SOME THINGS ARE TOO HEAVY TO CARRY ALONE
Six weeks after my daughter was born, I was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin's lymphoma. I was twenty-nine years old, with a three-year old some at home and a newborn in my arms. What followed was months of chemotherapy, a relapse, a stem cell transplant and radiation. Â
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I learned quickly that survival wasn't just about medicine. It was about people - my family, friends, doctors nurses, and a community that refused to let me walk through it alone. When I couldn't carry myself, they carried me.Â
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Their love prayers and presence became the strands that held me together. And that's what planted the seeds of Stronger Strands.
ONE STRAND CAN ONLY HOLD SO MUCH.Â
TWISTED TOGETHER, STRANDS BECOME STRONGER
The Hebrew word qavah, translated as wait in Isaiah 40:31, is connected to the idea of twisting, binding, or braiding strands together to form a stronger rope.
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That image became deeply personal to me. During the hardest season of my life, I learned that strength did not mean carrying everything by myself. I was held by my family, friends, doctors and nurses, my faith, and people who simply showed up. When I could not carry myself, they carried me.
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That is the heart of Stronger Strands. We come alongside individuals and families facing life’s hardest seasons, adding our strand to theirs so they do not have to carry the weight alone.
You Can't Grind an Axe on Butter is my story of cancer, a relapse, a stem cell transplant, radiation, motherhood, faith, fear, and the people who carried me when I couldn't carry myself. Â
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It is also the story behind Stronger Strands.
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I didn't know the word qavah when I was sick, but I knew what it meant to need something strong than me. I had God. I had my family. I had doctors and nurse, friends, and people praying for me. I wasn't one strand trying to hold everything together by myself. Â
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Thirty years late, that lesson became Stronger Strands Foundation.
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The foundation grew from what I lived. The book tells the story.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book supports Stronger Strands Foundation
Thirty years later, I know survival isn't just getting through the crisis. It's what comes after. Families need more than medical care. They need practical help, encouragement, and a community that understands what life looks like when everything suddenly changes. Â
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Stronger Strands exists to meet those needs, to walk beside individuals and families facing life's hardest seasons, and to remind them the are not forgotten, not alone, and not without hope.
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