Today I grabbed an old journal to make some notes in. As I flipped through to find a blank page, I came across my writings on the day I found out I had cancer. One page for dates, times and everything to expect – surgical risks, survival rates, follow up procedures. The next page was my “Surgery Notification List” which included names of people closest to me that would need to know. I had two weeks to get life in order and get work projects transferred to my team. Fortunately, there wasn’t much time left over to get lost in thoughts. Chase was 10 months old. 70 lymph nodes were removed, 19 were cancerous – tests showed that cancer was just about to spread beyond the nodes and into the blood stream.
?☕?☕
Fast forward about 7 years. This picture was taken of my son and I last week. Chase had his last surgery a year ago so we were finally able to travel! (3 surgeries, 1 failed attempt, many procedures) As a new mom battling cancer and also watching her son go through his own set of surgeries and physical set backs, I collected my own set of “survival and thriving techniques.” Personally, I love it when I see a cancer survivor crossing out the word “survivor” and replacing it with the word “thriver.” But honestly, I wasn’t always thriving – sometimes I was barely getting by. Beni Johnson’s Instagram profile says, “I’m an overcomer.” I can definitely identify with that.
?☕?☕
So here’s my list
#1 Meditate on the word day and night. Make what God says about my situation bigger and more prominant than what how I feel and the stream of negative thoughts and fears.
Joshua 1:8…that’s it! 
…
Now I now you’re probably wanting more action items to sink your teeth in. So here’s a list of “how to” meditate on His word and become a friend to God.
✔ Thank God daily for any good thing that comes to mind. If all you can do is barely breath, then thank Him for one more breath!
✔ Read the Bible and ask God to bring it to life. Speak His word over yourself and your situations. (Aligning your words with the word.) I really love looking up scriptures in various translations. Scripture really comes alive for me in that way.
✔ Listen to nothing but life giving music.
✔ Talk to God and about God often.
✔ When God speaks to you write it down and remind yourself of His words often!
✔ Ask God to give you dreams and visions. If He doesn’t give you the interpretation for them, seek and you will find. (You can message me if you need help with this.)
✔ Minister to others – pray for and speak the word of God over someone else’s life and their difficult situations.
?☕?☕
I recently created a few devotional crafts to inspire us to meditate on His word in a different way. I just recorded a few tutorial videos and will be putting the kits up on my PearlsInBloom.com shop soon. If you’d like tp learn more and would like one, let me know and I’ll send you a GCC Member coupon code.
