When I gave my life to Jesus three and a half years ago, I had no idea just how much my life was about to change. I knew I needed to get sober. I knew I couldn’t keep living the way I had been. But what I didn’t know was that God was about to save my life in more ways than one.
I had known my husband, Martin, for a couple of years before I got saved but we were just friends. When I gave my life to Jesus, it was like God opened my eyes to someone who had been right in front of me all along. Martin became such an important part of my life. He encouraged me to get sober, take care of myself, and start making better decisions. One of those decisions was finally going to the doctor.
For years, I had struggled with extremely heavy menstrual cycles. It had become such a normal part of my life that I just lived with it. I knew something wasn’t right, but I kept putting off getting it checked. Martin encouraged me to go, and I finally listened. That’s when I found out I had uterine cancer.
Even writing those words isn’t easy. Cancer is something I never imagined I would have to face. I had already been through so much in my life, and now here was something else. Something I couldn’t ignore or run away from. I ended up having surgery, and thankfully, they were able to remove all of the cancer. Today, a year and a half later, I am cancer free.
But when I look back at everything, I don’t see a bunch of coincidences. I see God’s hand in my life. If I hadn’t surrendered my life to Jesus, I don’t know where I would be today. Getting saved changed the direction of my life. God brought Martin and me together, and Martin encouraged me to do something I had neglected for years. That decision led to finding the cancer and getting the treatment I needed. I know God was looking out for me long before I even knew what was wrong.
I’m not saying that following Jesus means we won’t face sickness or difficult times. I know that’s not true. But I do believe that God was working in my life through every one of those circumstances. For so many years, I was destroying my body with drugs and alcohol. I wasn’t taking care of myself, and honestly, there were times when I didn’t care what happened to me. But God had other plans.
He gave me a new life in Christ, a husband who loves and cares for me, the courage to get sober, and the opportunity to take care of the body He gave me. Today, I can say that I’m not only a recovering addict. I’m also a cancer survivor.
This is a part of my story that I don’t talk about very often. But it’s also a part of my story where I can see just how much God has done for me. I thank God for the doctors who found my cancer and the surgery that removed it. I thank Him for Martin, who loved me enough to encourage me to take care of myself. And most of all, I thank Him for saving me and changing the direction of my life.
I don’t know what would have happened if I had continued down the road I was on. And I don’t have to know. What I do know is that I’m still here, I’m cancer free, and I have another reason to give God all the glory. God didn’t just change the way I was living. He changed the direction my life was heading. And for that, I will always be grateful.