Dana

Dana Dunlap

"If you have experienced great trials, you have the potential for great praise! The battle was hard, but through God’s love and strength I was able to overcome. He can turn the bad into something beautiful and good to bring hope to others!"

With God, all things are possible.

Matthew 19:26

My Life B.C.

At 37 years old, life was good! I was completely blessed with a wonderful husband of almost 15 years of marriage and two handsome boys ages 3 and 7. I was enjoying being a stay a home mom doing all the “normal” things a mom does with her children and running around getting the daily things accomplished.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine in my wildest dreams what I would soon find out would literally rock me to my core. Literally, change my life forever!

My Diagnosis

My story begins when I found a lump under my left armpit and it didn’t go away or change in size. I went to my doctor and immediately they wanted to remove it. Two days later, at 37 years old, I found out that I had a stage three breast cancer. It had already left the breast and entered my lymph nodes.

This news was completely and utterly devastating and took my breath away!

After coping with the news, my family and I realized that we experienced 3 stages of emotions.

First emotion was unbearable grief.
Second emotion was a stage of questions: “Why me? What did I eat? What was I exposed too?” And finally, “Why, God? And how come?” All of these were very valid questions that needed to be worked through with time.
However, the last stage of emotion was the best because it was a will to fight – a passion to overcome!

This passion to win and fight would carry me through the most difficult battle of my life!

My Healing Journey

Immediately I began chemotherapy and had sixteen treatments. The last four treatments is where the battle became all out war! The chemotherapy was extremely harsh and I felt at times I couldn’t bear one more moment. I started chemo at a weight of 112 pounds and at my last treatment ended at 92 pounds. It seemed at times more than I could handle.

It was at my weakest point in my life that God revealed His strength, power and peace to my soul. I realized for the first time in my life that I was not in control, but my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had me in the palm of His hands. When I didn’t think I could make it one more day it was the prayers of many that sustained me physically, mentally, and spiritually. I experienced first hand the power of prayer!!

Today, two years since my diagnosis, I am cancer free by His healing hand, grace and mercy.

Things I Want You to Know

I know in my heart that I could not have made it through this battle with out Jesus Christ as my Savior. He lifted me up in the times that I couldn’t hang on and He was my ultimate strength. As a child of God I realized He loved me so much that He desired to go to the front of the battle lines for me!

Besides the Lord’s constant help, I found it very important to surround myself with a few strong and wise women. These women would pray for me each time I went for chemotherapy and provided constant encouragement and love! That brought the greatest healing for me. These friends also provided much needed meals, child care and housekeeping.

One of the most important things that got me through was reading God’s Word. There were a few scriptures that I really hung on to that reminded me of God’s faithfulness and love. I wrote these scriptures out on poster board and placed them everywhere throughout my house so that I could see them wherever I went.

My favorite scripture is Matthew 19:26 “With God, all things are possible.” This is a wonderful verse about our Creator. It reminds us that when everything looks so hopeless we can turn to God and He is the God of impossibilities. He hears our every prayer and answers each one of them in His perfect timing. God can turn the worst situation in our lives into something absolutely beautiful and for the good!

If you have experienced great trials, you have the potential for great praise! The battle was hard, but through God’s love and strength I was able to overcome. He can turn the bad into something beautiful and good to bring hope to others!

I invite you to read my story from start to finish at: http://www.dana-psalm91.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at dana@faithwalkers2.com.

Life is worth celebrating every moment!

The Song on This Page

This song is "Valley Dance" written by Jorie and Matt Henderson. It comes from Jorie's CD, "Songs of Deliverance" © 2008 Jorie Henderson. You can learn more about Jorie by visiting www.myspace.com/joriemusic. Her music is available for purchase on iTunes (http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=jorie) and on cdbaby (http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Jorie).

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