Well Done

On February 2, 2020, one of the most radiant women I have ever met, Brooke Turner, entered into heaven. As I thought of Brooke meeting her Savior and being reunited with her husband in her eternal home, the words that immediately came to my mind were from Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

In 2015, Brooke’s path crossed mine because of cancer. Her diagnosis came just 2 months after mine. As I was in the middle of chemo, I received a Facebook message from Brooke. She said that we had a few mutual friends and she had heard that I was recently diagnosed as well and would love to connect. I was so excited to read her message. Connecting with her made me feel a little less alone in what I was walking through. We exchanged specifics about our doctors and treatment plans, and Brooke also shared with me the blog that she had recently started writing to share her journey. 

Over the next year, we messaged one another from time to time. Brooke encouraged me through her blog and I would share insight that I gained from treatment since I was a little ahead of her. We talked often about meeting for lunch one day, but it was difficult to make our schedules work since both of us were pretty busy juggling life and treatment. A year later, in April 2016, I was invited by a friend to join a Bible study. The first night, I was surprised and overjoyed to see Brooke there and finally meet her in person. After our study was over that night, Brooke and I stood by her car talking for probably over an hour. I remember thinking that night how brightly the light of Jesus shined from her in person, just as it had in her writing.

Once the study was over, we continued to encourage one another through our blogs. We cheered one another on as we walked along these paths that were so similar. Then, less than a year later, I was devastated to learn that Brooke’s cancer had returned. In 2018, again I was brought to my knees when I learned that her husband had been in a tragic accident. I just could not fathom all of this – a stage IV cancer diagnosis and now losing a husband.

But it was then that I began to be impacted even deeper by Brooke’s faith.

As she walked through even greater depths of pain and grief, I was in awe of how she still allowed the Lord to use her to convey a message of hope. I watched and listened as Brooke continued to share her journey with all of us, never denying or discounting the pain, but always, always pointing to the true hope that we have in Christ. And now from heaven, Brooke is still pointing me there. I had the opportunity to hear Brooke speak this past October – an incredible gift of grace. The event was just 2 days before we were leaving for Kenya and I had considered skipping because I knew I would be busy packing. Thankfully, I decided I couldn’t miss it and the packing was just going to have to wait. Brooke spoke that night of choosing hope.

To choose hope, she said, we have to “intentionally trade our emotions for God’s truth.”

As I listened to Brooke speak that night, I had no idea that the chemo was no longer keeping the cancer at bay. I didn’t yet know what her latest scans had revealed. I think back now and imagine what kind of emotions she must have been battling. She knew that the cancer was growing and spreading, and still she stood in front of a room filled with women and shared a message of hope. How was she able to do that? Because she was doing exactly what she was telling us all that we must do, trading her emotions for God’s truth. Choosing a hope that depends not on circumstances, but one that rises above them instead.

I was encouraged by Brooke’s words that night, but I am finding that I am even more encouraged by them today. Brooke not being healed on this side of heaven has left me wrestling with a lot of emotions. Anger. Frustration. Sadness. And most unexpectedly, guilt. I have felt guilty for surviving cancer when Brooke did not. We were diagnosed only 2 months apart. Why do I get to live and she doesn’t? Why can’t she be here with her 3 precious children, especially when they have already lost their father? Why were our stories written so differently? My emotions began to overtake me, even causing me to begin to believe that God must have made a mistake in taking Brooke and not me. 

In my struggle, this message that God used Brooke to share in the fall has reminded me of what is true and the action that I have to take. I remember that I have to choose hope. I must make an intentional choice to believe God’s truth over my emotions. God does not make mistakes. He has a plan and a purpose and will turn all of this for our good, even when the enemy and my emotions tell me otherwise. As I have reread my notes from that night countless times in the past two weeks, they have continually pointed me to God’s word and fixed my eyes back on Jesus and who he says he is. This is why I am able to say that Brooke is still pointing me to Christ, even from heaven. 

Though Brooke’s story held such heartbreak, she was such a faithful steward of her story.

She didn’t waste opportunities to impact others by focusing only on the brokenness. Instead, she used what she had been given to show others what true hope in Christ looks like.  In her 40 years here on earth, Brooke’s greatest accomplishment was not any degree or title or accolade; it was that she continually pointed others to Jesus. Well done, good and faithful sister.

If you are not familiar with Brooke’s story, I encourage you to visit her blog. I have no doubt that the Lord will continue to use her faithfulness to impact the lives of so many others.