I believe in one day at a time. In October of 2002, my husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma; a type of cancer. I remember sitting on my couch feeling empty and cold as the doctor gave us the news. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. Even God felt far away. Just when I felt like my world was coming to an end, God sent me an angel. She was a nurse who spoke so softly this statement: “One day at a time, just take it one day at a time.”
Night after night, I would lie in bed crying myself to sleep. I was screaming out to God to help me cope with the unknown, and begging him to not take my husband away from me; I had just met him. It felt like God was not listening. However, the words from the nurse came back to me, “One day at a time.”
I remember my husband lying in the recliner sleeping all the time, and my two-year old daughter constantly asking, “What is wrong with daddy?” Never knowing the words to say, I would simply reply, “Daddy is just tired.” “In my heart I knew there would be a day when he would not be sick anymore. When would that be, I did not know. “One day at a time”, I thought.
I recall the guilt I felt, lying in my own hospital bed due to pregnancy complications, begging the nurses to let me leave so I could be with my husband; I did not want to miss a second with him. “One day at a time”, I would tell myself.
I remember the helplessness, and desire to bear the pain that my husband was feeling during his first chemo treatment. “Oh, when will the pain end?” I asked God. Though I did not know, I repeated to myself, “One day at a time.”
Just when I thought that it could not get any worse, and the little grip of faith I had was slipping away, God answered my prayers again. One day, while waiting for my husbands final test result, I saw that nurse again. She gave us the good news; Rob was cancer free. That little phrase that she had spoken to me at the beginning of my husband’s battle came back to me once more. For the first time since my husband’s diagnosis, I smiled. We had done it. The battle was over, and God helped us through: one day at a time.
Now, whenever my husband and I are going through a trial, or decide to try something new that we may have struggles getting through, I look at him, grin, and say, “One day at a time.”