Female in Motion

I like to tell people I had a very mild case of breast cancer. It makes me feel a teensy bit better about not being more sick. I had it too easy. Side effects for my type of treatment were mild: very little nausea, a few radiation burns, neuropathy. I actually gained some weight, due to all the steroids they loaded with my chemo doses. The guilt didn't start until I was done fighting cancer. Others have it so much tougher than I did; people with lung, colon and liver cancer. They really suffered. In addition, nobody wears cute t-shirts and has fun runs for liver cancer, it's just not "sexy." Attention equals money, in cancer terms. And so, I feel guilty. For not being more sick. For not suffering more. For surviving. Guilt is not from God. It serves no purpose. It's not helpful. I'm not guilty. I am a survivor. By the grace of God. *** Female in Motion Health Update: I'm freezing at work, so I'm taking a small space heater to w...

Psalm 90:12 (KJV) So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. My daughters tease me. Every New Year's Day, I sit with my old calendar and my new one, transferring all the birthdays, anniversaries and important dates to remember. It's a ritual I have practiced for decades, marking the passage of time. People ask me, "How do you remember my birthday, every year?" "Easy," I say, "It's on the calendar." When I was a child, every year on my birthday, I received a card from a very special person. Mrs. McConnell was a very old woman, who had been my mother's landlady, at one time. She and I shared a birthday. Mrs. McConnell wrote kind words on the card, about her hopes and dreams for my life. I counted on that card being in the mailbox every February 22. It made me feel special and important. That's why I keep my calendar so diligently. I want the people in my life to feel every bit as special and...

  Luke 18:1b (KJV)                                                       " ...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; " Last year, a Christian friend started a Facebook group, called "Prayer Warriors." The only requirement is you pray at least once for the requests that are made on the page. Yesterday, a young woman we had prayed for several months passed away. I have to admit, it hit me hard. I never met her, but Ahna impacted my life. Prayer is powerful. When I wrote about getting "back on track" in my blog post last week, part of my intention was to get back to twice-daily devotion and prayer, and once-daily prayer with my husband. I'm not saying I had stopped praying. Sloppiness was my problem: A shor...

Most writers (and bloggers) like to make New Years resolutions. I do not. For the last decade, however, I have been praying about things I want God to lay on my heart. Maybe a word, or a goal to focus on in the year ahead. This year, when I prayed for a word, God gave me three: Back on Track . When I meditated and prayed about this phrase, I got the message clearly that my Heavenly Father wants me to be about His Business...I need to get back to what He commanded me to do three years ago, start an encouragement ministry through my blog, writing and speaking, helping women to recognize the gifts God has given them and using them to their fullest potential. You see, since February 2012, I have been in survival mode. Or, maybe I should say "survivor mode." I'm currently fighting a battle with breast cancer. Treatment is going good and I should be done by the end of March. After that, I will rest a few months and then do reconstruction. It is good and right that I shoul...