Our Fight Club Prepare your mind | Take up your Weapon

We are in a battle. But what are we really fighting for?

I’ve read about this club. But never really considered it. I had no reason to. As a girl I was involved with a few clubs. Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Rainbow Girls. But generally speaking, I have never been a joiner. I don’t even like fads. But this club, I joined anyway. Honestly, it found me. And added me. Whether I wanted to be a member or not.

I am not the first, nor the last, to use the breast cancer ‘club’ analogy. It is supportive and smothering at the same time. Now admittedly, I am not very private when it comes to talking about my life. In fact I am fairly vocal. Additionally, I have always held the line that the more informed I am in any matter, the better. With that said, I have learned so much about this disease over the past few weeks.

But I have not learned it by hiding my head in the sand or feigning false humility. Take this blog for example. I am very uncomfortable being this publicly transparent. My biggest fear is being misunderstood, or being perceived as seeking attention for myself. I detest drama at any level, and am very intentional to not overexaggerate details. But now that I know how commonly breast cancer is diagnosised (especially DCIS), I feel very strongly that I need to share, to remind others that they do not need to hide their fears and questions, no matter how small or unjustified they may perceive them to be.

Since my DCIS diagnosis, I’ve received comments from breast cancer survivors that I have incorrectly perceived as comparisons. Comments regarding how small my tumor is … compared to how large their’s was, or how mine is “only” DCIS … compared to their invasive diagnosis, or how much simpler my initial lumpectomy is compared to their reconstruction.

I really do know these comments are well intentioned. Meant to encourage and share information. But I have perceived them as an unwritten rule that if one cancer is not as invasive as another’s, it doesn’t qualify for extended concern. So I, with my 5mm DCIS, although high-grade, do not qualify. I know there are as many different severeties, stages, characteristics of breast cancer as there are diagnoses. But does that mean I need to shake it off, not be concerned, and not talk about it just because my tumor is DCIS and another’s is invasive? What about the woman who has a double mastectomy for non-invasive, non-metastatic cancer? Does she not count either? Are chemo treatments required to ‘belong’, or what if radiation only?

I know some women are certainly more private or their personality is just more reserved than mine. I get that. And I would never intentionally show disrespect for the unique ways in which God created each of us. So I, as much as anyone, need to be aware that we are all in this human condition together.

No matter our current situations, we are all at risk for failure not only in our human bodies, but in our human minds as well. And many times it is our minds and emotions that are much more fragile than our bodies. Our fight against failure must be won in our minds first and last. Yes, we fight in our bodies, but we cannot always control our body’s response to disease. We can and must, however, control the fight for our minds.

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

It seems to me women who more openly talk about their diagnosis and situation with at least one trusted friend (although not necessarily publicly), have a healthier attitude. God has a reason for all we go through in life.

My purpose through all this is to show women going though any struggle that their concerns and fears are valid. These fears should not be dismissed or fought in isolation, but addressed, faced and fought head on. Behind all our doubts and fears, our enemy is trying to shut us down. If satan can convince us to live with our fears in isolation, he can use them to begin to destroy us.

John 10:10
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

When we recognize the enemy’s purpose, we begin to see our fears and doubts in a new light. We will then find the strength to fight using God’s truths and promises from His Word.

This then is The Club.
One we choose to join.
It is Our Fight Club.
We fight for control of our minds and spirits. We fight to become who we were created to be. We fight for each other, especially when another is weakened through trying to fight on their own. And if we are followers of Christ, we cannot lose – we fight for who we know we are in Him. He has already won the ultimate fight, and it is finished.

However, we cannot expect to win our fight using earthly weapons.

2 Corinthians 10:4
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

We must stand and take up our weapons in our daily battles here on earth. We must access His power through His weapons, in His strength, which can only be found in His Word.

No matter what battle you are fighting, whether perceived as big or small …

Stand Warriors.
Prepare your Mind.
Take up your Weapon.
Fight this battle.
With Him we cannot lose.
This is Our Fight Club.