More From Christy Bass Adams

For two years, October 2019 was the month that stared back from the calendar on my bedroom wall. Our world slowed to a halt as we digested my husband’s diagnosis of cancer. We started with surgery, then treatments (during the COVID-19 quarantine), followed by his year long struggle with deep depression and anxiety.

I reached for the calendar many times, but as long as we were emotionally dealing with the effects of cancer, I struggled to move forward in time. There were many long nights of questions and hard conversations with God. Long cries often came in unexpected waves. The fears and what-ifs nearly ate us up at times.

But as I shared in my meditation from March 5, 2023, we learned some big lessons along the way. We learned that “I love you,” wasn’t reserved for just our families, but also for our friends. We also realized how precious life was and that we weren’t promised our next breath. Sunday afternoon boat rides with our boys or late-night drives around the farm reminded us to slow down and embrace the moment.

We also learned the value of friends and family. The week we discovered my husband’s cancer was the same week I ordered the trusses for our house. We were beginning year four of our six-year house build, from stump to wall. We cut the trees, milled the lumber, planed, edged, and installed all the wood in our home, right from our farm.

There was no choice but to keep moving, even when he felt sick all the time. Friends and family rallied around us and helped us make it through that difficult season. Learning to ask for help was hard for this prideful, hard-headed person, but I’m so grateful we took the chance, as we now have friends that have become as close as family.

I’m happy to say we are now on the other side of cancer and there is no sign of it in my husband’s body! We have also been living in our new home for over a month now. The battles with depression and anxiety are still present but victories are overriding the defeats.

Overall, our life is much more settled than it was three years ago. We are grateful for all the lessons learned, but especially the one about telling others that we love them. We never know what day will be our last. Today is the day we must tell others that we love them before we miss the opportunity.

I pray that none of us ever misses a moment to tell the ones we love the most how much they mean to us. And while we’re at it, if we haven’t shared Jesus with them, that needs to be added to the agenda as well.

For more from Christy Bass Adams, visit her blog at www.christybassadams.com or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube:  @christybassadams