This is a letter for you -- and please share it with the others you petitioned to pray on my behalf. I would be grateful. Please forward this email, or read this aloud to others with whom you have shared my story (prayer groups, Sunday school classes, etc.). Thank you for all your prayers and support of the Goldsberry family. We are truly grateful.
(used by permission)
Dear YOU,
Maybe a life changing health event - the unexpected - has only ever happened as something you prayed for on behalf of someone else...someone you knew or someone you cared about or someone you know passed on a "prayer request" for someone you did not know, and yet you took the time to pray for them.
Or - maybe you are one of the 'silent' warriors who truly knows the deep struggle of health challenges that require faith for dealing with the day to day - and so your prayers come from another understanding.
This is to all of you who heard the call for prayer, heeded our Lord's commandment to love others as ourselves, and became part of the vast net of interwoven people in communities across the globe who prayed for me and my family. Bless you -- for you have been part of a Miracle.
And it is YOU - reading these words - and YOU hearing them as they are being read that I address in this letter.
I now know I am part of two bodies - the body I dwell in as the Lord's temple and The Body of Christ that I dwell in with you as His hands and feet on the planet. When my physical body was challenged, the Body of Christ came in to heal me, comfort my family and provide peace beyond all understanding.
As I write this at the beginning of April 2009, I reflect that on February 3rd I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer after an initial surgery. And then, after another follow up surgery which determined the lymph nodes were clear, I then received mammosite and radiation treatment, and a special molecular test determined I did not require chemotherapy. I am now officially a survivor, clear of cancer, and I will be taking cancer drugs for the next 10 years. This all happened in just 2 months.
Who will ever know for sure if the cancer had spread and your prayers eradicated the cancer from the rest of my body? Who will ever know for sure if I even needed prayers? Yeah. Right.
My miracle...our miracle is very, very REAL. And your every thought, tear, card, email, sigh, meal, smile, race you ran, shawl you knitted, prayer group you petitioned on my behalf, hug you gave and absolutely, the prayers you prayed has proven a life with God makes all things possible. My coworkers...clients...over 30 prayer communities and several countries were involved. The magnitude is stunning and we are awed by how the Body of Christ and the global community thrive with a love, grace, and mercy beyond all imaginations.
Last week I weathered a set-back with a major internal infection as a result of all that my body has been through in such a short period of time. I am on the mend and it is the rock of this community that gathered for me, which has given me the strength to stand and endure one more challenge to have my spirits dampened. Yet, my thoughts of you and your prayers kept my spirits fully alive even during this recovery.
I wish I could pray your name aloud so you are blessed by individual name - but, where I cannot, I have petitioned the Holy Spirit to know I am "calling" for His presence and blessings to be showered upon You - yes - You...you reading this or you listening to this being read. I also want to specifically life up Alan's inner circle of men - 8 men who prayed a specific prayer on their knees, every day, for the month of February on my behalf. Regardless of faith background, Christian or not, all of you are part of an amazing body that has the power to heal. This has been so hard. We could not have done it without you.
I hope that should your way become challenged, that you will call on the Body of Christ to help and support you...and know that I am - we - are here as well.
So I wanted you to have closure on your gift to us, and now I request for you to replace my name in your prayer list with the names of others in greater need. Think on me, yes - as I will on you - and know that your work, for now, is done with this sister in Christ.
So now - this Easter, I can say that what was once broken is now restored...and I AM a new creation through Him and through you, the devoted, who have been there with me and I have felt your presence all along this journey.
May the fellowship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be now and forever yours.
Love Cindy (and family)
Survivor, day 68
P.S. I am happy to pray and serve as a resource for others.
P.S.S. - when you are able, please lift up specifically by name Anita, Renee and Nancy who are all friends in chemotherapy through June of 2009. Include "Baby Henry "who just celebrated 7 months of age and is now finally 9 pounds after a premature birth and many complications. Pray for the continued development of all his life systems, and peace for his parents and "big" sister.
Fought the Good Fight
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. - 2 Timothy 4:7