Battling in the darkness to bring hope

“You’ve got cancer.”
Three words that will stop a runner in their tracks, an actor in the midst of a soliloquy and a writer in midsentence.  
A phrase that brings life to both an accelerated level and to a screeching halt. 
It’s a life changer and it means something different to each one who hears it.
Pastor Derrick Ross of Celebration Church in Lakeville once said, “hope comes when you bring into light that which binds you in the darkness.”
When things are brought into the light of the battle and you can see what you are fighting against, it empowers the warriors and weakens the foe. That is the sentiment of those who battle cancer.
Some are battling it in their own bodies, others may battle in remission or perhaps there are those who have been drug to the battle where a loved one has been brutally thrown down to the canvas of life and they are forced to watch as cancer stands over their loved one, proclaiming another death sentence. 
Last weekend, the Steele County Relay For Life warriors continued to turn the lights on. They focused a beam of hope to let the world know that they would never give up in the fight for life. They celebrated and shouted to the darkness of the battles that were won and the victories that have been secured. They remembered those who so valiantly lost their lives in the battle and embraced those left behind, weeping at grave sites. They fought back as the darkness and diagnoses closed in with a spirit of fear.
Breast cancer survivor, Kim Reuvers was selected as the honorary chair at the 24th annual Relay For Life in Steele County. She fought as cancer attacked her body and she continues to fight as it is in remission. She also carries on the fight for those who are still engaged in warfare. She knows something about the battle.
She knows something about the fight. She has lived to shine a powerful light into the darkness with her infectious smile, her overpowering laughter and her words of hope.
“Live your life,” she said. “Have fun.” In the midst of all the pain and the hours of battling, she arrived to the venue with pink knee high socks that everyone could see. And she made them smile. 
She also arrived with pink boxing gloves, laced up all the way to the heart – only visible to those who stand with her and fight this disease shoulder to shoulder. 
This enemy circled this date on the calendar. It was to be Reuvers’ funeral service, but instead, she stood very much alive on a stage of celebration and rallied the troops. She encouraged hearts and brought tears to a packed pavilion where you could have heard a pin drop as she spoke.

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