One Easter when my daughter Heidi was a preschooler our family attended a St Louis Cardinal baseball game. Picture this: surrounded by tens of thousands of fans, my husband, son and myself are in jeans and cardinal t shirts but Heidi is still decked out in her Easter finery- shiny shoes, foofy dress and a bow bigger than her head. Heidi is sitting in my lap with ruffles galore and we are cheering. But this is no ordinary cheer, we’re cheering our Easter cheer.

There have been times I have not taken problems to God in prayer.

In hindsight, I can see that I was avoiding God. You see, when I place my problems before the Lord in prayer, I am submitting to handling my problems His way- not mine. My way often looks like pretending to be a strong person that does not need the help of others (even when I do.)

You did it! You carried my loved one through cancer treatment and now we are shouting your PRAISES! You covered them through every hardship, every pain and every fear. So now they have been declared cancer free!!

What a wonderous thing you gave us in our mom. She shines the light of your loving care with her every touch, every smile and every joy. We call on you now to push back the darkness of cancer from our mom’s days and from her nights.

Our dad has been diagnosed with cancer. We don’t know what is to come but You do. You know each treatment, each procedure, and each scan. Take our dad’s cancer battle and declare a great victory!

What a gift you have given us in our grandparents. To be with them is to experience the blessings of all the joy and wisdom they have to share.

There are too many women struggling with breast cancer. They are our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, and grandmothers and our friends.

You know of the young mom that we adore who is now struggling with cancer. It feels so wrong in every way and yet we know that there is nothing beyond your domain.

As a kid, no Easter was complete without a chocolate bunny. Mom would get each of us identical chocolate bunnies, each wrapped in shiny foil with a colorful bow around their necks. At the earliest opportunity, I’d rip off the foil and bite off as much bunny ear as I could cram into my mouth.

Lord, You know what is needed here. You know where each and every cancer cell is in my body and you know how to remove them.

Jesus, There is nothing that can happen on their cancer path that is not done under your loving care. Please take this fear of the unknown from me for I know YOU!

Coming from a family history filled with cancer, both women bravely faced their cancer battles armed with their faith and their family.

Yes- Three times she was told she had cancer. But not due to recurrences but three DIFFERENT types of cancer. Her faith is incredibly inspiring.

Cancer is not easy for anyone to understand and yet children and teens have an additional difficulty due to the way they think. People do not learn abstract thinking until 12-15 years old or later. What does this really mean? It means that without abstract thinking younger people think everything is black or white, good or bad. We see a bright, articulate young person and believe they think like an adult when really they see situations as two sided instead of multi-faceted.

“When we admit to God that it feels out of control, it really strengthens their faith. We show them its okay: They can have their doubts and fears. The best thing to do is take their fears to God. They’re going to take their questions someplace. Why not take them to God?”

Whether you are 8, 18 or 28 when your parent is diagnosed with cancer, your world suddenly shifts. The questions of what to do, what to say and how to act affects not only the child but the parent too. At a time when instability is the norm, how do you maintain stability in the parent/child relationship?

Karen Tripp, LMFT, founder Cancer Companions, shares about how we can offer support through the holidays to those experiencing cancer, and what to do and not to do to care for those loved ones. Listen below to Karen’s interview with Andy Bates on KFUO’s Faith and Family.

Join Karen Tripp as she discusses ways to cope with a cancer recurrence.

Christian Music Artist, Francesca Battistelli, joins us as she prays for young parents with cancer.

Actor and Producer, Kirk Cameron, joins Cancer Companions to say a prayer for children with cancer.