*NOTE: This writing contribution will be longer than a moment to spare, more like minutes to spare!*
Time. Where has time gone?!?
It’s been 3 years since I’ve had The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) bookmarked in my Bible.
It’s been over 1 year of this global pandemic.
It’s been 1 year since I have had surgery (again).
It’s already October, which means there are only a few more weeks of 2021 left.
Throughout all this time I still haven’t executed my thoughts and time wisely to continue contributing to JesusWired due to self-doubt.
After reaching out to Iain, our JesusWired editor, he truly challenged me with some thought-provoking questions about contributing writing ideas. The answer that kept coming to mind was: “When in doubt, just write it out and write about what you know.” So, I have decided to combine all the time I’ve wasted by writing this one piece because I feel as if God is revealing to me that now is the time to share.
There is a Reflect Love Back song called “Gift Giver” that resonates with me, and I believe it relates to The Parable of the Talents because part of the lyrics say, “Cause You will wanna see what we did while You were gone, with all that You believed in us to accomplish, and You will have a billion gifts for us all, but we just wanna bring thanksgiving for Your love”. Every time I hear the words to that song, and reread the parable of the talents, I realize once again how I am like the one servant who had one talent and hide it. Now, for clarification, this contribution is not to showcase or say that my talent is writing. The talent that I have, you have, and every, single believer has is: the truth of Gospel and the hope in Jesus Christ. Sometimes the simplest form of telling others about God is sharing a personal event in your life.
On September 4, 2020 I had surgery once again for the removal of an ovarian dermoid cyst. My first surgery was at 5 and 1/2 years old for an ovarian torsion that resulted in my right ovary being removed. At the age of 11 and 1/2 another dermoid cyst was discovered on my left ovary, so I had a procedure again to remove the cyst to preserve the only ovary I had left. Throughout every health trail, I don’t ever recall questioning God “Why?” or becoming angry with Him. When I was young I didn’t understand the circumstance much, I just knew an ovary was a body part children didn’t – and still don’t – normally talk about. As I grew older I learned the anatomy of an ovary and found the health issue rather embarrassing, so I kept quiet. With the most recent surgery, I have come to recognize that there must be a purpose for the reoccurrence of these health experiences and that is to share God is still good and faithful all the days of our lives.
Since the dermoid cyst was discovered again in December 2018, I prayed that if it was The Lord’s will, He would miraculously heal me and the procedure wouldn’t be needed. When I saw the cyst wasn’t dissolving after continual ultra-sounds and MRI tests, I began to pray more reverently for God’s will to be done in my life and for me to have the peace, patience, grace and strength to endure the situation, and to not lose faith, hope and trust in Him. Instead of questioning why I had to endure this women’s health issue once more, I began to ask, “What is the learning process through all of this?”
I never received an audible answer from God but I know He gave me the comfort I needed. Going to doctor’s appointments, having medical tests done and then surgery during the Covid pandemic was challenging. The last thing I remember before dozing off in the operating room was stretching out my right arm and reciting “I will hold your right hand” referring to Isaiah 41:13 and reaffirming that God will never leave us or forsake us, for He is indeed genuinely good and faithful. All the lab tests and the biopsy result from this surgery came back negative again for ovarian cancer such as the results had from my previous surgeries. Unfortunately, that is not the case for every female who is diagnosed with an ovarian cyst. I now have more empathy for girls and women who battle health issues and have learned everyone’s story is unique and important because we can all learn something about someone. Hence, I have finally made the decision to share my journey to help spread awareness about ovarian cysts, ovarian cancer, and women’s health in general. But, more importantly I made the decision to share my story for God’s glorification and to encourage you, as well as myself, to keep seeking and pursuing The Lord, even when uncertain situations arise. He is the only One that is constant and faithful all the time! Thus, “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.” (Psalm 9:1 NKJV)
