On June 22, 2005, my life changed forever. No longer was I just a teenager and young college student, I was on my way to becoming a cancer survivor. At 19 years old, I never would have guessed that I would get ovarian cancer, but as all survivors will tell you, cancer does not discriminate!

My fight was short lived, and I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have just needed surgery. I had a germ cell tumor on my right ovary about the size of a grapefruit. So on 6/22/05, my parents drove me to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and I was fully prepared for the worst case scenario: complete hysterectomy.

Thankfully, God had different plans, and all I lost was the one ovary. The cancer was confined to the tumor and had not spread anywhere. It was the first thing I asked when I woke up in recovery, so I’m told. I wouldn’t let any of my family near me, and I was calling for my mom, so she could tell me I would still have children someday. I don’t remember this, but I do know that the magnitude of my situation did not fully hit me until maybe 2008, when I fell in love with my husband and knew that he was the man I wanted to father my children. I could have died, I could have lost the ability to have children, I could have went through months or years of chemotherapy and radiation, but I didn’t. I’ve never been so humbled, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to begin a life and family.

So here we are, 7 years after cancer, 3 wonderful years of marriage, and 2 years of ups and downs trying to conceive, we’re having twins. I praise God every day that He spared my life and my health, so that I was able to conceive biological children. I’m in complete awe of His goodness, and I can barely think, say or type these words of thanksgiving without being a complete mess of tears.

Would you please send up a prayer for us of thanks, and ask God to continue to bless our lives? Even through what may seem like the worst of storms, God is with us, and my prayer for all of you is that if you’re struggling with something, you’ll lean on Him and let Him take it.

If you have time, please listen to one of my favorite songs that always helps me remember to be thankful for all the great blessings in my life.

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.