One of My Heroines

In my sister's journey with breast cancer I have met some amazing folks.
One of the ladies that my sister introduced me to is Margaret. She had had
cancer for 9 years. They have run the gamut of chemo therapies and medications
on her. One of the most powerful ones they started her on this summer caused her
to have seizures so severe that she was hospitalized for over 30 days. They were
afraid that they were going to lose her. She did come through that trauma by
God's grace and knew that the Lord still had work for her to do here on earth.
They have since taken that drug off the market because of the severe reactions
folks experienced on it. Once it was all out of her system, they started her on
another chemo a few weeks ago. She said that it didn't cause seizures but just
wiped her out after the first day of taking it.

Through all this rugged journey Margaret has never lost her faith. She keeps on keeping on when she is knocked down. She is a prayer warrior. If you give her something to pray about she is on her knees before the Lord with the request. She is a ministering angel to her family, friends, and all those she comes in contact with. Her focus is never on herself or her situation. It is always about whoever the Lord puts in her path.

She has an adventurous spirit. She has a Bucket List of things that she wants to do. She has been able to mark quite a few of them off her list. This past weekend she got to mark another one off. One of her daughters along with 2 of her children, her husband,James, and her all loaded into "Large Marge" (their camper) and went to Talledega for the NAASCAR race. She and her family are racing fans so this was a big thrill to have tickets and be able to camp out in the field with all the other folks that come there. I've heard from friends that have gone there that it is a unique and thrilling experience. I'm so excited that she got to do this even though their favorite, Jeff Gordon, didn't win. If I know Margaret, she didn't meet a stranger while she was there.

I'm praying that the Lord keeps her here for a long time. He has used her to touch so many lives, mine included. I'm so thankful to have her in my life. She has taught me by her example that whatever we go through we can have joy and hope because we know Him as Lord and Savior. Everything around us changes but, He "is the same yesterday, today, yes and forever".

When I think of Margaret I think of Tim McGraw's song "Live Like You were Dying":

Lyrics:
He said I was in my early forties with a lot of life before me when a moment came that stopped me on a dime and I spent most of the next dayslooking at the x-rays Talking bout the options and talking bout sweet timeI asked him when it sank in that this might really be the real end how's it hit you when you get that kinda news man what'd you do
and he saidI went sky diving I went Rocky Mountain climbing I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchu and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying and he said someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.
He said I was finally the husband that most the time I wasn't and I became a friend a friend would like to have and all the sudden going fishin wasn't such an imposition and I went three times that year I lost my dad well I finally read the good book and I took a good long hard look at what I'd do if I could do it all again
and then I went sky diving I went Rocky Mountain climbing I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchuand I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying and he said someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.
Like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity to think about what'd you do with it what did you do with it what did I do with it what would I do with it'
Sky diving I went Rocky Mountain climbing I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchuand then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I watched an eagle as it was flying and he said someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.To live like you were dying To live like you were dyingTo live like you were dying To live like you were dying