A year later, Heather reminds us that while cancer is still ugly, it cannot derail the hope she has in Christ.

This past year has brought with it the wonderful news and awful news of my mom's cancer being removed and then returning. Cancer is ugly as my family has discovered on this journey that none of us would have chosen. The pain is real and raw, both the emotional and the physical.

Spiritually, pain challenges our hope. It would be easy to let this kind of pain derail the hope we have in Christ. But the fact remains that he has not changed. He is still the loving God who hears us. He is still right by our side, comforting, protecting and guiding. And, graciously, he is the one who is preparing for us "an eternal weight of glory," not worth comparing with this earthly affliction.

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.... as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:16, 18