October 3, 2022 • 20 mins
You know the old song... Live Like You Were Dying?
Robin Luftig shares what happened when the doctors told her she had a massive brain tumor and just ten days to get her affairs in order.
Guest Bio:
ROBIN LUFTIG is founder of Renew Ministries She is also a nationally-known speaker for Stonecroft Ministries and contributor for Leading Hearts magazine and online publications such as OneChristianVoice.com and CBN.com. Robin and her husband Lew have five children and live in central PA.
Connect with Robin at https://robinluftig.com
God's Best During Your Worst: Living Under His Umbrella: https://amzn.to/3EhN0kh
Host Bio:
Teresa Janzen, M.Ed., ignites a passion for abundant living through radical service. She is an international speaker, author, and podcast host. Her experience in leadership and global ministry drives her to share inspiring stories with wit and insight. Her candid and personable style is sure to capture the heart of any audience.
Connect at https://teresajanzen.com
Learn more about Radical Abundance at Radical-Abundance.com
Teresa Janzen is your host. She ignites a passion for abundant living through radical service. Teresa is an international speaker, author, and coach of speakers and writers. Her experience in leadership and global ministry drives her to share inspiring stories with wit and insight. Her candid and personable style is sure to capture the heart of any audience.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
What would you do if the doctorstold you you have a massive
brain tumor and 10 days toget your affairs in order?
How would you spend thattime listening to today's
guest as she tells usexactly what she did?
And while you're here, takea moment and subscribe.
Welcome to Radical Abundance.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Teresa Janssen.
Have you ever cried out to God?
Why?
Why is this happening to me?
Well, today's guest is RobinLuftig, and she knows all about
how God's best is available evenduring some of your worst times.
That's hard to imagine,but that's what we're
talking about today.
Robin, welcome toRadical Abundance.
(00:45):
It's great to haveyou on the show.
Thanks, Teresa.
This is my treat for sure.
I want to just jump right intothe heart of your story, and I
know that anyone who talks aboutand writes about something like
God's Best during Your worstmust have had a time when life
seemed pretty much at its worst.
(01:06):
Can you.
Take us back there.
What was it like thatlaunched you on this
journey of discovering allabout the goodness of God
in the midst of tragedy?
It was a wonderful day.
In April in 2007, whenout of nowhere I had a
seizure nowhere and left meparalyzed on my right side,
(01:27):
and I was unable to speak.
I had just started aspeaking ministry, so I
was a little confused.
I thought God wascalling me home.
They called the ambulance, cameand took me to the hospital
and we found tests, did test.
Then they found a tumor onmy brain about the size of
my doctor's fist, and theysaid, You have 10 days.
(01:48):
If you have any place youwanna go, anybody you wanna
see, or anything you wanna do.
, you have 10 days to do it.
I was just rocked.
My world was rocked.
And in those 10 days, I cantell you there now looking
back, that those 10 dayshave been the sweetest 10
days of my entire life.
I can't even imagine what it'slike to have someone say, You
(02:11):
have 10 Dave to resolve it.
10 days.
Anything you need to resolve,do anything you wanna do.
Right.
And my children don't livenear to me, so I had to
call them and tell them thisinformation over the phone,
which was heartbreaking tohear the silence on the other
(02:33):
end or to hear the tears.
I mean, they're grown.
They were grown child,they were grown adults, but
they're still my babies.
You know, You knowhow that goes.
And it was just heartbreaking.
And they.
, they were strugglingwith it as well.
Sure, yeah, of course.
And they're in the midst oftheir lives and it, so it
was out of the blue for you.
(02:55):
You didn't have ahistory of seizures.
No warning signs, just nothing.
Bam.
Here it is.
Although, andalthough I can tell you a
little preview on my wayto a speaking, engage.
I was, you know, of howyou do when you travel.
If you have a car trip,you have your CDs packed
on the side beside you.
You had your coffee, yoursnacks, everything's ready
(03:17):
to go for your road trip.
And I, that, that was me.
I was driving by myself.
I had about a five hourdrive and I started and
I said, Father, thankyou for this opportu.
For allowing me to do this,just this wonderful time with
these women at this retreat, andjust as clearly as I'm talking
to you, I felt in my spirit,how are you serving me, Robin,
(03:41):
If you're doing what you wannado anyway, Do you trust me?
This just, this wasin March, and I said,
I'd like to say that.
I said, Oh father, of course.
But I said, I don't know.
And so I drove for fivehours wrestling with God.
(04:02):
Why can't you justwatch my back?
I tell people how wonderfulyou are and you keep me safe,
and we'll call it a day.
Can we do that?
Now, here I am, a Christianspeaker, bartering with
God, and he kept saying overand over, Do you trust me?
Do you trust me?
And by the time I gotto my venue, Selling me.
(04:25):
Of course I did and Icompletely forgot about it.
That was in March.
In April, when I'm layingin this hospital bed, the
doctor shows me the picturesof this tumor and I start
to cry and we start to pray.
I asked him if he would prayfor me, and my husband was
there, and I thank God forhis mercy and his provision,
(04:49):
and my husband said, Father,give me back my wife.
That's all he had.
He prayed in his heart andI leaned back and I just
tried to take in the peaceof that moment and I heard
God speak to my heart again.
Do you trust me?
At that point, I knew that Iwas in my father's hand and
(05:10):
he was working a purpose inmy life that was specific for
me, and he was in control.
Made it a sweet 10 days, a hard10 days, but a sweet 10 days.
Well, that is a huge.
Message and a wake up call.
What ha how was it lookingback from that time when
(05:32):
the doctor says, Do you have10 days and you, Are you
thinking about those thingsthat happened beforehand
or did that come later asyou were reflecting later?
Well, I refl, I wroteduring those 10 days, cause
I knew, this was when Godsaid, Do you trust me?
I knew he had a plan andI needed to write it down.
(05:55):
I needed to write.
Everything.
So that's what I did.
I wrote down my morning prayeror a prayer of uncertainty
because I wasn't sure.
I knew I was praying to God.
I just wasn't surewhat his plans were.
So I was trying to gatherwisdom anywhere that I could.
(06:17):
And in those 10 days, Iwas blessed with confusion.
I had confusion laidout right in front of.
It was here.
This is what you're facing.
And God in his mercy was sokind and he allowed me just
to, you know, sometimes wetry to skirt around things.
(06:40):
No, I didn't have time.
I was on a time periodwhere I only had moments
to deal with this.
So I went straight ahead.
I call it the swan diveand the lab of Jesus.
I went right into it and I wentface first into confusion to try
to find out why I was confused.
(07:01):
Later on, I discovered thateverybody deals with tragedy.
Mine was a brain tumor, butpeople have either dealt with
it or dealing with it now,or will deal with it in the.
You know, I think we allneed to know that God
is there right with us.
(07:22):
In the midst of that tragedy,I walked through confusion
and then I went through doubtand I said, Father, I don't
know, and went after doubt.
It was focus.
I knew I had to focus.
God had a plan.
I knew the truth.
I wasn't feeling it somuch, but I knew if I
(07:42):
could focus, focus on that.
And after the focusing,I was able to trust.
And after that trust, it wasso amazing how this unfolded.
I was able to face heartache.
I looked at what he wasleading me through, walking
(08:06):
beside with me hand in hand.
And I was sad.
I had a.
Here, did he wantme to come home?
I was, my time on Earthgonna be over and then I had
to surrender all of that Evevery day I did another step.
(08:29):
And through surrenderingbuilt my faith.
And in that faithSpring gratitude.
And from that gratitudespring peace in.
I understood Grace.
what you've described to me.
I've heard people maybego on a journey similar to
(08:50):
that, but oftentimes we'retalking years of processing
things and self discovery andspiritual growth, and that
you had a very condensed time.
You were in the middle ofa vibrant ministry career.
Then all of a sudden, yourwhole world comes to a grinding
(09:10):
screeching halt, and you are.
24 7.
Face to face with, Yeah.
With your mortality or yourimmortality and eternity and
your relationship with God.
What was it do you think,in your background or
(09:30):
what was going on in yourlife at that time that
made a difference between.
Being bitter or angry orsearching and being so
open to God's moving inyour life, or did you have
some of that real anger?
Did you go throughbitterness and anger too?
I didn't have time.
It's crazy.
(09:51):
I didn't have time to be angry.
I had seen God move in my life.
So magnificently yearsearlier because I had made
some really bad choices inmy life and he just pulled
me from the gates of hell.
And I've always focused onthat when times are bad,
(10:13):
you know, they say to writethings down when you're in
a valley because our livesare valleys in hilltops.
That's what we are.
And if when we're in thevalley, we have to know that
there will be another hilltop.
So I tried to keepthat in my mind.
I just, I didn't havethe time to fret.
(10:34):
I knew God loved me, andI don't know why that
always stuck with me.
Even in the toughesttimes, I knew God loved me.
I wasn't sure that I loved him.
There were times that I wasn'tsure that I loved him, but
I always knew that he loved.
and I hung onto that and Ifocused on that and I said, then
(10:54):
that's what I said, A lap, aswan dive in the lap of Jesus.
I didn't have time.
I needed to know, this was wherethe rubber was meeting the road.
I didn't have the luxury tosay wonderful, kind, beautiful
words, melodic prayers.
I just had to say, Oh, father.
Oh father, oh father.
(11:16):
Come, you know, stay with me.
I'm, I don't know.
I don't know.
Did I do something wrong?
I know you're with me.
Did I mess up?
I, you know, talk to mebecause I don't have time.
I need to know thatwhat you say is real.
You know, if you reachout for God, he will
find you where you are.
(11:36):
And he pulled closer to me thana brother in my waking moments.
He would enter my thought.
Always give me scripturethat I had thought of in
years to bring me comfortand peace in direction.
I heard you say that duringyour conversations with God
and he drew very close toyou, that you also question,
(11:59):
did I mess up somewhere?
So did you had someself-reflection and things
like that going on, wondering,is this judgment I'm facing?
No, that, that was part ofthe early days, the confusion.
I thought I was on trackdoing what I needed to do.
I had made so manychanges in my life.
(12:20):
I had done what I needed to.
I what, Did I miss something?
Did I miss something?
Because I don't know, whenI think of sin sometimes
that I find in my past thatI hadn't thought about,
Oh, how did I miss that?
And so I repent of that sinthe moment I remember it.
(12:42):
I thought, well, maybethere's something in my past.
Because we always thinkthat, We always think
it's about us, right?
We always think, Okay, I couldhave done this differently.
I could have controlled this.
I messed up.
Well, it wasn't that.
But once I, once I got thatout of my head and I was
able to deal with that doubtand shoot into focus when I
(13:07):
shot into focus, then I couldwork better and I moved on.
Okay, so.
10 days, 10 days goesby, or however much time
goes by, what happens?
I mean, obviously youare a functioning person.
You know, here on theRadical Abundance Podcast,
Robin, you look great,.
(13:29):
Well, it wa I had a fiveYeah, I brought breakfast
up to BR to my husband,breakfast in bed because he
would do that for me always.
And I didn't know if Iwas ever gonna be able
to serve him again.
So I brought him breakfast inbed and we sat and we prayed
(13:49):
and we cried because we justdidn't know, but we were.
We knew he, we had beenwashed with God's grace,
just soaked in it.
And we knew God had a plan andwe were loving God more than
we had ever loved God before.
And we knew we weresteeped in that.
(14:10):
Nobody, we stillcried, you know?
But then I went into surgeryand came out and I hurt from
my toes to my tip of my head.
I was in so muchpain after I woke up.
They were concernedwith my speech.
They didn't know if I wasgoing to be able to talk.
(14:31):
That was the area that thebrain that it was affecting,
and they didn't know if mymotor, my fine motor ability
would be able to come back.
My memory is some of theareas that were touched,
and I am not as a hundredpercent I am in my nineties.
Maybe I'm like to think, butI'm where God wants me and
(14:54):
where God is using me the best.
And your speaking and yourwriting continues and probably
even has grown, maybe.
Is that true?
It has and taken a newdirection.
Can you believe that?
It's amazing.
I took seven years to write.
I can . Yeah.
I, yeah.
I took seven years to writethe book, God's Best During
(15:15):
Your Worst because I wantedto let people understand
that I have credibilityin dealing with grief.
It's not that I have a corneron it, it's just I know about
it and I used this book andI pull from scripture, I pull
from writers like Spurgeonor Andy Stanley or Jody
(15:38):
Ericsson, Todd, I, Michael J.
Fox.
I cite these people thathave worked in, lived through
tragedy because everyonewants to know how to do.
And typically youwanna know right then.
So it's an easy read.
It's a fun read.
It's a focus ontothe reader Read.
It's a good, it's a good book.
(16:01):
But I've also gone into fiction.
I just love, I love friendshipand I love grace and mercy
because God's grace and mercyare, are what we all strive for.
We might not know.
At the time, but we all strivefor God's grace and mercy
(16:21):
and it's waiting for us all.
Well, I'm going to put yourcontact details in the show
notes so that people can findyour website, find your books,
both your fiction books andyour non-fiction books and be
able to learn more about you.
And all of that willbe in the show notes.
Like I said, now, right now,if someone is listening to
this show and they're saying,Well, Robin, yeah, God was
(16:45):
there in the midst of a braintumor, that's a big deal.
My challenge is justsomething small, you know?
We always want to compare ourhardships with someone else's.
What would you sayto someone like that?
Yeah, I'd say pain is pain.
You know, it can'tcompare pain because
just because you feel it.
(17:06):
I feel it too, and we feelpain differently, and it's
still pain, but there'snothing that you've ever done.
That you've said thatyou've thought that will
hold you away from Jesus.
God loves you and Hisgrace was for you, for
me, through this tragedy.
Mm-hmm.
, he doesn't wantanybody to perish.
(17:28):
He doesn't want, He wantsto help and, Be a part of
everyone's lives and I thinkthis was a wonderful time for
me to see that there's nobodyalive that can talk me out
of the strength of Jesus, thepower in his hands, and I will
always be thankful for that.
(17:51):
Now, what about the person who'slistening today who has gone
through a really challengingtime and has not had the
experience that you have had,where you can look back and
say, I see what you did there.
God, you know, I see thejourney that we've been on.
You know, sometimes there'stragedies that happen in life.
(18:11):
We look back and we stillare left saying, Why?
Why?
So what would you sayin that situation?
I would say don't put aperiod where it's meant
to have a comma there.
Life is not overuntil it's over.
We are where there's breath,there's hope, and we should
(18:35):
remember that our days numbered.
If there is a promise that'scoming, it's still coming.
God's word is still true.
, Maybe not.
Maybe you don't see ittoday, but it's still true.
And I love how you answered inwriterly terms, there don't put
(18:55):
a period where there should bea comma that's very appropriate.
And also I think sometimesthere's some side story
going on that we really don'tknow anything about that
can oftentimes happen andwe may not know, even during
this life, we may not know.
Right.
And coming down to trustingGod and surrendering.
(19:15):
Sort wondering.
That is not easy.
I'm not even going topretend that's easy.
.
Well, if it's not easy,blessing of those 10 days.
I didn't have a choice.
I didn't have the time to argue.
You know, I did my firstcouple of days of wrestling
with God, with my confusionand doubt, but I was looking
(19:38):
at a, I was flipping thosepages over on the calendar.
I didn't have time I needed toknow now, so it was a blessing.
Well, Robin, I cannot believeour time has just flown by.
Thank you so much for sharingyour story with me today.
And do you have any lastwords for the radical
abundance audience?
(19:58):
Just know that God loves you.
You know it's out there for you.
Embrace it.
You might understand it,and then you dig deeper
and you'll get more.
So always dig deepinto God's love.
Dig deeper.
Amen.
Robin, thank you so muchfor joining us on Radical
Abundance, and I wish youa radically abundant day.
(20:19):
Thank you.
What would you do if the doctorstold you you have a massive
brain tumor and 10 days toget your affairs in order?
How would you spend thattime listening to today's
guest as she tells usexactly what she did?
And while you're here, takea moment and subscribe.
Welcome to Radical Abundance.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Teresa Janssen.
Have you ever cried out to God?
Why?
Why is this happening to me?
Well, today's guest is RobinLuftig, and she knows all about
how God's best is available evenduring some of your worst times.
That's hard to imagine,but that's what we're
talking about today.
Robin, welcome toRadical Abundance.
(00:45):
It's great to haveyou on the show.
Thanks, Teresa.
This is my treat for sure.
I want to just jump right intothe heart of your story, and I
know that anyone who talks aboutand writes about something like
God's Best during Your worstmust have had a time when life
seemed pretty much at its worst.
(01:06):
Can you.
Take us back there.
What was it like thatlaunched you on this
journey of discovering allabout the goodness of God
in the midst of tragedy?
It was a wonderful day.
In April in 2007, whenout of nowhere I had a
seizure nowhere and left meparalyzed on my right side,
(01:27):
and I was unable to speak.
I had just started aspeaking ministry, so I
was a little confused.
I thought God wascalling me home.
They called the ambulance, cameand took me to the hospital
and we found tests, did test.
Then they found a tumor onmy brain about the size of
my doctor's fist, and theysaid, You have 10 days.
(01:48):
If you have any place youwanna go, anybody you wanna
see, or anything you wanna do.
, you have 10 days to do it.
I was just rocked.
My world was rocked.
And in those 10 days, I cantell you there now looking
back, that those 10 dayshave been the sweetest 10
days of my entire life.
I can't even imagine what it'slike to have someone say, You
(02:11):
have 10 Dave to resolve it.
10 days.
Anything you need to resolve,do anything you wanna do.
Right.
And my children don't livenear to me, so I had to
call them and tell them thisinformation over the phone,
which was heartbreaking tohear the silence on the other
(02:33):
end or to hear the tears.
I mean, they're grown.
They were grown child,they were grown adults, but
they're still my babies.
You know, You knowhow that goes.
And it was just heartbreaking.
And they.
, they were strugglingwith it as well.
Sure, yeah, of course.
And they're in the midst oftheir lives and it, so it
was out of the blue for you.
(02:55):
You didn't have ahistory of seizures.
No warning signs, just nothing.
Bam.
Here it is.
Although, andalthough I can tell you a
little preview on my wayto a speaking, engage.
I was, you know, of howyou do when you travel.
If you have a car trip,you have your CDs packed
on the side beside you.
You had your coffee, yoursnacks, everything's ready
(03:17):
to go for your road trip.
And I, that, that was me.
I was driving by myself.
I had about a five hourdrive and I started and
I said, Father, thankyou for this opportu.
For allowing me to do this,just this wonderful time with
these women at this retreat, andjust as clearly as I'm talking
to you, I felt in my spirit,how are you serving me, Robin,
(03:41):
If you're doing what you wannado anyway, Do you trust me?
This just, this wasin March, and I said,
I'd like to say that.
I said, Oh father, of course.
But I said, I don't know.
And so I drove for fivehours wrestling with God.
(04:02):
Why can't you justwatch my back?
I tell people how wonderfulyou are and you keep me safe,
and we'll call it a day.
Can we do that?
Now, here I am, a Christianspeaker, bartering with
God, and he kept saying overand over, Do you trust me?
Do you trust me?
And by the time I gotto my venue, Selling me.
(04:25):
Of course I did and Icompletely forgot about it.
That was in March.
In April, when I'm layingin this hospital bed, the
doctor shows me the picturesof this tumor and I start
to cry and we start to pray.
I asked him if he would prayfor me, and my husband was
there, and I thank God forhis mercy and his provision,
(04:49):
and my husband said, Father,give me back my wife.
That's all he had.
He prayed in his heart andI leaned back and I just
tried to take in the peaceof that moment and I heard
God speak to my heart again.
Do you trust me?
At that point, I knew that Iwas in my father's hand and
(05:10):
he was working a purpose inmy life that was specific for
me, and he was in control.
Made it a sweet 10 days, a hard10 days, but a sweet 10 days.
Well, that is a huge.
Message and a wake up call.
What ha how was it lookingback from that time when
(05:32):
the doctor says, Do you have10 days and you, Are you
thinking about those thingsthat happened beforehand
or did that come later asyou were reflecting later?
Well, I refl, I wroteduring those 10 days, cause
I knew, this was when Godsaid, Do you trust me?
I knew he had a plan andI needed to write it down.
(05:55):
I needed to write.
Everything.
So that's what I did.
I wrote down my morning prayeror a prayer of uncertainty
because I wasn't sure.
I knew I was praying to God.
I just wasn't surewhat his plans were.
So I was trying to gatherwisdom anywhere that I could.
(06:17):
And in those 10 days, Iwas blessed with confusion.
I had confusion laidout right in front of.
It was here.
This is what you're facing.
And God in his mercy was sokind and he allowed me just
to, you know, sometimes wetry to skirt around things.
(06:40):
No, I didn't have time.
I was on a time periodwhere I only had moments
to deal with this.
So I went straight ahead.
I call it the swan diveand the lab of Jesus.
I went right into it and I wentface first into confusion to try
to find out why I was confused.
(07:01):
Later on, I discovered thateverybody deals with tragedy.
Mine was a brain tumor, butpeople have either dealt with
it or dealing with it now,or will deal with it in the.
You know, I think we allneed to know that God
is there right with us.
(07:22):
In the midst of that tragedy,I walked through confusion
and then I went through doubtand I said, Father, I don't
know, and went after doubt.
It was focus.
I knew I had to focus.
God had a plan.
I knew the truth.
I wasn't feeling it somuch, but I knew if I
(07:42):
could focus, focus on that.
And after the focusing,I was able to trust.
And after that trust, it wasso amazing how this unfolded.
I was able to face heartache.
I looked at what he wasleading me through, walking
(08:06):
beside with me hand in hand.
And I was sad.
I had a.
Here, did he wantme to come home?
I was, my time on Earthgonna be over and then I had
to surrender all of that Evevery day I did another step.
(08:29):
And through surrenderingbuilt my faith.
And in that faithSpring gratitude.
And from that gratitudespring peace in.
I understood Grace.
what you've described to me.
I've heard people maybego on a journey similar to
(08:50):
that, but oftentimes we'retalking years of processing
things and self discovery andspiritual growth, and that
you had a very condensed time.
You were in the middle ofa vibrant ministry career.
Then all of a sudden, yourwhole world comes to a grinding
(09:10):
screeching halt, and you are.
24 7.
Face to face with, Yeah.
With your mortality or yourimmortality and eternity and
your relationship with God.
What was it do you think,in your background or
(09:30):
what was going on in yourlife at that time that
made a difference between.
Being bitter or angry orsearching and being so
open to God's moving inyour life, or did you have
some of that real anger?
Did you go throughbitterness and anger too?
I didn't have time.
It's crazy.
(09:51):
I didn't have time to be angry.
I had seen God move in my life.
So magnificently yearsearlier because I had made
some really bad choices inmy life and he just pulled
me from the gates of hell.
And I've always focused onthat when times are bad,
(10:13):
you know, they say to writethings down when you're in
a valley because our livesare valleys in hilltops.
That's what we are.
And if when we're in thevalley, we have to know that
there will be another hilltop.
So I tried to keepthat in my mind.
I just, I didn't havethe time to fret.
(10:34):
I knew God loved me, andI don't know why that
always stuck with me.
Even in the toughesttimes, I knew God loved me.
I wasn't sure that I loved him.
There were times that I wasn'tsure that I loved him, but
I always knew that he loved.
and I hung onto that and Ifocused on that and I said, then
(10:54):
that's what I said, A lap, aswan dive in the lap of Jesus.
I didn't have time.
I needed to know, this was wherethe rubber was meeting the road.
I didn't have the luxury tosay wonderful, kind, beautiful
words, melodic prayers.
I just had to say, Oh, father.
Oh father, oh father.
(11:16):
Come, you know, stay with me.
I'm, I don't know.
I don't know.
Did I do something wrong?
I know you're with me.
Did I mess up?
I, you know, talk to mebecause I don't have time.
I need to know thatwhat you say is real.
You know, if you reachout for God, he will
find you where you are.
(11:36):
And he pulled closer to me thana brother in my waking moments.
He would enter my thought.
Always give me scripturethat I had thought of in
years to bring me comfortand peace in direction.
I heard you say that duringyour conversations with God
and he drew very close toyou, that you also question,
(11:59):
did I mess up somewhere?
So did you had someself-reflection and things
like that going on, wondering,is this judgment I'm facing?
No, that, that was part ofthe early days, the confusion.
I thought I was on trackdoing what I needed to do.
I had made so manychanges in my life.
(12:20):
I had done what I needed to.
I what, Did I miss something?
Did I miss something?
Because I don't know, whenI think of sin sometimes
that I find in my past thatI hadn't thought about,
Oh, how did I miss that?
And so I repent of that sinthe moment I remember it.
(12:42):
I thought, well, maybethere's something in my past.
Because we always thinkthat, We always think
it's about us, right?
We always think, Okay, I couldhave done this differently.
I could have controlled this.
I messed up.
Well, it wasn't that.
But once I, once I got thatout of my head and I was
able to deal with that doubtand shoot into focus when I
(13:07):
shot into focus, then I couldwork better and I moved on.
Okay, so.
10 days, 10 days goesby, or however much time
goes by, what happens?
I mean, obviously youare a functioning person.
You know, here on theRadical Abundance Podcast,
Robin, you look great,.
(13:29):
Well, it wa I had a fiveYeah, I brought breakfast
up to BR to my husband,breakfast in bed because he
would do that for me always.
And I didn't know if Iwas ever gonna be able
to serve him again.
So I brought him breakfast inbed and we sat and we prayed
(13:49):
and we cried because we justdidn't know, but we were.
We knew he, we had beenwashed with God's grace,
just soaked in it.
And we knew God had a plan andwe were loving God more than
we had ever loved God before.
And we knew we weresteeped in that.
(14:10):
Nobody, we stillcried, you know?
But then I went into surgeryand came out and I hurt from
my toes to my tip of my head.
I was in so muchpain after I woke up.
They were concernedwith my speech.
They didn't know if I wasgoing to be able to talk.
(14:31):
That was the area that thebrain that it was affecting,
and they didn't know if mymotor, my fine motor ability
would be able to come back.
My memory is some of theareas that were touched,
and I am not as a hundredpercent I am in my nineties.
Maybe I'm like to think, butI'm where God wants me and
(14:54):
where God is using me the best.
And your speaking and yourwriting continues and probably
even has grown, maybe.
Is that true?
It has and taken a newdirection.
Can you believe that?
It's amazing.
I took seven years to write.
I can . Yeah.
I, yeah.
I took seven years to writethe book, God's Best During
(15:15):
Your Worst because I wantedto let people understand
that I have credibilityin dealing with grief.
It's not that I have a corneron it, it's just I know about
it and I used this book andI pull from scripture, I pull
from writers like Spurgeonor Andy Stanley or Jody
(15:38):
Ericsson, Todd, I, Michael J.
Fox.
I cite these people thathave worked in, lived through
tragedy because everyonewants to know how to do.
And typically youwanna know right then.
So it's an easy read.
It's a fun read.
It's a focus ontothe reader Read.
It's a good, it's a good book.
(16:01):
But I've also gone into fiction.
I just love, I love friendshipand I love grace and mercy
because God's grace and mercyare, are what we all strive for.
We might not know.
At the time, but we all strivefor God's grace and mercy
(16:21):
and it's waiting for us all.
Well, I'm going to put yourcontact details in the show
notes so that people can findyour website, find your books,
both your fiction books andyour non-fiction books and be
able to learn more about you.
And all of that willbe in the show notes.
Like I said, now, right now,if someone is listening to
this show and they're saying,Well, Robin, yeah, God was
(16:45):
there in the midst of a braintumor, that's a big deal.
My challenge is justsomething small, you know?
We always want to compare ourhardships with someone else's.
What would you sayto someone like that?
Yeah, I'd say pain is pain.
You know, it can'tcompare pain because
just because you feel it.
(17:06):
I feel it too, and we feelpain differently, and it's
still pain, but there'snothing that you've ever done.
That you've said thatyou've thought that will
hold you away from Jesus.
God loves you and Hisgrace was for you, for
me, through this tragedy.
Mm-hmm.
, he doesn't wantanybody to perish.
(17:28):
He doesn't want, He wantsto help and, Be a part of
everyone's lives and I thinkthis was a wonderful time for
me to see that there's nobodyalive that can talk me out
of the strength of Jesus, thepower in his hands, and I will
always be thankful for that.
(17:51):
Now, what about the person who'slistening today who has gone
through a really challengingtime and has not had the
experience that you have had,where you can look back and
say, I see what you did there.
God, you know, I see thejourney that we've been on.
You know, sometimes there'stragedies that happen in life.
(18:11):
We look back and we stillare left saying, Why?
Why?
So what would you sayin that situation?
I would say don't put aperiod where it's meant
to have a comma there.
Life is not overuntil it's over.
We are where there's breath,there's hope, and we should
(18:35):
remember that our days numbered.
If there is a promise that'scoming, it's still coming.
God's word is still true.
, Maybe not.
Maybe you don't see ittoday, but it's still true.
And I love how you answered inwriterly terms, there don't put
(18:55):
a period where there should bea comma that's very appropriate.
And also I think sometimesthere's some side story
going on that we really don'tknow anything about that
can oftentimes happen andwe may not know, even during
this life, we may not know.
Right.
And coming down to trustingGod and surrendering.
(19:15):
Sort wondering.
That is not easy.
I'm not even going topretend that's easy.
.
Well, if it's not easy,blessing of those 10 days.
I didn't have a choice.
I didn't have the time to argue.
You know, I did my firstcouple of days of wrestling
with God, with my confusionand doubt, but I was looking
(19:38):
at a, I was flipping thosepages over on the calendar.
I didn't have time I needed toknow now, so it was a blessing.
Well, Robin, I cannot believeour time has just flown by.
Thank you so much for sharingyour story with me today.
And do you have any lastwords for the radical
abundance audience?
(19:58):
Just know that God loves you.
You know it's out there for you.
Embrace it.
You might understand it,and then you dig deeper
and you'll get more.
So always dig deepinto God's love.
Dig deeper.
Amen.
Robin, thank you so muchfor joining us on Radical
Abundance, and I wish youa radically abundant day.
(20:19):
Thank you.
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