The photograph above was taken at the peak of my mother's sickness on the day of my high school graduation. When I look back at pictures like this I reminded of how strong and capable my wonderful mother is. And I'm reminded of how much she loves me. So here is what I went through when I found out my momma had cancer.

So first comes the diagnosis. For my family, it was that my sweet, loving, hard-working mother had late stage breast cancer. We were devastated. Like beyond words and feelings devastated.

You see, my mom has always been the glue that holds our family together and the person who takes care of us all. She never gets sick, not even a cold, so to hear that this had happened to her... it was hard. And part of me still thinks that was the worst part, getting over hearing that first sentence...that was definitely the hardest part for me.

So then we have to find out what to do about it, right? We started out with very strong chemotherapy, which made all her hair fall out. We joked that that was fine because now she wouldn't have to fix her hair or shave her legs. Then a double mastectomy, and then we finished with radiation every day for a few months. It made her weak, but we were blessed and it never stopped her. She never missed a day of work and she never quit taking care of my family and me. Through everything, she went through she still put all of us first.

Going through this with my family brought us all so much closer. And it showed us how many people are in the lives that truly love and care for us. We received so many meals and cards and calls and texts, it was truly overwhelming. I would never have chosen for my mother and our family to go through this, but the experience was honestly life-changing.

But let me tell you what really got us all through it: our faith in God. I promise you if it wasn't for Him my mother would not still be with us. He put his hand in every step of our journey through the battle, from getting us in with the best doctors and surgeons to keeping her from getting sick during her treatments. God touched the hearts of her bosses who let her work from home on the days she had treatments and He helped her feel well enough to keep working.

And it wasn't just us who believed. Our whole family, all of our friends, and all of our church was praying for her and believing in God's ability to heal her. And man did we ever feel those prayers. Seriously though, let me tell you how great the Lord we serve really is, my mother not only did not get sick throughout her treatments, she gained weight... Who gains weight during chemo and radiation?? A God-fearing woman, that's who.

God protected my family and my mother in ways that I'm sure we don't even know, and maybe we will never know, but we are so thankful. Thankful to have my mom healthy and happy. I'm thankful to have a mom, period.