Showing posts with label strength. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strength. Show all posts

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Guest Blogger: Mrs. Tonya Fields-Hines

God is a Healer


December 19, 2014… 7:30am.

I'd just completed my shower.  As I dried myself off, I felt a strange knot in my right breast. I asked my husband if he could feel it. His confirmation sent a nervous feeling over my body.

I spent my Christmas holiday with the chance of cancer hanging over me. The day after Christmas, my mother overheard me making my appointment for the mammogram.  I had to break down and tell her what was going on. My secret was out.

On December 31, 2014, I had my mammogram done.  It came back abnormal, and they also were concerned with my left breast. I immediately began praying. I returned on January 6, 2015, and was told it was cancer in my right breast and I needed a biopsy for my left breast to be sure.

My lumpectomy was done on January 7, 2015. I was found to have Stage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in my right breast. The lump in my left breast was benign. After getting over being told, "You have cancer", I began to lean totally on God and resist temptation to worry. My family truly rallied around me. 

Since I am on a member of the Leadership Team at work, my circle is very small.  I chose only to share my health crisis with them.  However, once the staff found out, they were all very supportive.  It was rewarding to know just how much they cared.  

I worked consistently from January through May through five different surgeries and procedures, one of which was a lymph node procedure that was done in February.  It was then that I learned  the cancer had not spread!  Praise be to God! That was confirmation that I was going to be alright.

.Because of my age (42), I had to endure four months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation.  I thought I’d be able to push through it until the end of the school year, but sadly I could not.  Chemotherapy was a beast and I resolved that it’d be best for me to stay home.  Thankfully, my treatments were completed on November the 13th. 
 I am truly a blessed girl.  My faith and trust in God got me through.  Although, I've been back at work full time for three months now, I do try to take it easy. I listen to my body and God. So if I need to rest, I rest because I want to be here a loooong time. My hair has returned (with a curly soft texture….smile) and I'm going to continue to the fight and know that I'm still here for a reason.  OH BLESS GOD!


Yes, this experience has brought me closer to the Lord and my family. It even strengthened my 20 year marriage. I'm cancer free and ready for whatever God has in store for me. If it's to minister through song, His word, or my testimony, I just want to tell of the second chance that I was given. 

Through it all, I have learned to trust in Jesus. I have learned to trust in God.

Tonya Fields-Hines is an educator of seventeen years who has taught as a classroom teacher and specialist.  She is currently the math specialist for Park View Elementary in Portsmouth, Va.  Tonya is married and has twin daughters who are high school freshman.  She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. 



Did you enjoy Tonya's testimony?  Are you struggling with health issues of your own or know someone who is?  Please take the time to read, meditate and believe in these healing scriptures and share with someone else.  


The Lord is with you and you are loved,

Toni



Please enjoy this week's song which is a testament to Tonya's testimony of healing.    Like and share this on Facebook with an educator who needs to be reminded of the healing power of Jesus.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Go With the Flow and Ride the Wind

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to visit the Virginia Beach Oceanfront area with my family.  Since we didn't get a chance to spend any extended time at the beach this summer, I told myself that to make up for that, I would have to spend at least one morning on the beach greeting the Lord and His sunrise. 

Unfortunately, our first morning was cool, misty, overcast and the ocean was extremely rough. So instead of going down on the beach, I hung out on our balcony.  While  drinking my coffee, I saw a seagull hovering around our ninth story balcony. 

Truth be told, when they are not trying to take your Cheetos or chase you across a parking lot to get your ice cream cone ( childhood flashback...shudder), seagulls are actually inspirational to watch.  So I sipped and watched, sipped and watched, and noticed the most wonderful things.  

On that windy, wet day, the gulls did not fight the wind, but rode it with grace and agility.  If their goal was to go forward against the wind, they just hovered until the current was conducive for their progression. They would rise higher or descend with a few flaps of their wings.  Their hovering seemed effortless although the wind blew tirelessly in their faces.  

Then, as I tilted my coffee cup back to finish it off, something zoomed off to the right!  A seagull shot past me and went on his merry way.  "Wow", I thought, that gull is going faster in that direction.  

Our lives are just like that. When we make God our rear guard (Isaiah 58:8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth; Your righteousness will go before you [leading you to peace and prosperity], The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. success is eminent.  It is for us to let God push us forward as we shoot from faith to faith and glory to glory.


Educators, God never intended us to struggle in our own strength. Our struggle for things that are already promised to us and under His covenant are just a ridiculous as ...
When you study the Word of God, make note of His promises to YOU. As you learn these promises, your "blessed assurance" will strengthen your wings.

So, here's a promise to get you started for this week:
   Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30 NLT

Whether you're having a wind in your face or wind in your back school year, God wants you to allow Him to lead and guide you. Trust Him with EVERYTHING.  There is nothing too insignificant or hard for Him.  Just go with the flow and ride the wind. 

The Lord is with you and you are love,

Toni



Please enjoy this song.  God is sovereign and nothing is too hard for Him.  Go with the flow and trust Him.








Images retrieved from:
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/backstage/343326-seagull-tries-save-friend-seagull-vs-eagle-2.html
http://xquatrox.deviantart.com/art/Seagull-in-the-sky-303943395