Last breast cancer blog, I promise… I’ve devoted a month to it, but the reality is that it’s not just a month, and certainly not just me. I hope that  you and yours will get screened, and screen yo’self.  This pink B!+*h can be tamed if detected early.  So do it.

Now… let me climb down from my pink soapbox…

My ten-year-old son plays hockey.  Being a “hockey mom” is one of my greatest joys, even though I am still learning the sport (a big shout out to my fellow hockey moms for showing me the ropes and teaching me the game).  For Pinktober the team wrapped their uniforms and sticks in pink.  We were all especially mindful as one of our hockey moms was in the midst of her own pink fight.  I am always so impressed when kids take up and take on the pink (especially a team of boys😊)…

There are many parts to a hockey uniform.  All of them matter and all of them become part of the greater good to keep the players safe.  The helmet, in particular, is at the top of the hierarchy.  It is their protection, guarding the head and shielding the face (gotta watch those teeth in hockey, ya know).

It is especially fitting, then, that I would spot the cross atop my little players helmet.

Protection.

When a cancer diagnosis hits, you often wonder “hmmm… what happened to my great protector?”…  (or, in my case:  “WTF?!”)…“Did I leave it at home?”… “Is it in my bag?”… then you realize “I cannot play without it.” … S#!T.

Then, as the journey runs its course, you may realize that your protection is not in the form of a helmet.  Perhaps it is in the form of family, and prayer, and treatment… and, of course, the big man upstairs.

If you are of the Christian faith, you know that He is the equipment manager… He is the one who polishes up that helmet, and tapes in pink the sign of the cross atop it.  My guess is, as my own son did, He even writes your name on it.

However, just as in hockey, we can get banged around so much that we forget our helmet is even there.  Or, we can realize that just because we feel bruised and battered does not mean that it is not atop our bald heads.  Perhaps it is just the perfect fit… so perfect, in fact, that we don’t even know it’s there.

I am always especially contemplative in the month of October (can you tell??) … pink is everywhere.  I can spot the cross every single time I see the EVER-present ribbon.

I remember the ones before me, who blazed a pink trail down a pink path… I gain strength from them, and I pass it along to the ones behind me.  We are a team.  We are warriors.  We wear matching helmets.  And we win… more like roller-derby style with linked arms, pads, and helmets…but we get it done.

As I wrap up this Pinktober, I want to thank you for reading my journey.   I hope that you check your boobs;  I hope that you schedule a mammogram (or whatever diagnostic tool recommended to you);  I hope you look at your life, put on your helmet and find gratitude in protection.

 

“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”

2 Thessalonians 3:3

What a difference fourteen years makes.

PS:  I do NOT enjoy posting photos of myself… I am not of the selfie generation, after all… But these are the pictures of the transformation of a warrior.  To all of my fellow warriors, in the beginning or the middle or the finish line:  you are bada**, and I’m blessed to be your teammate.

#holykitt#spotthecross#protection#wtfmeanswhythyfather#hockey#helmet#bloggingforchrist#christianblogger#pinktober#checkyoself#mammogram#cancersucks#pinkwarriors