A Legacy of Faithfulness

Please pray for the Greene family! Nichole went home to be with the Lord Saturday morning. She battled cancer and was suffering greatly near the end. It is a joy for her to be free from the pain she was enduring, but very sad for her husband and four sweet kids. Ansel, Noah, Josie and Levi will miss their mommy and Norm is grieving the loss of his wife, though all know that she is praising God and free from all earthly troubles and pain. Please pray for them!

I wanted to post just an excerpt from Nichole's version of her story that she wrote in early May. I pray that you are encouraged and blessed by her courage and great faith! You can read the whole story on her blog (in my blog roll, posted on her blog May 11)

And thank You Lord. After my surgery I had a fever for about eight weeks, hospitalized, and on Christmas Eve diagnosed with a c-diff infection which I may have picked up in the hospital. The effects of the radiation have also damaged my uterus. I have had two kidney infections, three nephrostomy tubes placed to drain my kidneys, three stints in my uterus and massive pain in the pelvic-thigh region that is relentless and constant, and which I am trying numerous drugs to relieve. Now for the good news: I am "NSD", or "No Sign of Disease"... for now. Bottom line: it hasn't been an easy year. Nine surgeries, five hospital stays, twelve blood transfusions, and a whole lot of suffering. (Can you even imagine what she went through?) Yet, praise be to God, through all of this my heart has soared! (Her heart was soaring!!?? Wow! What an example of great faith!!) God has given me joy, peace and strength because of Jesus Christ my friend, my Helper, my Great Physician and Lord. I can't tell you my story without telling you about my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is my story because God is the author of it. It is His story.
This battle with cancer for most of us is not only a battle against this nasty disease, but a battle for hope. My hope has waxed ane waned in this battle, yet my hope has been anchored on the bedrock of a cliff that is higher than me. Jesus Christ is my life, my love, my Savior.

Though this was written some time ago, Nichole remained this trusting and faithful to the Lord to the very end. She told me of SO many people she had shared the gospel with including all of her doctors, people she roomed with, and people she went through treatment with, etc. She wanted to be used of the Lord the whole way through and was so excited to see how He would open doors for her to proclaim His grace and goodness! Who wouldn't listen to a mother suffering from cancer? She lit up with each opportunity and most of her prayer requests (when asked) weren't for her next surgery or about the cancer, but for the Armenian girls she had witnessed to and invited to church who had been visiting their mom who happened to be in the bed next to Nichole, or for her Jewish doctor that Nichole desperately wanted to see come to the Lord. I am rejoicing that Nichole is in the presence of the Lord, but sad that so many will miss her so much.

If I could ask her what to pray for now, I know that she would ask us to pray for her family and friends that don't know the Lord. She would want all of us to be praying that her memorial service would bring glory to Him and that especially those that she loves would repent and come to know the Savior!