These storm clouds passed over my home a couple of years ago. It had been a sunny summer day and all of a sudden my house was overtaken by these ferocious-looking clouds. I didn't have a basement to run to so I grabbed my camera and ran outside. The sky was so dark that the streetlights came on in the middle of the afternoon. It was scary; however, these clouds were more threatening than the wind and rain that followed.
As I look at this picture two years later I realize that it was an eerie foreshadowing of a stormy time coming in my life. I really believed that cancer was a dimming memory and that a sunnier season was ahead. However, dark clouds billowed in last summer when I found out that I was a carrier of the BRCA 2 gene. That is a genetic mutation that causes breast and ovarian cancer. I knew that I needed to be proactive and have my ovaries removed to avoid another cancer. I went in for surgery on the morning of Nov. 21st and left later that day with the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. The dark cloud had developed into a raging storm that seemed to be stealing all my hopes, dreams, and joy.
Cancer #2 is different than having it for the first time. I knew that my hair would fall out again and that it would be a year before it would grow back. I knew all the side effects of chemotherapy and that it would be a long time before I would feel normal. I knew the feelings of sadness, fear, and loneliness that would overwhelm me. I knew..... and I couldn't comprehend going on that journey again. But I did.
God sends rainbows. He did for Noah and He did for me. I took this picture right after one of the most damaging storms we had two summers ago. While the dark clouds were still in the sky, the sun peaked out and this double rainbow popped out on the horizon.
I'm now four months out of chemo. My hair has started to slowly reappear, my energy is returning, and moments of hope, dreams, and joy are increasing. Even though there has been storm damage, there is a rainbow on the horizon.
Rainbows remind us that the sun never left. The sun was hidden by the storm clouds but it was there all the time. As I look back over the past six months, I know that the Son was there throughout my storm too. The cancer clouds tried to shroud Him from my view but He was still there. Thank You - Bright, Shining, Faithful One. Thank You for always being still there.
