(via Hope for Women magazine)
Whether you’re going through it personally or it’s someone you love, we can all agree cancer sucks.
Three recent releases take readers on cancer journeys, exploring it from different perspectives.
By the time she was 35, Sarah McLean had battled breast cancer—twice. Only married a year when she was first diagnosed at age 26, McLean opted to undergo a double mastectomy, and with her husband, Steve’s help later sought counseling for the depression, self-image and the intimacy issues she experienced. She chronicles her journey in Pink Is the New Black. In addition to writing the book, which also helps others dealing with the devastating impact a cancer diagnosis has on people, McLean founded Project 31 (project31.us), a nonprofit organization whose mission is restoring survivors and their families after breast cancer.
After experiencing multiple miscarriages, Wendy Duke and her husband, Scott, were cautiously excited when they discovered they were pregnant—until they learned their daughter would only be born with one leg. As devastating as this news was for the college sweethearts who met in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, they learned soon after Savannah’s birth that the baby had cancer. In Grace in the Middle, Duke recounts her rattled faith and how even in the midst of what she saw as the most devastating time in her family’s life, God was there. The book also includes a chapter from Savannah who is now 15 and living a normal, busy teenager’s life.
What do you do if someone you love has received a cancer diagnosis? In Just Show Up: The Dance of Walking Through Suffering Together, bestselling author Kara Tippetts and her friend Jill Lynn Buteyn discuss how friends and loved ones can address feelings of insecurity and inadequacy when dealing with someone who is going through a trial. Tippetts, who lost her battle with breast cancer on March 22, 2015, shares how she learned to receive offers of help from friends and how it strengthened her relationships, including the one she had with Buteyn, who often didn’t know what to say. The book gives readers insight into the gift of silence, how to receive and the beauty of just showing up. In addition to the book, there is also a seven-day devotion available on the YouVersion Bible app.
