One thing I’ve discovered about you, we both want some of the same things: freedom, joy, and a good life. I believe that happens when we fully realize that our lives and voices matter. So for the rest of 2013, we’re celebrating the power of voice, your voice. Each week, we feature a guest post from a brave-hearted reader who shares a slice of their own journey to finding and using their voices {in the hopes of encouraging you to use your own story to make a difference}. This week we hear from Bonnie Wallace.
It’s cancer. I’m reeling. I have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
Unwillingly I make my way to a valley, the Valley of Tears, the one laced with death, fear and sadness.
My life goes into auto pilot; I endure all that is necessary to bring physical healing. The road is long and the journey is hard. In the end, it’s a good prognosis. I’m told I can move on.
But my heart is still in the Valley.
I am reminded of the times my children have been in serious need and I found a supernatural strength to get them through. It is only after they are well, it is then that I digest the seriousness of the event. And I fall apart.
This time it’s my own crisis. I can’t make sense of what I’ve been through.
My heart is still shattered.
Jesus tugs my heart and says,”Write.”
I don’t understand this thing He asks me to do, but I know that healing somehow lies within. I set myself to the task, day after day, desperately wanting my heart to own what I type. There is a message. There is one thing, above all, that Jesus wants to sum in me.
And then it comes, this Scripture that defines my journey and gives me my voice.
Happy are the people whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage, As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a source of springwater; even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings. They go from strength to strength; Each appears before God in Zion (Psalm 84:5-7 HCSB).
God lifts the veil and I see how I have viewed my life as a movement from one weakness to the next. However, my Savior shows me, I have been moving from strength to strength. In every circumstance, He has cooled me with His life giving water so I am strong enough to take the next step. My journey is distinct and my destination precise. I am not meandering through life, haphazardly traveling toward my heavenly home.
I am no longer bound by circumstances. I have been given a glimpse of where I am going, where I land. I am freed to see my life from heaven looking back.
Today, my heart beats with an increasing urge to tell women the Truth of their journey, too. I write to encourage them their life is not an endless path of going from one “hard” to the next. They are not merely shifting from one child, one work day, one illness, or one problem to another. They need to know the journey of their lives is about moving from strong point to strong point. Each step of the way, Jesus is there, waiting to draw them closer to the day they will see Him face to face.
May my cancer experience serve as a conduit of hope for all of us. It’s time for all of us to live like we know … where we are going.
