Surviving Cancer: Writer Jaymie Simmon talks to The Daily Journal about why she stopped trying to control her life and let the blessings flow.

“Gratitude is not an occasional thing. It’s an unending condition of the heart.”

— Jaymie Simmon

 

Every Day is Thanksgiving for the Grateful

Everyday should be Thanksgiving Day. We should be thankful even in the midst of problems. The Apostle Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in our tribulation,” (2 Cor. 7:4). He knew that God was working all things together for his good, even though he was going through trials.

Problems will come your way, and through them God will grant you to grow in faith. He will allow storms to send roots deep into the soil of His Word. We pray in the midst of problems, but it’s been well said that we can see more from our knees, than on our tip toes.

Trials have their purposes. They make us struggle — they bring us to our knees.

Trials and struggles are anything but new to Jaymie Simmon of Bourbonnais. The day her mother passed away from breast cancer was the same day she received chilling news of her own diagnosis with the same cancer.

Jaymie says, “Since my battle with cancer, I have a lot for which to be thankful. Gratitude is not an occasional thing. It’s an unending condition of the heart.

“When God allowed me to survive, with the understanding that I stop taking things for granted, and walk with gladness in my heart. For me, everyday is Thanksgiving. The illness rearranged priorities in my life. I now look at things much differently. The blessings began to flow when I stopped trying to control my life.trailer movie Beauty and the Beast 2017

“The love and help of others gave me strength to endure the challenges I was facing. Power of prayer is amazing — through all my vicissitude, I still have life.”

Jaymie is a member of the College Church of the Nazarene, in Bourbonnais, where Dan Boone is pastor.

Equivalent to the same, Yvonne Timms of Kankakee also is thankful for everyday, and each moment that God has allowed her to be among the land of the living. Yvonne says God is in total control.

 “When I first learned of my illness, I was devastated.

“Through my spiritual growth and personal relationship with God, I can make it. Until one gets a connection with God, he or she is incapable. Even though I’m physically unable to touch and feel God, His presence surrounds me.

“We were put here on Earth as a vessel to help the fellow man. Oftentimes, we take living for granted. My Thanksgiving is everyday.”

Yvonne is a member of Zion Gate Baptist Church, where Ronald L. Barlett is pastor.

Thank-you Jaymie and Yvonne for reminding us that everyday is Thanksgiving. It’s easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who also are thankful for their setbacks. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. We all must be thankful for our trials and our struggles.

They may become our blessings.Thanksgiving and gratitude have marked important milestones in American life for generations, but Thanksgiving isn’t only an American tradition. The roots of Thanksgiving and gratitude stem from the human universal need to express gratitude through prayer, gift giving, and celebrations throughout the world.

———

Positive Connections By Shalone Graves

Read the full published article.