New Blog Design! New Series! Take Courage!
Hello friends!
Welcome to my redesigned blog!
I am still working on all the finer details with my son-in-law, Todd Butler -- who deserves free mint chocolate chip ice cream for a year for all the hassles he endured switching my domain name and all the material to a self-hosted site. If you notice glitches, please let me know. A remodeled site requires a new blogging series, something you will not want to miss! Be sure to sign up for email notifications if you haven’t already.
Take Courage!
Somewhere in the whirlwind chaos of the past few years of my cancer, followed immediately by my parents’ diagnoses of cancer, I realized there are some incredibly strong and courageous people out there in the world—not rushing into burning buildings—but simply, day by day, getting up, and doing the hard thing again – whatever that hard thing is. Sometimes they are doing it without hair or eyebrows, hoping they make it to the bathroom in time.
Having cancer redefined life for me. Watching my mom battle pain with her cancer redefined my definition of strength. Sitting next to my dad as he faced eternity without fear redefined my words for courage. Meeting people wearing headscarves, proudly displaying their scars, redefined my view of beauty. Being surrounded by family, friends and a loving, pursuing God redefined my thoughts of belonging.
You might not have cancer, but you still have stories of courage to share. I hope to write about some of your stories—not so people can say, “Wow! That person is so brave, I can never be like them,” but rather, “That person is being courageous in their difficult world. How can I be strong in mine?”
We need to hold hands and go out into this life together.
For the next few weeks, I will be writing about courage. This Thursday we will hear from Alan Zaben, a three-time cancer survivor and American Cancer Society Hero of Hope who has recently finished his 135th chemo treatment. (Think about it! 135 treatments!!!) Next week we will hear from Jon Heller, a man who offers his home, along with his wife Layne, for cancer patients undergoing treatment in Mozambique – a country of 25 million people with only two oncologists. In the weeks that follow, I will share other stories, including:
A young fashion designer, still in high school, who equates creativity to courage.
A woman with stage 4 breast cancer who found courage on a rafting trip in Idaho.
A young man living with HIV in Uganda who chose courage rather than surrendering to a diagnosis.
A woman who lost almost all her material possessions in a fire.
And you will hear from me, where on an impossibly hard day, I found courage while sitting in seat 28C on an airplane.
Please feel free to repost the blog or comment how you are being courageous in your world or post a quote on Twitter with the hashtag #TakeCourage. Also, if you want to make sure you don’t miss a post, please sign up as an email subscriber. This new site will also allow me to offer more options—including free stuff! I am still working on some awesome downloads for you, available to email subscribers.
Do you have a story to share?
I would love to hear from you. The next 5-6 weeks I will be writing about courage. Near Thanksgiving I will be writing about Belonging Around the Table – Traditions in a World of Change. If you are facing a holiday season that looks a bit different this year, I’d love to chat. Send me a Facebook message or email me: lynnehartke@gmail.com. Look around my new site. I really like my Welcome page! See you back here in a few days!
"Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” - Jesus