by Elaine Olsen | Jul 12, 2012 | Beyond Cancer's Scars (the story behind the story), cancer, cancer volume 4, words, writing
Six years is a long time to hold on to a dream. Really, I’ve been dreaming the dream much longer than that. Some dreams initiate in childhood when minds are less cluttered, less bothered, and more willing to believe that it could easily and actually happen—the...
by Elaine Olsen | Jul 10, 2012 | Beyond Cancer's Scars (the story behind the story), cancer, cancer volume 4, words, writing
“Out of your poverty, Elaine, surrender your pen.” His words are as clear to me today as they were for me on that Friday night, June 10, 2011. The memory lingers fully . . . beautifully in my heart. Heavenly impressions are not easily forgotten. When God presses...
by Elaine Olsen | May 25, 2012 | cancer, God's Word, living God's truth, suffering, theology
Holding verses . . . you know the kind. The scriptures that hold you, keep you, warm you, and sustain you in your darkest hours. Where would we be . . . where would I be without the wrapping of God’s Word around my heart? Here are a few of the holding verses that...
by Elaine Olsen | May 17, 2012 | cancer, cancer volume 4
It is that time of the year—Relay for Life. I don’t know how it is in your part of the country, but in Garner, North Carolina, it seems like everybody is involved in Relay for Life in one way or another. After all the counting is done, this small town will...
by Elaine Olsen | Apr 23, 2012 | cancer, cancer volume 4, living God's truth, pilgrimage, strength, suffering, surrender, wholeness
Being a survivor isn’t about defeating the cancer. Being a survivor is about defeating the silence. That’s what I told a group of cancer survivors last Sunday night at a Relay for Life banquet. It’s what I’ve come to believe. To survive cancer is to survive the...
by Elaine Olsen | Jan 30, 2012 | cancer, cancer volume 4, faith, night visits, rest, strength, trust
“Because the LORD kept vigil that night… ” (Exodus 12:42) A few weeks ago, our elderly neighbor, Mr. Jim, called us in the middle of the night. We’d instructed him to do so should a need arise. It did. His bride of sixty years plus had fallen in the bathroom,...
