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The mirror is a friend who comforts the survivor

It’s been a minute since I have posted anything.

I’m sorry for not taking the time to update you all, but we’ve been busy living life. Since my last post, I spent a few days at Lake Erie—just me, Aaron and our boys—had a baby shower for our soon-to-arrive third grandbaby, took lots of walks with stops at the football field to catch Aric as he practices, had meals around the table with all our kids. We’ve moved Caleb into his dorm and Aric has started his first year at Pickaway Ross Vocational School studying Construction Technologies.

We celebrated a few birthdays in there as well, one of them being mine. Which caused me to stop and reflect on the way I viewed my body.

The thoughts I jotted down in my journal:

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wrinkles
stretch marks
flabby biceps
a scar on my left calf
a pooch in my stomach area
a deformed breast

…….and I could keep going.

I have focused on the “ugly” things about my body, but this year I’m striving to see my body in a different way.

This body has been through some things. A collapsed lung at birth, 4 pregnancies, (2 of which had some complications), and CANCER. My body has fought; my body has overcome.

Scars can be viewed as “ugly”—or they can serve as proof of how awesome are bodies are. God’s design—God’s masterpieces.

Think of Jesus - the scars in each of His hands. He didn’t say to Thomas, “Look at how I was betrayed by my friends.”

Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” [John 20:27]

Jesus was showing Thomas that his scars were proof, a reminder, of His resurrection.

Stretch marks should cause me to smile; because of them, new life was brought into this world. Scars on my breast: a reason to rejoice in God’s faithfulness to me through this cancer journey. God has given me 48 years to enjoy life on this earth—thus, the wrinkles.

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Scars tell a story.

Maybe your scars speak of pain. Can you allow God to heal the pain and show His faithfulness to you?

The mirror we look into can be an enemy ready to rip apart its victim—or it can be a kind friend ready to comfort its survivor. You get to choose.

I am going to try to view the mirror as a kind friend who reminds me I have been through some tough things, and because of God’s kindness to me, I still have an amazing life to enjoy.

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In addition to all the things listed above,

I’ve also completed 16 radiation treatments, continued maintenance chemo treatment every three weeks, and received a shot every four weeks to shut down my ovaries. And this week I start taking a hormone-blocking medication which will hopefully ensure my cancer never returns. I’ll be on this med for the next five years.

My skin is healing from the radiation treatments. I still struggle with fatigue and other side effects from the first rounds of chemo, but things are getting better, slowly. And my hair is growing back, slowly. :)

If you saw my post on facebook or instagram a few weeks back about running—well, I’m not as committed to that as I’d like to be. I do walk/run when I get the urge, but it’s not too often. :)