My Testimony Through My Journey given at Big Valley Grace Community Church

My name is Heather Sutton and standing next to me is my sweet hubby Jeff. We have three little girls Madison 8, Halle 6 and London 4. On Thursday July 23rd Jeff and I sat in a doctor’s office and heard words no one wants to hear. “You have breast cancer”. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jeff’s head drop into his chest. I sat across from the doctor trying to hold it together long enough to hear the words she is saying as tears are streaming down my face. I was trying desperately to understand the words she was using but all my ears heard were cancer, oncologist, and mastectomy. I looked at Jeff and told him it was going to be ok we will pull through this together. As the day went on The Lord gave me peace about everything. Now my job was to pray for Jeff and the girls that they would feel this peace too. Later that night we sat our girls down and told them that their mommy had breast cancer. I told them the words they might being hearing over time and what they mean. They cried and were scared of the word cancer because to them that meant death. There were a lot of tears that night and a sweet time of prayer and in the end we were all able to fall sound sleep.
The next morning I woke up refreshed, it was a new day a day the Lord has made for ME. I decided that if I was going to go through a “trial” it was going to become “my journey” and I would do it glorifying the Lord. I decided I didn’t want to waste it and I was going to be His witness.
Our next step was to have an MRI and a mammogram to see what we were dealing with. After my test I was to wait a week for results. I received a call the very next day telling me the Dr. wanted to see me sooner. I dropped to my knees and cried out to the Lord “whatever it is let us know so we can deal with it”. My husband panicked and tried to get us in that day but our doctor couldn’t see us, so the waiting began. Jeff looked discouraged. He was in tears and an absolute mess. I took him to our room and we got on our faces before the Lord in the most precious time of prayer. The Lord gives peace when asked for it and He did.
The next day we found out fortunately I had only one lump but unfortunately I have a lot of calcifications. The cancer is called infiltration or invasive ductile and means I have only one option, a bilateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. They will also take lymph nodes and have them tested as well. I met with two doctors that day and got what some people might call bad news. But I can stand in front of you today and tell you I was excited. I believe the Lord has a plan for me and his timing is perfect.
Rick came to me and quoted James 5:14 “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord”. So on August 8th my family, friends, pastors and elders gathered in the Altar room and anointed Jeff and I with oil. The Lords presence was amazing that night. I have never felt so in awe of my God. People prayed over me the most beautiful, powerful and most important believing prayers. I sat with the most precious people in my life as they prayed and wept. I felt honored.
On Aug 13th we pulled in the Surgery Center at 6 am for my bilateral mastectomy. Our sweet friends Ben, Gretchen and Rick were waiting for us. Rick called us outside to pray. The power of prayer is amazing; you can never pray enough! I gave everyone hugs and went to change into the beautiful fashion gown they gave me. Right before I went into the O.R. satan thought he would try one last time to discourage me. I went into a massive panic attack. What I remember, as everything was closing in on me and they were wheeling me into O.R. was my sweet hubby praying out loud over me! The Lord overpowered satan that day. Prayer works. I had people praying for very specific things and I can stand here and tell you everything has a check mark! The Lord is in the details, every little detail.
On Thursday Aug 20th Jeff and I entered the doctor’s office once again for results. The Doctor began to tell me that I have infiltration or invasive ductile stage 1 and it is NOT in my lymph nodes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jeff’s head drop to his chest and tears of joy stream down his face. She began to tell us that I would see an oncologist at UCSF and that doctor would determine what treatment from here. All my ears heard were my great Physician healed me! That afternoon we were able to sit our girls down and tell them God had answered our prayers and he healed mommy of breast cancer.
It has been 10 days since I have been home and out of surgery and 5 weeks since I heard those awful words “you have breast cancer”. The physical pain has been great at times and still is, but the spiritual growth has been amazing. I can stand in front of you today KNOWING that prayer played HUGE part in my journey. Knowing Jesus intimately played a huge part in my journey.
Now listen to me carefully. I have a huge resource and that is the Lord and the power of prayer. I can tell you many details about my journey and tell you when and how the Lord answered them. Maybe not the way I wanted but realizing the importance of each one. If you or a loved one are facing cancer or are right in the middle of treatment, whatever it is, give it to Jesus. You have 2 options. The first is NOT giving it Him and doing it on your own and two is, give it to him and let him work out the details. I chose option two and I have felt His presence and peace throughout. Now the physical pain has been painful but nothing compared to the pain Jesus suffered for me on the cross. The spiritual growth far outweighs any pain I could ever go through and It is an honor to do this for HIM. Don’t waste your opportunity. Isn’t that what we are here for on this earth is to take up His cross for Him?