Cancer can feel like a winter that keeps pushing back spring. Whether all your treatments are going as planned or it’s filled with delays, it’s easy to ask God, “When is this going to end?” You’re not doubting God’s existence or your salvation, but perhaps you wonder, “God? Are you paying attention?” “Are you really bigger than this cancer?”

You know, sometimes bulldozers are pretty handy things to have around. I have on occasion been called a bulldozer. This is hopefully not referring to my physique, but rather my tendency to become intensely focused. This can be a good thing—as long as no innocent bystanders are in my way. After all, bulldozers like me have real problems slowing down or changing directions.

The big question when you’re expecting a baby is, “How are you going to fit a baby into your life?” You change your living space by getting rid of your stuff to make room for baby stuff. Your budget shows that you are spending less on vacations and more on baby stuff. And then there’s time. Somehow you will have to fit time with the baby into your already busy schedule.

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:

Let me ask you this. Can you be accused of being a coffee snob? Do you show up at meetings where there is free coffee with a five dollar latte? Do you believe that cream comes out of the cow flavored with hazelnuts? Do your loved ones give you coffee paraphernalia for gifts? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you might be in danger of being labeled a coffee snob.

For me, potlucks are complicated. I never know what to make. I guess this is why being invited to dinner is so much nicer than being invited to a potluck. And yet, the dinner invitation is barely out of my friend’s mouth before I yelp, “What can I bring?”

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.

Have you ever been to one of those fancy restaurants with a desert tray covered with gooey, yummy, irresistible deserts? It is hard to look at that tray and not think, "That sure does look good.

When we were kids, my brother, sister and I used to make the BEST blanket forts. We’d use every blanket in the house, all the stools, a few chairs, broomsticks, large books and tons of clothespins to make a blanket fort so big it would cover the entire room.

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.

Growing up, I used to do everything my big brother said. This was not my smartest idea. He’d say climb a tree, I’d climb the tree—then he’d move the ladder so I couldn’t get down.

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.

Our family plays in creeks. Other families have leisure pastimes like biking or camping or playing softball. My kids have grown up playing in creeks, I played in creeks and even my dad played in creeks. We have a creek-playing season, and we even have creek shoes. You can’t go out and buy creek shoes; they have to be the too-small pair of tennis shoes from last summer with your toe poking out of the top to really qualify.

The heaviness of working with cancer patients typically does not catch up with me until I’m in my car driving home from work.

Focusing on Christ does not mean pretending that cancer is small and has no impact on your life. We need to be honest with ourselves and face the truth that cancer is big, really big, gigantically big - but Christ is BIGGER!

Do you ever think, “There are no problems, because God is in control”? That’s not quite accurate. The truth is, “Despite the problems, God is in control.”

You are not to be anxious about anything. Why? Because God is with you through everything! So ask God for anything, but do it while thanking Him for your blessings.

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.