In most instances, there is no “cure” for cancer.  If you are blessed to achieve remission and stay cancer free, you have hit a phenomenal milestone. Once you have hit this milestone, inevitably the next big question is “what now?” While my friends were starting families and getting promoted at work, I was fighting infections and learning to walk again. It seemed like so much of my life was passing me by as I fought to live. I only wanted to get back to the things I was focused on before I was ever diagnosed. The question I struggled with was, “How do you pick up the pieces of your life after cancer?”

In August 2014, I was blessed to marry the man who stuck with me through thick and thin. The next thing I had to focus on was getting my career back on track. When I was finally cleared to work again in late December 2014 almost two years had passed since my initial diagnosis. At this point, I had gotten married and moved to the opposite side of the country from where I worked prior to my diagnosis. I was faced with the harsh reality that I would have to start over again in my career – search for a job, build a network, interview and inevitably explain the gap in my resume.

This process made me want to scream. After everything I went through, the last thing I wanted to do was work to put the pieces of my life back together in a completely new place. I truly had a case of the “I don’t feel like its”. My frustration was only compounded when I was met with a series of closed doors. I would interview, send applications, network, but nothing seemed to happen. One day I happened to be listening to a sermon by Joel Olsteen and I knew it was just for me. Here is a snippet.

Will you stay in faith while you wait for what God has in store for you? Don’t be discouraged by closed doors. They are just as important as open doors. He is a God of the exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. Learn to trust Him despite how it looks to you. He has something better and He’s positioning you for greater. 

I am learning to trust in God’s timing. I believe this period is pushing me into my destiny. I don’t believe God would bring me through ALL only to leave me now. As a matter of fact, in Philippians 1:6 it says, “Being confident in this, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.” God doesn’t do anything partially. In the Bible, when God restored Job, He gave him “double for his trouble”. The Bible doesn’t say that his restoration process happened overnight, but it did indeed happen. I want to encourage anyone who is struggling with God’s timing, or facing the daunting task of starting over, to remain patient and trust in God. God’s plan is working, even when we cannot see it.

MEL-STRONG!

P.S. Please support my Dad in the 2014 LLS Man of the Year campaign as he helps raise funds for leukemia by clicking HERE.