I'll Overcome Someday
When my mother was alive she’d always say,
“God gives you nothing you can’t handle because he believes you can overcome”. I swear when she’d give me this speech in the distance I’d hear the Gospel Hymn “I’ll Overcome Someday.”
The first verse drives into your soul as
an anthem to live by.
This
world is one great battlefield,
with forces all arrayed;
if in my heart I do not yield,
I'll overcome someday
with forces all arrayed;
if in my heart I do not yield,
I'll overcome someday
A matter of fact lyrics were changed to
become “We Shall Overcome” the song that lead the Freedom Movement and became
part of a famous speech given by the late Martin Luther King Jr.
So when tough challenges in my life has
raised its ugly head I’d say, bring it on because if God had this much faith in
me to deal with adversity then I have faith in him to help me.
When I was told in January 2011 that
my cancer came back and it is now incurable it was as though I was
being gutted alive. I didn’t think I
could survive such news (no pun intended) but I am still here.
The thought of cursing God and
hating all that was around me because life was not being fare filled my heart
but only for a short millisecond. Soon
it was a battle to stay with the living and a great time for my feisty stubborn
behavior to come to the forefront.
I knew that this was not my time to
let go and give up. I had new lessons to learn and I was ready with a front row seat in the classroom of life. Was I scared, you bet. Was the unknown a cloud of darkness? Yes.
I have realized that life is and
will not be easy and that is exactly how it’s supposed to be. When everything comes to you easily you never
learn and you never appreciate the good.
Some people might have harder times than others. It is all relative.
This is how I’ve looked at every
aspect of my life, what am I supposed to get out of this experience. I asked that when I found out I would never
have children and what I learned is giving birth does not make you a
mother. That all my “motherly” love
could go toward nephews and nieces, the kids I taught and my step children. That being childless does not make me less of
a woman and it actually gave me a strength I didn’t think I had. My challenges in life are set aside for me and
what I need to learn. It's not a punishment.
So I sit here now receiving my
chemotherapy for my 3rd bout with a fatal disease and I am at
peace. I say peace because I am not
fighting with the why me, I say why not me.
This is my life lesson and what I have learned from my cancer is that
people waste so much time on insignificant things. So what if the dishes aren’t done today and
the kids decide to make mud art in the living room. Maybe the snake in the
office got the promotion you worked so hard for or maybe your spouse forgot
your birthday, or you are facing much worse scenarios. These things are tough
to deal with but remember you are still here in the world classroom. Take a breath, put your face to the sun and
see the forest for the trees. It can be
very beautiful. Slow down smell those
roses, hug a friend in need. I’ve said
it before but cancer has given me a great gift that I never thought I needed
and that is appreciate the small things God gives us and have the strength to
stay in life’s classroom until you are called home.
So when the next big trial comes to
you, ask yourself, “What am I supposed to learn?” I promise that God knows and believes in you
and like the last line in the song …
My
Jesus says I need not fear, He'll make it plain someday.
I have faith that he will make it plain someday even though I can't make any since of it. Until
the last bell rings and I’m called home I’m still alive and learning
Go out there…have faith and overcome.
*Note I wrote this last Thursday and forgot to post, chemo brain is real. Ha!
