There is never a cloud without its bright light

This is on the back of a little devotional book that I have called Hope for Each Day, Words of Wisdom and Faith by Billy Graham.

This felt right as a title as I think about this next post. This next post is a little serious and a bit sad - sometimes life takes this turn, so ppppffffftttttt must as well. There is a rainbow at the end, like most serious and sad things in life too. :)

The last couple of months my life has been flooded with case after case of the c-word. Oh how I hate the c-word. Cancer being the c-word. After loosing an extremely healthy and active Granny to cancer in December 2008 and seeing first hand what it does to the body, it's changed the way I feel when I hear of someone being diagnosed with cancer. I really hurt for them and their loved ones. Before I felt for them, but I don't think I realized the hurt of losing someone to a disease that you can't control until my Granny.

One of the cancer stories I've heard and become moved by is Sarah Chidgey's journey. A friend of mine posted her blog on her facebook page and said that she was praying for her. Well, you know I can't resist a blog, so I immediately clicked and read from the beginning. Creepy because I don't know Sarah, yes, a little.

Here's her blog: Just Some Thoughts

Something about her realness, her faith, her spirit completely captured me. I've been brought to tears and been incredibly inspired through her posts. If you have time I highly suggest going to the beginning of the blog and reading all the way through.

On Labor Day, I was at home catching up on some of the posts. Robert looked over my shoulder and told me that he knew Sarah. She used to date a friend of his and graduated from Texas. Small world. I summed up her blog and diagnosis to Robert and we listened to one of her posts (she does video posts a lot). Robert looked at me and said, "We need to pray for her." She doesn't know it, but her life is touching a web that she couldn't imagine. I want to make time to pray for things with Robert, our jobs, our future, our worries and stresses,  but life happens and we don't, but when we see that someone needs a miracle and needs God on a physical level we are led to pray. (sidenote: The most intimate thing you can possibly do with your significant other is pray, it's simply amazing.)

But, I've realized that we are so fooled because we think Sarah needs God and prayers more than we do. We need God just as much.

I'm a master at putting everything in my life before prayer and meditation with God. I want to make it a priority, but I don't. How sad that it takes something of this magnitude to actually shake me and get me back to how important prayer is. I'm so thankful that I am shaken to pray for Sarah and now reminded to pray for everything. There's nothing God doesn't want to hear from us. Our doubts, our praises, our requests, our anxieties. Just as we are is all God wants from us. By not praying I realize that I'm telling God that I don't need him and that I've got my life figured out. ppppffffffttttttt. Yeah, that's never going to happen, I'm always going to need God - it's just whether or not I'm recognizing it.

We all look every now and then at what our purpose is. Why are we here? What's the point? When you hear a story like Sarah's and see someone who's unsure of her time on this earth, it makes things that aren't important melt and away and forces you to get to the heart of what truly matters. It's a nice reminder, it's a freeing reminder.

Love to each of you today.

Colossians 4:2 - Devote yourselves in prayer, being watchful and thankful.