Happy Times

Nichole is getting her energy back and is enjoying her kiddos once again. The treatments made it very difficult to spend any time with the kids (other than them climbing around on her while she rested). It has been a blessing to watch them interact again, and Nichole has had the opportunity to take each of the kids out for a one-on-one date. The kids were buzzing around as usual on Friday so it was a little difficult to corral them for the picture. Noah (bless his little heart!) had just been bit by a yellow jacket on his finger, as you can see him holding onto it.

Nichole and Norm are still strong in their trust in the Lord, but have reached another decision time as the treatments are over and they will be reevaluating soon.

Pray for them- that they would make wise decisions as to how to proceed from here, and that Nichole and Norm would not be anxious about what is to come. Pray that Nichole would be committed to trusting and hoping in the Lord- using her time to seek Him whole-heartedly, and committed to her family- rather than using her time to be searching and reading and trying to find a cure. This is exactly what she verbalized to me when I spent time with her.

She is so appreciative for everyone's support and help. Please continue to pray for the Greene family!

Feeling Better

Nichole is feeling much better! The tumor is shrinking with each visit, which is indeed good news! An important doctor visit is coming up, and Nichole is a little nervous about hearing what this somewhat pessimistic and very direct doctor has to say. He is top in his field though, so she's prepared to take it! Nichole is definitely feeling much better, and is able to do quite a bit more around the house these days. Please continue to pray for her body to heal.
Spiritually, Nichole is still thriving. She is trusting the Lord in all things. She has decided that it would be best to focus on her family and her communion with the Lord in all of her spare minutes, rather than reading and searching out alternate cancer treatments. Because of all that her body is enduring, she is experiencing emotional waves as well. Please pray that she would not succumb to temptation to depressing thoughts when the emotions waver. You can only imagine how difficult it would be!
Nichole is continually thankful for all that the church is doing to serve her family during this trial. Please continue to pray!

First-hand from Nichole written July 1st

I am told that if I write in my blog people will read it. All this computer stuff is a little foreign to me so I have someone entering on my behalf. It also amazes me that people would be interested and amused by the happenings in my life. So for what it is worth, here is my journey through this fire, and what a blessing that I don't have to go it alone, but have you all to join me. Many of you are not merely spectators but active participants. Thank you all. I pray you will be blessed!
I am 32 years old, 17 years in the Lord. The Lord has brought me through many fires, but none as fierce as this. Mid December is about when it started or at least when I was alerted to it. Through many tests mid April I was diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer. They found a very large tumor the size of a baseball. Just about a week before I started treatment we had a big birthday party for my 5 year old son (one of 4 children). On top of one of his gifts, he received a colorful baseball. I often try to get rid of that ominous ball by throwing it outside, but somehow it keeps turning up in plain view, as if it is screaming "look at me! Here I am!" - a painful reminder of what is inside of me. Being bounced from doctor to doctor- 5 to be exact, they came up with a 5 week intense treatment plan of chemo along with external radiation, followed by 5 weeks more of internal radiation. With excitement in their eyes and sheer determination to "win" they set me off on this great adventure. I have often said I feel like I am in a video game with all the high tech laser beams and chemical warfare all trying to get the bad guy.
Week 1 Cisplatnium- the worst nauseating chemo you can get. 60 mg. Sick as a dog. Shaking with fear of my first treatment I sit down in the battle room(chemo room) with all the other troops (patients)
I sat next to a dear saint filled with the Spirit, uttering words of encouragement and praise to God, and I was brought to tears at God's glorious goodness of cradling me into the fire. All because of her kind and sweet speech worshipping our Savior.
Week 2 I was so sick that I had to go down for hydration. All the way to Burbank. To my mission field. Like Jonah, I am convinced, God has put me on the mission field, to cancer patients and those who care for them. Praise the Lord! I always wanted to be a missionary. The Lord has a granted my hearts desire, I have a mission field I cannot escape! Pray for those in the chemo room who have heard the glorious Gospel of our Lord, all because I was throwing up! God causes all things to work together for the good. Romans 8:28 Just about every time I was down there getting hydrated, I was given the privilege of sharing the Gospel. With everyone we meet there are two goals we should have: Evangelism if they are unsaved and edification if they are the Saviors'. Proclaim and build up. This is one way we can glorify God with all we come in contact.
Week 3 Still sick as a dog. Blood work good. Losing weight. "What about the kids?" they all ask. This question also haunted me one night in May. I wrestled with it and was unable to sleep well. If I die I'll go to Heaven, but what about the kids. Sometime before dawn the Lord brought me rest to mind and body. They belong to the Lord. They are not mine, He cares for them I need not worry, so in this I don't. Jesus said if you love brother or sister, son or daughter more than Me, than you are not worthy of Me. I love my kids and want to see them grow, but I want Christ more! So when people ask what about the kids, I know they are asking who is caring for them while I am ill. My answer to them is I go to a wonderful church filled with people who love the Lord and want to serve Him and me.
So you my friends, any of you who have served in any way, rides, childcare, cleaning, meals, (plummers). You are a witness of Christ to my doctors and many others. We will be a witness to the world by the love we have for one another, we learn in 1 John 1. So thank you all who have proclaimed the Gospel indeed, and the labor of your love is going out to the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valley!

UTI

Please pray for Nichole! She is still feeling relatively good, but has a urinary tract infection and her white blood cell count is low. She is still able to take her treatments, but doctors want those white blood cells to be up. Please pray that the family would stay healthy, so that there is no added risks or added stress for them. Nichole and Norm were able to enjoy a little break this morning and went out to breakfast together- just the two of them. They enjoyed the quiet time together. Praise the Lord!!

Today

I spent the morning with Nichole and again was blessed! Her spirits are high, and she is still resting in the Lord's providence even though she has dealt with some pretty "difficult" (stubborn, strange, threatening, ungracious, no bed-side manner) medical professionals recently. She recounted to me how she was able to preach the gospel to two more doctors while having a procedure done, and was praising God for the opportunities. She is finding more strength these days as the chemo is done, but still needs to pace herself. She is a whopping 102 pounds (at 5 ft. 6 in.), so is trying to put on some weight. She is looking and feeling much better, yet still needs our prayers and the Lord's kind hand to draw her to Himself each day.
Nichole is in the middle of having internal radiation treatments (weekly). Although the doctors warned her about severe pain during each treatment and after, Nichole is so thankful to our gracious God for keeping her from such pain. She is on low dose pain medication and is doing remarkably well- much better than anticipated. "Praise the Lord" is a phrase that spills out of her mouth heartily and regularly throughout the day... consider your circumstances compared with hers, and give the Lord praise for all of his kindness to you!

Life Perspective Posted by Julie Gebhards from June 2008

Well, I had the privilege of spending most of the day with the Greenes yesterday, and we again were blessed by the Lord. Despite the 113 degree heat (which I didn't notice until we left and saw the temp gauge in the car), we had a productive and blessed time. Thankfully, even though there were 9 kids running around, Nichole and I were able to talk for a significant amount of time and she shared with me her thoughts, concerns and hope. I say hope (rather than hopes) because she has one hope, and it is fixed on one thing- Jesus Christ. She would never suggest that dark thoughts haven't crossed her mind, or that she hasn't struggled to understand why this could happen. But she hasn't given up the fight to reject those thoughts and continue to trust in the Sovereignty of a Loving God who hasn't left her. Here are some of Nichole's words which were a great encouragement to me.
~"My husband is not mine. He's the Lord's. My kids are not mine. They too belong to the Lord. His love for them and care for them is greater than mine. God will take care of them. They'd be fine without me." Wow, a reflection of true humility, as well as abiding trust.
~"God is good. He is using this cancer for my good, and the good of others (she doesn't know how many others- and won't know until she meets the Lord!). I know that He is good and is being glorified through this." I am certain of that as well. So many have been blessed to hear of Nichole's faithfulness through this trial.
~"Only two things matter. That the lost are reached with the gospel, and that Christ's church is built up. That's all that matters, and I think and hope and have seen this happening through this trial."
~"I've been thinking about heaven a lot in the past few days. The best-worst-case-scenario is that I leave this world and go to heaven to be with the Lord- how bad can that be? So I leave earth a little earlier than some... I won't have to worry about sin, and I'll be with the Lord!" Let's all learn from Nichole's eternal perspective. Wow, we can get so caught up in worldly thinking! It's almost nauseating thinking about how we actually care about such banal things like clothing styles, hollywood actors, and looking 5 pounds overweight in light of spiritual thoughts of life and death.
Nichole is so thankful for all that the body of Christ has done for her family through this trial, and wanted to make sure that everyone knew how grateful she and Norm are. The Foundry has already been such a blessing to them, and she wanted all to know that. So many people have served them and have been a testimony to the world of how the Body of Christ cares for each other. Let's shine brighter!

Please PRAY for the Greene Family

Please continue to pray for them as the road ahead is bumpy. Although Nichole was able to function much more yesterday than last week, she received some troubling news Wednesday. The chemo and radiation treatments have had little to no effect on the cancer at this point. (Doesn't that shed some light on the nature of our conversation, just one day after that news??) She begins internal radiation soon, so please pray that the Lord would extend His healing hand to her and miraculously shrink the tumors, if He would be glorified in that. Please also pray that Nichole and Norm would trust the Lord whole-heartedly and not let seeds of doubt creep in. Nichole would also like prayer for balancing her thoughts and time between wisely seeking alternate methods of healing, yet trusting in the Lord for whatever He does in her body. She doesn't want to become fixated on the cure, but maintain her fixation with the Savior.