Just before Thanksgiving in 2008, at the age of 26, I was diagnosed with a kind of cancer called glioblastoma multiforme. I had a tumor about the size of a tangerine in my brain behind my left eye. My nurses told me not to look for information on the Internet. They were trying to protect me, I think. Well, I did the search anyway. My kind of cancer has been called The Terminator; it was an instant death sentence. It is blood-fueled and very difficult to treat and control. Most people make it for about 14 months after diagnosis. Patients eventually lose the capabilities of speech, hearing, sight, and logic.

What I learned brought a whole new prayer to God. I was reminded of my confirmation verse: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). I was in trouble. I needed him. I needed a miracle. I prayed.

When I look back on the situation, I realize now how many miracles had already happened in my life. I was born to wonderful parents who had me baptized, gave me two great brothers—Matthew and Kent—and a spectacular sister, Angela. My parents cared about my Christian education, sending me to Lutheran elementary school, Luther Preparatory School, and Martin Luther College (MLC). In the first week at MLC, I met my future husband, Matt, and we started dating. He was nothing like what I thought I wanted. I always wanted someone who was "the life of the party," but God changed my mind. Matt is quiet, calm, smart, kind, and somehow perfect for me.

Right after graduation from college and our wedding, we went to his first call as a fourth- through eighth-grade teacher, organist, choir director, and administrator at a small school in Lincoln, Nebraska. It did not take me long at all to start doubting the power of God. All my friends seemed to be so close together in Wisconsin. They were starting families, and Matt and I knew we weren't ready for that responsibility. I did not feel like we were getting to know the people of our congregation that well. Matt was so busy and I had no job, so I ended up working retail. My job and Matt's school schedule made it difficult to see family, even on holidays. I was not 100 percent sure that God had put us in the right place. But God changed my mind.