had learned over 30 years ago. Because of this lesson, I just knew that really good things were going to come out of this trial. After leaving the doctor’s office, I felt like I was floating down the hallway. I had a sense of excitement, like we were just about to start a new adventure. I couldn’t wait! How crazy is that?

Consecrated Chili

Marcia:

January 2013

After hearing my cancer diagnosis, the next thing our local doctor told us was that we needed to find an oncologist. He gave us one or two names of oncologists in our small rural area, and wished us luck. We looked at each other and kind of scratched our heads and thought—what do we do now? We went home, got on our knees and said, “Lord, we don’t know anything about cancer. Show us what to do and where to go.”

For the next few days, our lives were turned up-side down. We had the really sad task of calling all of our family and close friends to tell them the news. There is a strong history of cancer in our family which made this task especially difficult. Then we talked with friends who had gone through cancer to see where they had gone for treatment. We still didn’t know what to do.

During this time, Lois, a friend from church, fell and broke her shoulder. I organized meals for her and her husband, and I took the first meal. Other people took the next few meals, but I could not find anyone to take the last meal. I made calls, sent emails, and talked to people, but no one could do it. I was really frustrated and developed a bad attitude. I complained to my poor husband saying, “Don’t people realize that I’m going through a hard time and need help with this?” Dave calmly reminded me that I had just made a huge pot of chili and suggested that I just take some of that. Great idea! So I made some corn bread, packed up the chili, and off I went.

While I was at her house, Lois said, “Marcia, I just heard that you were diagnosed with breast cancer. Do you remember when I went through breast cancer a few years ago? I highly recommend the cancer center that I went to.” Then she gave us a promotional DVD from her cancer center to watch.

Well, I went home and promptly…..ignored the DVD. We were so busy that we just shelved it. A few days later, my husband said let’s just stop what we are doing and watch it. When we finished watching it, we looked at each other and thought, is this place for real? It sounds too good to be true. Dave told me to call them the next morning just to “get information.” I called the next morning, and I think I talked to an angel for about an hour! This place sounded amazing. When I hung up with her, I immediately called Dave. We both were sensing that this might be where God was directing us to go. Then he called her and talked to her for awhile. She called him back about an hour later and told us:

Our insurance was already accepted;

They were not in our insurance’s network, but would bill us as if they were, saving us thousands of dollars out of our own pockets;

They already had five days of consultation appointments and tests lined up for us;

They would retrieve all of my test and lab results from our local hospital and doctors for us;

They already had five nights of hotels reserved for us for free, and every time after that, hotel stays would never cost more than $40 per night;

We would eat in their cafeteria for free every time we came;

We would be reimbursed for gas expenses—from our front door to theirs and back-- every time we came, even though it is a three hour trip one way;

Even though this cancer center has five locations throughout the country that treat all types of cancer, this location also specialized in breast cancer!

UNBELIEVABLE. There was no doubt in our minds now that this was most definitely where God was leading us to. This was a direct answer to our prayer of “show us what to do and where to go.” I am convinced that God loves it when His children call out to Him for help, especially when we do it at the beginning.

God had wanted me to take the last meal to Lois so that He could give us one of the biggest blessings of our lives. I see now that it was consecrated chili, used by God. And yes, I feel guilty for complaining about it!