Day 7

Psalm 30:2 says, “O Lord my God, I cried out to You and You healed me.” I lived this verse in 2012. On February 28, 2012, I went to the emergency room with unbearable stomach pain. A few days later, I had major colon surgery to remove a tumor. I was 33 with two kids under the age of four. I remember crying out to the Lord during that time, asking for His will to be done and praying that He would heal.

I did six rounds of chemotherapy and on August 13, my scan was clear. I was cancer free! God had answered my prayers and healed my body. As tough as cancer was, the depression that followed my remission was harder. You would think beating a physical disease would give you a whole new perspective on life. In some regards that is true. I knew things would never be the same, but I spent a couple of years grasping for my pre-cancer life. For months, the days were darker as I grew increasingly discontent with my job, my family, my house, my neighborhood… myself. I didn’t like me or anything around me and I didn’t know why.

I believe God was preparing me for a dramatic change of circumstances. The dark days of depression and complete discontentedness prepared me to say yes when God called me into something brand new.

Psalm 30:6(b) says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” There were a lot of tears during our “night” years of 2013 and 2014. Amanda was always faithful and grew in her love for me and the Lord during those days; even when I was pretty unlovable. Our “morning” came in the spring of 2015 when we quit our jobs and moved to the King’s Home. The decision was incredibly difficult, but the past eight years have been filled with joy!

God knew the plan He had for me even when I couldn’t see it and He used cancer and depression to pave our pathway to where we are now, living under His call as servants at CCW. Healed and still healing.

By: Dave Roper