My Testimony - Heather - Woodroffe Community Church

My Testimony - Heather

The Salvation Army - Woodroffe Community Church

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
(John 3:16)

Heather

Heather - April 1998

"I knew when I heard the words, “you have cancer,” that my life was about to change, but I had no idea that the change would be spiritual."

      I knew when I heard the words, “you have cancer”, that my life was about to change, but I had no idea that the change would be spiritual.

      Born, baptized, and confirmed into the United Church, I grew up learning about God and the stories of Jesus. As a member participating in the Youth Group activities, I developed what I believed was a relationship with God. However, as a teenager, young and immature, I had no concept of what it took to maintain any personal relationship. As often happens with young people, when I moved away from home, there were promises made to friends to keep in touch. In the excitement of the adventure into the world of adult temptations and distractions, I soon forgot those promises. Among those I lost touch with was God.

      I still considered myself a Christian, so long as I lived technically, by God’s laws, adhering in principle to His commandments; what I considered to be God’s house rules and directives for living under God’s roof.

      Over the years, especially during times of great conflict and turmoil, I would observe that God had been active and busy in my life; no doubt in answer to the prayers of others who loved me. For my entire life, my mother has knelt every night in prayer, and has no doubt logged hours on my behalf. Accordingly, when I encountered His work, I paused and said, “thank you,” but soon after moved on. I failed to take the time to consider the significance of His influence in my life. I failed to ask what I could do for Him in return for these blessings. I failed to share with others the power of God’s impact on my life.

      So it was that God’s presence in my life remained a constant, whether I acknowledged it or not. He surrounded me with the people who could, would, and did support and care for me no matter how low I would sink or how loathsome I would become. No matter the test of their love and loyalty, these individuals remained in their Christian commitment to be there for me, picking me up and setting me on my way time and again.

      Often in those early years, my troubles were self-inflicted through alcohol abuse. The further I strayed from my relationship with God, the more I suffered. The suffering was more emotional than physical. I was often depressed and unhappy, even in the company of wonderful and supportive friends and family - so often I felt desperately alone.

"The further I strayed from my relationship with God, the more I suffered…I was often depressed and unhappy, even in the company of wonderful and supportive friends and family - so often I felt desperately alone."

      After years of constant support by the people God had placed in my life, I began to see how truly blessed I have been in spite of my actions. Through the eyes of others, I began to see and appreciate the wonderful childhood and family life I have had. I stopped needing to test the love and loyalty of the people who love and care for me. I began to realize how many times God had intervened in my life with the right decisions when I had no way of knowing that what seemed like difficult choices would eventually all work out for the best.

      He saved me from financial disaster with a MURB. He saved me from a life of misery with the wrong partner. He saved me from years of working in unfulfilling and meaningless employment where I would not have grown as a person. He removed me from my demanding job and placed me in another before I was to become ill and need less pressure in my life.

      Finally, when He had prepared me, He helped me to discover that I had breast cancer. I had no idea what my future held but I did confront the reality of my own mortality. Regardless of the outcome, how I personally dealt with this new crisis would have a tremendous impact on the people in my life. Now was my opportunity to rise to the challenge and show how far I had come because of their patience, nurturing, and love. I asked God, “no matter what lies ahead, please help me to do it well.” Then I asked a friend, “please pray for my family and friends because I am about to take them on a difficult journey.”

"I asked God, 'no matter what lies ahead, please help me to do it well.'"

      The hardest task I faced in all of this was to tell my parents that I was sick. I felt my being ill would be as difficult for them as it was for me. I felt badly about having to put them through this. I was afraid that when I tried to tell them, I would become a child again, and I really needed to be an adult to deal with what was ahead of me. The closer I got the more fretful I became as I drove toward their home that day. Finally, I looked toward Heaven and asked, “God, please make this easy.” He permitted me to talk to my father first, who because he is quite deaf often feels left out. This enabled my father to get the answers to all his questions one on one. Because he is so practical, and matter of fact, my father equated the situation to the lady next door who had been through the same thing and was now back at work. Then he told me about having seen a deer in the woods that morning. Then, he had the opportunity to tell my mother the news when I was away for only a few minutes. This way I was not caught up in the emotional pitfall I so feared with that encounter. God had answered my prayer, “to make it easy.” The answer had been so clear, I could not miss it.

      As the months of treatment began, with the surgery and then the chemotherapy, I remained off work and had time to heal physically and emotionally without the other pressures of life. My family and friends were constantly there to support me. The time went by quickly, the side effects of the surgery and the chemotherapy were minimal compared to what I had been lead to expect. My attitude remained upbeat and positive.

      People constantly told me how well I was handling the situation. I was becoming quite proud of myself with all this positive stroking. It was about this time that I felt drawn to Woodroffe Community Church and began listening in earnest to the messages of the Pastors there. They were focusing on the life and death of Christ - the journey from Christmas to Easter. Each Sunday they delivered a message to the congregation that seemed to speak directly to me. Reminding me that Christ had died so my sins were forgiven and I might have eternal life. Reminding me that as a child of God I needed to know God, not just know of him. Assuring me that God knew all about me - my past, my present, my future, my every thought. That He was constantly present in my life, loving me, caring for me, answering my prayers, collecting my tears, and preparing a place for me in Heaven. If only I would accept Him and accept His gifts for me.

      When my eyes and my mind had opened to his presence after all the years and all the tears, I realized He had brought me back to His house. There I would be among people who would not criticize or judge me as I knelt at the Mercy Seat and asked for His forgiveness, invited Him, begged Him, to come back into my life on a daily basis. It was not the cancer of my body but the cancer of my soul that He was healing as I knelt before Him. He removed the panic about my own mortality. I began to rejoice in His promise of eternal life - not just for myself but for all of his children.

"It was not the cancer of my body but the cancer of my soul that He was healing as I knelt before Him…I began to rejoice in His promise of eternal life - not just for myself but for all of his children."

      That same day He showed me a way I could be of service to Him. A soldier came forward to pray over me at the Mercy Seat and in her prayer, I heard her ask God to help me witness on His behalf.

      The children’s message that Sunday was that each of them was part of the Body of Christ. That all Christians together formed that body and the children were to think of themselves as some anatomical part of the Body of Christ. The children needed to decide if with their talents that they were best suited to be hands, or feet, or ears, or eyes or a mouth in the Body of Christ.

      When I left the Temple that day, I went to a birthday party for our local Christian radio station. I first encountered there a woman who could barely speak. I thought, this woman would not easily be a mouth for the Body of Christ she must be another part of the anatomy. Then I heard the beautiful voice of the female radio announcer and thought now she surely is a mouth for the Body of Christ.

      That evening as I returned to Temple, I found myself on my feet giving my testimony to the congregation, for God had given me the words, the voice, and the story to witness for Him. The story was simple. Several months before I had asked God, “please help me do it (cancer) well.” While I had been taking all the credit, I saw now that God had answered that prayer. He had made the treatments easy to deal with and given me so much love and support through the people around me and praying for me, that it had not been difficult to handle. He had indeed enabled me, “to do it well.”

Heather.