As I was thinking about this episode, I couldn’t help but remember the day of my breast cancer diagnosis, September 6, 2019. My thoughts take me back to the moment the doctor said I had cancer and the questions that relentlessly swirled in my head. I didn’t want to speak to anyone but my husband. Not my mom, my kids or even my best friends. I couldn’t begin to take it all in. The worst part was not knowing. Not knowing if I’d have to have chemo or radiation. If I’d lose my hair or pass on the gene to my daughter or sister. If I’d ever be the same person again after suddenly becoming a member of a club I never wanted to belong to.
The thing that helped me more than anything—that I didn’t even know I needed—was when someone who’d experienced breast cancer before me made sure to let me know I was going to be ok. Women who were diagnosed five, ten, even 30 years before and they were ok. They are ok. That God had a plan and a future for me beyond all that I could ask or imagine.
The years following my diagnosis weren’t easy either. In fact, I’ve experienced some of the deepest pain in my life during that time. I had two surgeries, 20 rounds of radiation, went through a pandemic (as we all did!), lost my mother-in-law and then my dad to covid. And last year my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thankfully he’s doing well today and is cancer free.
But I’ve also experienced some of the greatest joys. Our daughter married in 2022, and they just had their second baby. Our son and his wife have two boys, so we’ve welcomed 4 grandbabies into our family since my diagnosis. Both of our children and their families have built and live on the farm. God has blessed us repeatedly, beyond all that I could have asked or imagined over five years ago.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:4 that “He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
Jessica Ronne has endured more heartache than most can even fathom. She found out when she was pregnant with her second son that he’d had a stroke in utero and would be profoundly disabled if she carried him to term. She and her husband made the decision to carry him to full term and let God handle the details. Lucas does have those disabilities, but Jess and her husband never wished they’d made a different choice. Then, several years and two more children later, Jess’s husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor and passed away at the age of 33, leaving her to take care of their four small children.
But God didn’t leave her in her grief. She met a wonderful man, a widower with three children and they married, blended their families and even added one more to the mix. Even though Jess has a hard story, she’s used her experience to create The Lucas Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to serving parent caregivers with respite, recognition and resources. She is also the associate producer of the documentary Unseen and the author of four books, including her most recent, Caregiving with Grit and Grace.
Jessica’s pain led her to create resources to help others, because she understands what it means to be in an unfamiliar world of grief and caregiving, not knowing how to navigate it all. Her relationship with Jesus is even stronger today than when she was a young mom because she learned to lean on Him, and even question Him, through it all. Even though her story is hard, she fought her way through it and made it to the other side to let you know whatever you’re going through, God’s got you.
Resources from Jessica
The Lucas Project was born out of a desire to bridge this gap by offering awareness to the general public in regard to the difficulties and challenges that caregivers face and respite to the caregivers
Trailer for the documentary Unseen
Jess’s books: Caregiving with Grit and Grace: 100 Days of Hope and Encouragement – Wisdom and Refreshment for Every Season of Life, Sunlight Burning at Midnight , Lovin’ with Grit & Grace: Straight-Talk about Romance, Sex, Fun, and the Tough Stuff Too, Blended with Grit and Grace: Just Keep Livin’ When Life is Unexpected
Link to my baked spaghetti recipe
Listen to Beauty From Ashes: How Grief, Loss and Caregiving Revealed God’s Faithfulness with Jessica Ronne
Watch on YouTube Beauty From Ashes: How Grief, Loss and Caregiving Revealed God’s Faithfulness with Jessica Ronne