Perspective

One of the blessings that cancer has given me is perspective. I feel like I have always cherished the important things in life and I am a very sentimental person by nature. But when I thought there was a chance I was going to die – and if I am being honest, there were many moments that it more than crossed my mind – it changed everything. It was the game changer of all game changers in my life.

I thought of things like - what is my husband going to say at my funeral? Or, what is my husband going to say to my daughter on her wedding day if I am not here to show her my love and support too. Or, how can I shower my kids with enough love right now to last them a life time. But honestly, we should all be asking ourselves those questions, not just when we are facing cancer or some other life-threatening illness or situation.

The question I ask myself - if something happened to me tomorrow – did I get it right? I am not talking about perfection because I know there is no way I am going to hit that. But did I tell and show my husband I loved him totally and completely? Did I do the same for my kids? Did I show my kids how much I loved their father and what a good marriage looks like so that they can later apply those lessons to their own marriages? Did I put God first?

Don’t get me wrong, I do not think you should consume yourself with worry about these things. First of all, we are not supposed to worry {phil 4:6} but also because then there is a chance you will become immobilized by fear and worry. Besides, worry isn’t going to fix any of these issues anyway. Only action will.

Jason and I have been blessed with the opportunity several times now to share our perspective fresh from the trenches so to speak. It is something we cherish. As heart breaking as it is to relive those moments in our life, we cling to one another’s hands with tears streaming down our faces, we remember and we are beyond grateful that we are both here to share this perspective because we came so close to it being a different story entirely.

The other day I was talking with a girl about my perspective and she said, “I hope I do not have to go through what you did to have the perspective that you have.” That summed up my heart condition in a nutshell. I want to share and inspire people to make the changes that they need to make before it is too late, so that when they get to that final moment the can say, “Yes, I got it right.” 

Blessings,

Andrea

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. {Philippians 4:6 NLT}