His Footprints, My Heart...

As I promised, I'm starting a series of posts on my personal testimony. It's taken me a while to get started because I wasn't completely sure how to start. So, I decided to start at the beginning, skip some things, and focus on some of the "bigger" things. My hope is that God gets all the glory in this and that somehow I might help someone else along the way. Without further ado...

I was the first born of two children, one girl and one boy, to my parents, two of the most wonderful people in the entire world! I was raised in a Godly home with great Christian parents and was saved at the age of 12. Long before then I was singing... to everything! TV and radio commercials, and especially country music! Probably where I get my love of Southern Gospel music! My mom always said that she could tell I was going to be a singer when she heard me singing at 4 years old from the back seat of the car. She said I didn't sound like the typical 4 year old singing! I'd venture to say most people say I'm anything BUT typical! Two of the most distinct memories I have growing up are of getting up every morning to find my mother in the rocking chair in the living room praying, the same rocking chair she rocked me in as a baby! There's not a day that I can't remember seeing her in that chair praying, even after I was grown and came visit. The other is my father's dedication to provide for his family both physically and spiritually. I only remember a tiny handful of times when we didn't go to church, I could probably count them on both hands, if I needed both!

In January 1999 my mother came down with cat scratch fever. Not a huge deal, but enough to send my mother to the doctor, which was a RARE occasion except for normal check-ups and such. We didn't think too much of it after she started to feel better until about March when her lymph node was still swollen. She went back to the doctor and it was decided that she needed to have surgery to "fix" it. My mother went in for surgery on April 1, 1999, April's Fools Day. After her surgery, the doctor came back in the room to tell her that they had biopsied the tissue and had found cancer. Now, you'd have to know my mother to get the full effect of this, but in her always happy fashion she said, "Are you joking? No I don't", laughing as she said it. The doctor said, "Sweetie, I wish I was." From that moment, you'd have never known she had anything wrong with her. She went through her CT scans, her chemo, her radiation, all while continuing to work and build her and my father's dream house. You could quite frequently hear her say, "I don't have time for cancer, it's not going to get me down, God's in control!" I remember all too vividly taking her to her first CT scan before any treatments. The tech came out and gave her the first of two barium "shakes" (yummmm, you're mouth's watering as you read, isn't it!!!) and said "I'll be back in about 30 minutes to give you the next one." You see, most people have a hard time downing that wonderful delicacy, lol! My mom said, "No, you go ahead and get it now, I'll be done with this one in just a few minutes. They didn't believe her, of course, but in her true fashion she chugged that thing in about 5 minutes time! Then told me, "Go get them, tell them I want the other one, I have plans for the day, I've got things to work on!" Of course I said "Yes, ma'am and went to find them." They, of course, were quite surprised, but then again, they really didn't know who they were dealing with, but I did. I have never seen such strength and faith in one human being as I saw in my mother. She had always been strong and full of faith, but I had so many people tell me how much my mother had blessed them, that she was the epitome of faith, and that she had helped them to go on. With her strong attitude, she beat the cancer. We celebrated with her last radiation treatment the day before Thanksgiving in 1999. God did so many things in our lives during that time. I think we all came to know Him even more and in a way we had never known Him before....

(to be continued....)

Having been brought up in church and being encouraged to sing all of my life, it came only natural that I began to get that "feeling", that nudging of the Holy Spirit, when I was about 26. I knew that I was supposed to be doing more

At 7:18 PM,  Anonymous said...

Cindy-Lou,

Thank you so much - your story so far has really touched "home" at the moment as our lives are touched by supporting someone undergoing treatment for cancer at the moment.

Your parents sound amazing - how blessed you must have been to be able to look back on such a childhood.

May God keep blessing you, and may you keep blessing him with your singing!

 

At 8:39 PM,  Nettie said...

So far, definitely worth the wait!

 

At 11:36 AM,  Jennifer Swanepoel said...

Wow. Can't wait to read the rest!

 

At 4:09 PM,  Lucy Stern said...

It's great to see a young person with such a great testimony. You were lucky to have such a wonderful mother to set the example for you. You will be lucky to follow in her footsteps. She knows that the Lord is in charge and she won't let Satan get her down. Good luck and continue to build your testimony.

 

At 2:46 PM,  Karen A. Castevens said...

I can't wait to read the rest of this blog...I know it's there waiting to come out...so go blog!!! You are a wonderful writer.

 

At 3:18 PM,  Anonymous said...

Awesopme testimony and remember God does have a purpose for your life. So seek out what God has for you with all you have in you for the glory of GOD!

 

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