Praying Through Cancer: Set Your Heart Free from Fear: A 90-Day Devotional for Women
Author: Susan Sorensen
Cancer can't be explained away. No amount of Christian cliches will decrease its power. Enter Praying Through Cancer, a daily devotional written specifically for cancer patients by cancer patients with insight, wisdom, and clarity found only through personal trial. Even with cancer, an uncertain future, and a complete lack of control it is possible to experience the grace and provision of Christ's love. The focus of each daily devotional is prayer - personal encounters with God - where fears and anger are transformed into confident expectation and pure worship. Readers will feel as though they are meeting kindred spirits, old friends who will come alongside them in their journey, encouraging them and understanding what no one else can. Contributors include Kay Warren, Pat Palau, Barbara Johnson, Joyce Wright, and many more.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Acknowledgments....................xiWe're Praying Through with You....................xiv
1. Refined in the Fire, Kay Warren....................1
2. Centered on Christ, Susan Sorensen....................3
3. An Unwelcome Intruder, Lynn Eib....................5
4. Throw Yourself a Party, Missy Morrow and Ann Snuggs....................7
5. A Way in the Wilderness, Melinda Merwin....................10
6. Let Go ... Let God! Laura Geist....................12
7. The "Big C" and the "Little c," Sister Sue Tracy....................14
8. Hands Wide Open, Linda Pewitt....................16
9. God's Love Language, Elizabeth Jane....................18
10. Peace or Panic, Debbie Petersen....................20
11. All for His Glory, Kayleen Merry....................22
12. Firmly Held, Melinda Merwin....................24
13. A 100 Percent Guarantee, Lynn Eib....................26
14. God's Mercies to Our Children, Pat Palau....................29
15. A Warm Covering, Sue Stalzer....................31
16. No Fear of Bad News, Susan Sorensen....................33
17. Seeing God in the Rainbows of Life, Susan Wilkinson....................35
18. Death of a Dream, Trina Mavin....................37
19. Suffering: God's Megaphone, Sherri Schut....................39
20. Silent, Jan Parker....................41
21. He Is Able to Make My Way Perfect, Susan Sorensen....................43
22. Is Your Face Turned Toward Me? Barbara Johnson....................45
23. Safety in the Lion's Den, Katherine Powers....................47
24. He Will Quiet You with His Love, Joyce Wright....................49
25. Fearfullyand Wonderfully Made, Mary Beth Buhr....................51
26. Are You Sure, Lord? Sarah Eggerichs....................53
27. Climbing into God's Chariot, Susan Sorensen....................55
28. Crucified with Christ, Susan Sorensen....................57
29. Be Still, Lynne Davis....................59
30. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow, Laura Geist....................61
31. Unmistakable, Joanne Arentson....................63
32. Cancer Isn't Very Funny, Lynn Eib....................65
33. My Chemo Buddy, Laura Geist....................67
34. The Reservoir, Joanne Arentson....................69
35. As the Shepherd Gathers His Lambs, Julie Kuntzman....................71
36. Beauty Shop Blues, Elizabeth Jane....................74
37. When There's Nothing You Can Do, Kayleen Merry....................76
38. The Gift of Suffering, Elizabeth Jane....................78
39. Carabiner of Hope, Laurann Patterson....................80
40. My Sanctuary, Diane Lankford....................82
41. A Win-Win Situation, Barbara Johnson....................84
42. The Unwrapped Gift, Laura Geist....................86
43. Bolder as I've Gotten Balder, Kim Newlen....................88
44. The Children's Prayers, Diane Willis....................90
45. The Eternal Now, Marti Odle....................92
46. Angel Wings, Kayleen Merry....................94
47. Sleep Deprived, Lois Olmstead....................96
48. Do You Trust Me? Julie Kuntzman....................98
49. Grace in Time of Need, Sandra Burmeister....................100
50. Giving Thanks Is Quite a Sacrifice! Sarah Eggerichs....................102
51. In Sickness and in Health, Pat Palau....................104
52. Joy in the Journey, Barbara Johnson....................106
53. Thirst Quencher, Laura Geist....................108
54. A Lamp unto My Feet, Judy Anderson....................110
55. Fixing My Thoughts on God, Amy Givler, MD....................112
56. Not "Why?" but "How?" Susan Sorensen....................114
57. The Balm of Gilead, Joyce Van Dyk....................116
58. Counting on His Faithfulness, Melinda Merwin....................118
59. The Woman in the Mirror, Pam Brown....................120
60. A Very Special Birthday, Debbie Petersen....................122
61. An Unexpected Gift, Sue Stalzer....................124
62. Closet Time, Laura Geist....................126
63. The Best Prescription of All, Susan Sorensen....................128
64. His Eye Is on the Sparrow, Connie Hastings....................130
65. MRI: Mini Roll Insertion, Barbara Johnson....................132
66. A Hot Flash Is Not a News Bulletin, Lois Olmstead....................134
67. Prayer Is Not a Feeling, Pam Formsma....................136
68. Disappointed Plans, Amy Givler, MD....................138
69. The Whisper of God, Betty Jo Lewis....................140
70. The Fruit of Suffering, Kay Luther....................142
71. Surrendered, Pam Brown....................144
72. Forever Blooming, Donna Lewis....................146
73. Deep Beauty, Laura Geist....................148
74. Humor Saved the Day! Eva Rice....................150
75. Can I Exchange This Tent for Another? Susan Sorensen....................152
76. My Ebenezer, Elizabeth Jane....................154
77. No Excuses, Joanne Arentson....................156
78. God's Woman in God's Time, Laura Geist....................158
79. Surprise Treasures, Ruth Ann Dusek....................160
80. Strong Roots, Laurann Patterson....................162
81. Now Where Did I Put It? Lois Olmstead....................164
82. Faith, Suffering, Endurance, Character, Hope! Nancy Tucker....................166
83. So Much More, Trina Mavin....................168
84. When Faith Falters, Eva Rice....................170
85. Unexpectedly Lonely, Barbara Johnson....................172
86. A New Normal, Patti Nagle....................174
87. Renewing Your Mind, Laura Geist....................176
88. Hope, Julie Duesing....................178
89. Is Jesus Enough? Lynn Eib....................180
90. Passing Through Baca, Laura Geist....................182
A Final Word....................184
Notes....................190
Blood Matters: From Inherited Illness to Designer Babies, How the World and I Found Ourselves in the Future of the Gene
Author: Masha Gessen
In 2004 genetic testing revealed that Masha Gessen had a mutation that predisposed her to ovarian and breast cancer. The discovery initiated Gessen into a club of sorts: the small (but exponentially expanding) group of people in possession of a new and different way of knowing themselves through what is inscribed in the strands of their DNA. As she wrestled with a wrenching personal decision—what to do with such knowledge—Gessen explored the landscape of this brave new world, speaking with others like her and with experts including medical researchers, historians, and religious thinkers.
Blood Matters is a much-needed field guide to this unfamiliar and unsettling territory. It explores the way genetic information is shaping the decisions we make, not only about our physical and emotional health but about whom we marry, the children we bear, even the personality traits we long to have. And it helps us come to terms with the radical transformation that genetic information is engineering in our most basic sense of who we are and what we might become.
The Washington Post - Susan Okie
Masha Gessen faced a searing personal dilemma. At 37, this journalist and mother of two young children learned that she had inherited a genetic mutation that greatly increases its possessor's risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Many doctors advise such women to have their breasts and ovaries preventatively removed—as Gessen puts it, "cutting off their breasts to spite their genes." To force herself to decide what to do, and to gain a measure of psychological distance, Gessen contracted with Slate magazine to write a series of articles on her decision-making process, promising that she would reveal her choice in the last one. That desperate research lies at the heart of this book, and the author's unusual emotional investment in the topic renders her exploration of the world of genetic testing far more nuanced and insightful than a mere scientific primer.
The New York Times - Jennifer Senior
While it was Gessen's misfortune to have inherited her mother's cruel mutation, it was her good luck—and ours—that she also inherited her mother's storytelling grace and critical dexterity (Yolka Gessen was a writer and a translator). Blood Matters is valuable reading to almost anyone facing a huge health decision, not only for the literary commiseration it offers, but also for the inspired example of medical sleuthing on one's own behalf that it provides. Gessen keeps an inflammatory topic at room temperature, writing elegantly and without self-pity. The book is very funny in places…It's also very lucid, even when the science gets complex. It's a liberating book. Strange as it sounds, it would make a great Mother's Day present.
Publishers Weekly
This energetic but unfocused account awkwardly merges several strands: the author's experience with the threat of breast cancer, discussions of genetic inheritance in Jewish families and a look at how the ability to test for genetic predispositions to various diseases is changing lives. With a family history of breast cancer, journalist Gessen (Dead Again: The Russian Intelligentsia After Communism) was not surprised to learn she had inherited a "deleterious mutation" in the BRCA1 gene, one of two genes known to be linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The BRCA1 mutation was first discovered in Jewish women, a "compact population" with a higher-than-average breast cancer rate. Gessen describes her narrow options, with "nondirective counseling" steering her toward prophylactic removal of her breasts and ovaries. Then she jumps the track to talk about Dr. Henry Lynch, who, in 1966, first suggested that predisposition to cancer might be hereditary. Gessen also covers Huntington's disease, maple syrup disease among Old Order Mennonites, eugenics and how a genetic testing program is affecting marital choices for some Orthodox Jews. Gessen covers a fair amount of ground, but in a haphazard fashion. The book's strongest parts are on genetics and heredity in the Jewish community. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Dick Maxwell - Library Journal
An experienced journalist exploring issues that bear directly on her own life and health, Gessen here shares a personal journey that began in 2004, when she learned she had a "deleterious mutation" in a BRCA1 gene that predisposed her to ovarian and breast cancer. Like many of the people whom she interviewed for this book, Gessen faced decisions none thought or had to make just a few years earlier, beginning with whether to be tested at all. She unflinchingly describes her feelings, the reasons for her choices, and their consequences, also surveying the state of the science as practiced from academic medical centers to a clinic in the heart of Amish country. The narratives are fascinating, and the research is well documented. This distinctive combination of personal narrative and objective account tackles a subject that will continue to become increasingly important to us all; recommended for public libraries where patrons are proactive about their health.
Kirkus Reviews
Unsettling medical memoir by a worried-but-still-well journalist who carries a breast-cancer gene. Gessen (Ester and Ruzya: How My Grandmothers Survived Hitler's War and Stalin's Peace, 2004, etc.) has steeped herself in genetics lore-and conjecture-in this wide-ranging account of genetic information past, present and future. Her own story is often the focus, as she relates the deaths of her mother and other relatives from breast or ovarian cancers and traces the inheritance of the BRCA1 gene to her great-great-grandmother. The mother of one adopted and one biological child, she is considering having another baby, but the genetic counselor she consults advises an ovariectomy and perhaps a double mastectomy. As Gessen wrestles with decision-making, the text increasingly leans toward a deterministic view of genetic destiny: The BRCA genes do not simply increase the odds of cancer; they cause it, with more stubborn forms occurring at an earlier age. This pessimism colors her account as she reviews the history of genetics from the horrors of eugenics and Nazism to the discovery of the gene for the sickle-cell trait, which persists in the population because it increases protection against malaria. There is much discussion of Ashkenazi Jews and their genetic load of diseases, as well as the genetic problems of other groups. She lauds the clinicians who work with Amish and Mennonite groups in Pennsylvania, developing diets to stave off the worse effects of inherited metabolic diseases. Gessen rightly addresses such issues as the reliability of the new genome-testing firms and the value of tests in cases like Huntington's, where the disease is inevitable but as yet untreatable in carriers. Butthe text is again disturbing as she moves on to discuss controversial behavior-related genes, even pondering whether her young son's Russian heritage may make him vulnerable to alcoholism. Credit Gessen with absorbing gobs of information, but this is a case in which a little learning may be a dangerous thing-for the author and her readers. Agent: Elyse Cheney/Elyse Cheney Agency
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