Category dependence

Listen to the Mockingbird!

Storms can leave a muddy mess, but we can rise - even glide above it all. The poet Carl Sandburg once said, “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.” In the fiercest storm of my life, my Stage IV cancer battle, wallowing in the mud was easy, yet wallowing made everything harder. On the other hand, praising God was hard at first, but made coping much easier.

battling cancer, cancer support, dependence, depression and cancer, surviving melanoma

Joe Fornear
May 22, 2015

Three Keys to Thankfulness (Part 2)

But a huge stumbling block to this determination (to be thankful) is the stubborn belief that thankfulness is a result of trouble-free existence. "I'd like to be thankful, but everything keeps breaking down around this house." "I'd like to be thankful, but God hasn't fulfilled my greatest need yet."

battling cancer, cancer support, comfort, dependence, emotions, handling trials, power of God, sacrifice of praise

Joe Fornear
November 26, 2014
2 Comments

Props to Coping with Crisis

Paul was no stranger to hardship. He mastered some miserable circumstances – jailings, whippings, beating and stonings. He knew what it took to not just survive, but to thrive. So like Paul, let’s allow dependence on God’s power to propel us forward into great endurance and patience, even joy.

battling cancer, caretakers, dependence, handling trials, power of God, surrender

Joe Fornear
July 11, 2014

Ready Or Not?

It is tempting to think we must change on our own so that God will be pleased with us. It is also tempting to think that we can change on our own. Yet we know Paul had become so frustrated that he gave up trying to change. Can you relate to Paul?

12 Steps, caretakers, dependence, power of God, surrender, Terri Fornear

Five Life-changing Outcomes of Suffering

Fortunately for us, the Lord never meant suffering to be just a cruel and bitter pill to be dutifully swallowed. Suffering is a path, never a destination.

battling cancer, cancer support, comfort, dependence, goodness of God, handling trials, melanoma survivors, power of God, rest, surrender, surviving melanoma, weakness & strength

Joe Fornear
May 2, 2014

Mountain Moving – a Shovel at a Time

If He says there are no worries – then there must not be any worries!

caretakers, dependence, emotions, fear, grace, handling trials, power of God, rest, surviving melanoma, weakness & strength

Joe Fornear
February 7, 2014

Letting GO… of Being God

Step 2 takes me out of “thinking” about Him and into His Power.

12 Steps, battling cancer, cancer support, caretakers, dependence, God's love, handling trials, power of God, surviving melanoma, Terri Fornear, weakness & strength

Terri Fornear
December 6, 2013

Power Napping

– By Joe Fornear I hear it often when talking with people fighting cancer. “I don’t know how people do this without the Lord.” Indeed. In actuality, nothing in life was intended by our Maker to be “do-it-yourself.” We were…

battling cancer, caretakers, dependence, fear, goodness of God, guidance, handling trials, peace, rest, surrender

Joe Fornear
September 25, 2013

Does God Ever Give Us More Than We Can Handle?

So yes, God does give us more than we can handle, but only so we can handle much more eternally significant matters - through Him!

battling cancer, dependence, emotions, grace, handling trials, power of God, suffering, surviving melanoma, weakness & strength

Joe Fornear
August 23, 2013

Breaking Well

– By Joe Fornear The storyline of one TV show is not so different from that of hundreds of people who are diagnosed daily. A 50-year-old father and husband is informed his cancer is inoperable, so he launches a plan…

battling cancer, cancer support, dependence, suffering, surrender

Joe Fornear
August 2, 2013