Stand and Testify, Part 5
I want to thank all of you who submitted testimonies. It has been wonderful to read the many ways God has blessed your lives. Unfortunately, I could only use 5 of them. If I didn't use yours, please do not be offended. I enjoyed them all. I'm going to finish the week with this wonderful example of how God's love affected the life of one of our co-workers. Today's writer is Charles.
"Thank you for the opportunity to tell others how God has, in the words of your email, “transformed my life”. I suppose the word “transforming” is more appropriate than “transformed”. I’m still listening and learning and being transformed. And sometimes I listen more than others. I had a wake up call a few years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. There couldn’t be any more frightening words in the English language to hear than “You’ve got cancer.” I heard those words on February 8, 2002.
I had surgery in St. Louis on May 21, 2002. As they wheeled me down to the operating room, I closed my eyes and I prayed. I remember waking up afterwards, being back in my room and my wife, Kay, telling me that the doctor felt good about the surgery – although he would not know for sure until he got the pathology report, he felt like all the cancer was contained in the prostate and there was no lymph node involvement. I began singing at the top of my lungs – Jesus Loves Me – and asking my wife and a couple of the nurses to join in and sing with me. That had to have been a sight. But I guess I was so in touch with my spiritual side that it truly felt good. Then I crashed and burned. At 10:00 that night, the nurse came in and said we were going to walk to the door and back. I just about couldn’t make it – I’m the guy who had bicycled the French Alps the previous July – and I just about couldn’t make it from the bed to the door. It was at that point that my goal became one of being able to run and to ride my bicycle as soon as I could.
My surgery was on a Tuesday – I was released from the hospital on Friday – but the doctor told me to stay over in a local hotel on Friday night. We did – and I got Kay to buy the most expensive bottle of wine she could find at the local wine store – and we toasted to my good health and thanked God.
We got back to Dothan, Alabama on Saturday afternoon. I got out of bed on Sunday morning around 5:30 and went in the bathroom to shave. Kay came running in wanting to know what I was doing. I told her I was getting ready for church -- not going to let a little surgery on Tuesday keep me from going to church on Sunday. She tried to protest – thinking that my body just probably wasn’t up to doing that. And she was right.
But I said we’re going anyway – we’ll go to the 7:30 a.m. service -- get the children up. This was not about me trying to be macho and show my strength. This was – to me – about showing those around me where my strength came from – and my way of expressing my thanks to God for a successful outcome.
And so there I went – catheter and bag hidden from sight by some baggy sweat pants. I didn’t have a lot of spring in my step as we all walked up to the altar to receive communion – but I wouldn’t have had it and other way. There we were – this is what got me through to the other side of this journey – my God and my Family.
Well the bag came off, the pathology report came back great and I set about walking and walking and walking. I went from walking to fast walking to a slow run to a jog. I started out only able to jog about a ¼ of a mile and kept adding the distance. In October, 2002 – just barely 5 months after surgery, my son and I ran in the Army Ten Miler in Washington, D.C. – for our 6th time. And while I was getting back into running, I was salivating to get back on my bike. I started out slow and kept adding miles and miles. And on the Friday before Thanksgiving, 2002, I flew from Dothan and our son, Charles III, flew from Washington, D.C., where he was going to school, and we competed the next day in the 108 mile Tour de Tucson in Tucson, Arizona – our third time to do this. As I came across the finish line, I shouted THANK YOU JESUS – and proclaimed myself totally recovered from surgery.
Now, here’s the amazing part. I had not been to a doctor in over 10 years – and when I went to the doctor it was for something totally unrelated to the prostate. I told the doctor that since it took over 10 years to get me there, then he should run every test on me that he could bill to Blue Cross under our insurance program. As a result my cancer was discovered. I believe with all my heart and soul that my cancer was cured by the healing hand of God – working directly and through the hands of some great doctors. I am searching to find what God wants me to do with the balance of my life, because I truly believe He has given me a second chance. And I believe that part of what I am being called to do is to witness to what a great God we serve – how HIS healing hand worked directly in my life – and to let others know how screening and the earlier detection of cancer can save your life. I have shared my story with groups from 2 to 2,000 and just one on one to anyone that will listen.
I truly believe this is part of what God wants me to be doing with the rest of my life. Look at this example of how HE worked through me. I have a great friend that had heard about my surgery and called to check up on me. During the course of the conversation, I gave him my spiel about getting checked. Several weeks later he called me to tell me he was going to the doctor for a complete physical – his first in over 5 years – just because I had told him to.
A few weeks later my friend called and in his normal joking way asked me who was that doctor I went to in St. Louis. You see, he had just received the results from a prostate biopsy and he had cancer. Coincidence? Or God’s hand working through me. My friend had surgery and is doing fine.
With cancer, the obvious question is: How do you get through it? For me it was all about God working in my life – all about HIM giving me the “peace that passeth all understanding; all about HIM picking me up and carrying me at times; it was all about my children praying for their Daddy and letting me know how much they love me; it was all about my Business Partner and my Life Partner (one and the same) looking after me – showing her love to me – holding me close and holding the business together as well; and it was all about attitude – no more bad days – just good days and great days. For some folks Cancer is the end of life – for me, it was the beginning of a whole new one. Thanks be to God.
The name of our company that holds our some of our franchises begins with BBG. We name it that in recognition of all the many ways that our lives have been Blessed By God – BBG – Blessed By God. We named our other company with GGG. GGG stand for Give God the Glory. Being cured of my cancer is yet another one of the ways that my life has been blessed by God. Being able to tell others about it is another of those Blessings. And for that I Give God the Glory.
“…Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)"
Thank you Father for your many blessings. AMEN!!
Blessings all,
Bill
"Thank you for the opportunity to tell others how God has, in the words of your email, “transformed my life”. I suppose the word “transforming” is more appropriate than “transformed”. I’m still listening and learning and being transformed. And sometimes I listen more than others. I had a wake up call a few years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. There couldn’t be any more frightening words in the English language to hear than “You’ve got cancer.” I heard those words on February 8, 2002.
I had surgery in St. Louis on May 21, 2002. As they wheeled me down to the operating room, I closed my eyes and I prayed. I remember waking up afterwards, being back in my room and my wife, Kay, telling me that the doctor felt good about the surgery – although he would not know for sure until he got the pathology report, he felt like all the cancer was contained in the prostate and there was no lymph node involvement. I began singing at the top of my lungs – Jesus Loves Me – and asking my wife and a couple of the nurses to join in and sing with me. That had to have been a sight. But I guess I was so in touch with my spiritual side that it truly felt good. Then I crashed and burned. At 10:00 that night, the nurse came in and said we were going to walk to the door and back. I just about couldn’t make it – I’m the guy who had bicycled the French Alps the previous July – and I just about couldn’t make it from the bed to the door. It was at that point that my goal became one of being able to run and to ride my bicycle as soon as I could.
My surgery was on a Tuesday – I was released from the hospital on Friday – but the doctor told me to stay over in a local hotel on Friday night. We did – and I got Kay to buy the most expensive bottle of wine she could find at the local wine store – and we toasted to my good health and thanked God.
We got back to Dothan, Alabama on Saturday afternoon. I got out of bed on Sunday morning around 5:30 and went in the bathroom to shave. Kay came running in wanting to know what I was doing. I told her I was getting ready for church -- not going to let a little surgery on Tuesday keep me from going to church on Sunday. She tried to protest – thinking that my body just probably wasn’t up to doing that. And she was right.
But I said we’re going anyway – we’ll go to the 7:30 a.m. service -- get the children up. This was not about me trying to be macho and show my strength. This was – to me – about showing those around me where my strength came from – and my way of expressing my thanks to God for a successful outcome.
And so there I went – catheter and bag hidden from sight by some baggy sweat pants. I didn’t have a lot of spring in my step as we all walked up to the altar to receive communion – but I wouldn’t have had it and other way. There we were – this is what got me through to the other side of this journey – my God and my Family.
Well the bag came off, the pathology report came back great and I set about walking and walking and walking. I went from walking to fast walking to a slow run to a jog. I started out only able to jog about a ¼ of a mile and kept adding the distance. In October, 2002 – just barely 5 months after surgery, my son and I ran in the Army Ten Miler in Washington, D.C. – for our 6th time. And while I was getting back into running, I was salivating to get back on my bike. I started out slow and kept adding miles and miles. And on the Friday before Thanksgiving, 2002, I flew from Dothan and our son, Charles III, flew from Washington, D.C., where he was going to school, and we competed the next day in the 108 mile Tour de Tucson in Tucson, Arizona – our third time to do this. As I came across the finish line, I shouted THANK YOU JESUS – and proclaimed myself totally recovered from surgery.
Now, here’s the amazing part. I had not been to a doctor in over 10 years – and when I went to the doctor it was for something totally unrelated to the prostate. I told the doctor that since it took over 10 years to get me there, then he should run every test on me that he could bill to Blue Cross under our insurance program. As a result my cancer was discovered. I believe with all my heart and soul that my cancer was cured by the healing hand of God – working directly and through the hands of some great doctors. I am searching to find what God wants me to do with the balance of my life, because I truly believe He has given me a second chance. And I believe that part of what I am being called to do is to witness to what a great God we serve – how HIS healing hand worked directly in my life – and to let others know how screening and the earlier detection of cancer can save your life. I have shared my story with groups from 2 to 2,000 and just one on one to anyone that will listen.
I truly believe this is part of what God wants me to be doing with the rest of my life. Look at this example of how HE worked through me. I have a great friend that had heard about my surgery and called to check up on me. During the course of the conversation, I gave him my spiel about getting checked. Several weeks later he called me to tell me he was going to the doctor for a complete physical – his first in over 5 years – just because I had told him to.
A few weeks later my friend called and in his normal joking way asked me who was that doctor I went to in St. Louis. You see, he had just received the results from a prostate biopsy and he had cancer. Coincidence? Or God’s hand working through me. My friend had surgery and is doing fine.
With cancer, the obvious question is: How do you get through it? For me it was all about God working in my life – all about HIM giving me the “peace that passeth all understanding; all about HIM picking me up and carrying me at times; it was all about my children praying for their Daddy and letting me know how much they love me; it was all about my Business Partner and my Life Partner (one and the same) looking after me – showing her love to me – holding me close and holding the business together as well; and it was all about attitude – no more bad days – just good days and great days. For some folks Cancer is the end of life – for me, it was the beginning of a whole new one. Thanks be to God.
The name of our company that holds our some of our franchises begins with BBG. We name it that in recognition of all the many ways that our lives have been Blessed By God – BBG – Blessed By God. We named our other company with GGG. GGG stand for Give God the Glory. Being cured of my cancer is yet another one of the ways that my life has been blessed by God. Being able to tell others about it is another of those Blessings. And for that I Give God the Glory.
“…Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)"
Thank you Father for your many blessings. AMEN!!
Blessings all,
Bill
posted by BreadBakers at 12:16 PM
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