72 Hours Ago I Found a Lump in My Chest — Snapshot of a Life on Purpose

Originally published on Sept. 13, 2013

I discovered a golf ball sized lump in my chest on a Monday evening.

36 hrs later, I found my wrapped around talk and terminology surrounded around treatment options, Heaven and payment methods while I was wrapped up, chamber-tight, getting an MRI.

The events of the last 72 hrs got me to thinking a lot about my life in general…The pace, the purpose & the people of it.

A guy cut me off in traffic and nothing in me even got remotely angry! I found myself just really wanting to get out of the way of someone who was in a hurry. Funny how one silly old lump can make you love others better. Sad, really.

In the last 72 hours….

-I held my kiddos a bit more & looked in their eyes and listened, no…I mean really listened, like I never had before.

-I intentionally redeemed my hours like they were all I had left.

-I prayed, no…I mean really prayed as if my life depended on it. Words were suddenly cumbersome & clunky. In my desperation, I had to allow the Holy Spirit to take over.

-I was standing in the shower yesterday when it finally happened. I broke…all of my strength began to pour out as an offering in the biggest mess of teardrops & snot you’ve ever seen.

It was in that Holy moment when God chose to offer me His Perfect Strength in a stanza…a touch of his peace & power in prose. These words are the strength he graciously offered in my weakness:

You’re a writer. It’s what you do. So write.

You’re a fighter. It’s who you are. So fight.

Words have the power to give life or death. You can’t hear when you’re talking; you must listen. My friends, words matter!

It’s a strange response to cry tears of joy when a doctor informs you that you the result are inconclusive but you’re good to go but that’s exactly what my family & friends did! I’ve never been so happy about being broken than I was at that very moment.

It took a lump to wake me up. To get a renewed focus on the pace, purpose & people of my life. I praise God for using brokenness to restore me unto himself once again. You see, I’m a prodigal son, but I’m still, and will always be, His child.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9