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.)

Every student has one subject that’s always a struggle. For me, it’s math. Rarely would a math lesson go by that I didn’t need help, but asking for help is not easy. Before I am willing to ask a teacher for help, I ask myself these three questions:

I guess I’m like most women. I love getting flowers. It’s kind of silly, really. It’s not like flowers are good for anything. Yet, my grandmother told me that flowers are the most gracious of gifts because they don’t do anything except make you happy.

Have you ever played hard to get? It’s when you like someone—I mean REALLY like someone—but you don’t want them to know you like them. So, what do you do? You act like you don’t like them.

Part of stress management is recognizing that sometimes it’s not a bear. It’s a hamster, but you’re reacting like it’s a bear.

That dog would chase cars all afternoon, leaving him exhausted and standing in the exact same place he started. It frightens me how much I’m like Poochie. My tendency is to live my life like a dog chasing cars.

Heavenly Father, Fill my days with more Christmas and less cancer. May the joys of the season bring me a new hope that is so strong the clouds of cancer in my thoughts disappear.

Join Christian Music Artist, Matthew West, as he prays for cancer survivors.

Listen to Good to Be Alive by Jason Gray.

Listen to God’s Not Done with You by Tauren Wells.

Join Steve Gruenwald, Director of Work and Wellness at Concordia Plans, as he prays for those dealing with anxiety on their cancer journey.

A cancer walk is the type of struggle that can reveal new things about Jesus you’d never seen before. On the day before cancer came into your life, you probably understood that Jesus was your Savior, your Protector and your Comforter. Yet, sometimes your faith can jump from understanding who Jesus is to knowing who Jesus is.

There are so many amazing ways that Jesus can show up in the midst of your cancer walk. This helps us to breathe in our hope in Jesus. But, on some days, cancer looms so big that it can be hard to remember that Jesus Christ is bigger than the darkness of cancer.