Who Art Thou Cancer?

Cancer. It's such an ugly word. There is no way to mask it in a pleasant conversation or casually mention it as if it were a passing thought. The word cancer carries such a heavy weight and serious meaning.

My mom has cancer. The doctors found it the first time just weeks before my first child was born.

The news was scary. I didn't like the unknown, the uncertainty of it all. All four of my grandparents suffered from different cancers and passed away while I was in college. I wanted to be there for my mom - only I had no idea what that meant, or how I could really accomplish that.

Now, once again, my mom has been diagnosed with cancer. This time it is not only breast cancer, but they have found cancer in her thyroid as well. Once again, our family is confronted with that ugly word: cancer.

When I heard the news, I cried. I prayed, and then I cried again. "What next? What next?" my heart kept begging. What sort of treatments would she have to endure? Would they work? Could the doctors help her? I spent a lot of time thinking about how WE could help her.

Then, in the Wednesday night service at our church, our pastor highlighted two verses from the book of Zechariah. He was teaching us about Ezra in his "Walk Through the Bible" series and used the verses to show how the prophet Zechariah foretold that Zerubbabel would be successful in rebuilding the temple, but that it would be through the power of God, not his own power.

Zechariah 4:6-7

"Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it."

I reread those verses again, amazed and humbled by the reminder that God will accomplish things in our lives in His spirit, not by our strength or might. I read the verses again; only with my mind on my Mom's cancer, I read it this way:

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, cancer? before us thou shalt become small and weak and nothing, and we will bring forth our mom before Him, crying, Grace, grace unto her."

So that's what we are going to do. Look to the Lord, and beg Him for His grace.

Crying "Grace, grace" today. . .

A Glimpse Into Life Lately

Mission Mommyhood

I have a bit of an unnatural obsession with mommy jewelry. Show me a beautiful piece of jewelry with my angels' names on it, and I want it. Badly! I especially love unique pieces, like the gorgeous spoon handle necklace my hubby purchased for me for Mother's Day.

Isn't this mommy necklace just stunning? I love the slight distressing of the metal and the lovely pearls!

This mommy necklace and many other beautiful pieces of certified mommy jewelry are hand-made by Heather at Mission Mommyhood on Etsy. Heather not only makes unique and gorgeous jewelry, but she is also unique in the fact that she herself is not a mommy. Yet. She has been making her mommy pieces now for a long time, all the while longing for a sweet baby of her own. As a teacher, she is daily surrounded by other people's children, but she has yet to come home to her own precious baby. Heather and her husband have been troopers through the infertility treatments, and now they know that their only option is in-vitro. Which, folks, is a pretty spendy treatment. It costs between $15,000 and $20,000 - way more than Heather and her husband can afford. Instead of feeling worry for herself and having a giant pity party (which I think she is totally entitled to, by the way!), Heather has launched her mommy jewelry shop called Mission Mommyhood to help pay for the in-vitro. She estimates that she needs to sell about 500 pieces to fund the in-vitro costs.

She has sold about fifty jewelry items already. Besides mommy jewelry, Heather makes beautiful hand-stamped pieces as well, including the clever coffee cup design on the earrings shown above.

Will you help Heather in her quest to mommyhood? If you are unable to purchase something from her shop, you can at least get the word out to others through blogging, twitter, facebook, etc.

I would love to see her announce on her Etsy shop - "Mission Accomplished!"