Our lives are filled with events. Some small and ordinary. Others big and exciting. And then there are some so transformative and significant, that our lives are split into “Befores” and “Afters”.
We fall in love, plan a wedding, and say our vows. Our me becomes we and suddenly there is life before marriage and life after marriage. We become parents for the first time and quickly realize how different our life before kids will look from our life after kids.
In our country, we see distinct differences between life before 9/11 and life after 9/11. And, as I write this, our world is living through a pandemic. Someday we will think of life as before COVID and after COVID.
Breast cancer at 39 split my life into two halves. Often, without even realizing it, I think of my life as before cancer and after cancer.
For me, the most difficult part of “after cancer” has been making peace with the unknown. Not shockingly, the movies do a poor job of portraying cancer correctly. I never had a doctor declare me “cancer-free” or “in remission”. Instead, they reassured me that “we did everything we could to make sure it does not come back” and “from what we can see, the scan looks clean”, because unfortunately when you are dealing with a thief as cunning and crafty as cancer, there are no guarantees. I am a planner. I thrive on being prepared and I do not particularly like surprises. So needless to say, “the unknown” and I seldom get along well.
I needed to shift my focus. So now, I choose to concentrate on how I am living my life in “The In Between”. This span of years between surviving cancer and when I get to go home and be with Jesus, that is my in between. And I am determined to live it well because whether there are 2 years or 50 years of in between, each one is a gift. The great ones and the not so great ones.
I’m Amy. If you have stumbled onto my blog, I am glad that you are here. It is nice to share a bit of my story with you. I pray that you find it an encouragement, but more than anything, I hope that it bolsters your faith in Jesus and drives you deeper into prayer and your own study of the Bible.
The In Between 