Lauren Ivy

In early December 2016, Lauren was diagnosed with Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage 2. She will undergo chemotherapy treatment beginning December 30. This page will be managed and update by friends and family as we have updates. Thank you for praying and supporting Lauren and her family in this fight! 

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Lauren's words were so gracious in initially sharing her diagnosis, December 22, 2016: To say that the last few days have been tough would be an understatement. At the same time, they have been some of the most life giving days as well. In this short amount of time, I have learned that Jesus meets you exactly where you are. I was broken, scared, confused, upset, and afraid of handing this diagnosis over to the Lord. By nature, I tend to like to control (or at least think I have control) over every aspect of my life. Jesus has made it extremely clear that I am not in control and my life is not my own. This diagnosis was no surprise to Him. Once I totally gave this situation over to Him, a peace came over me that truly surpasses all understanding. Before, I was anxious and overwhelmed but when I truly trusted in Him and had a body of believers praying over me, I felt His presence and I heard His voice continuously saying, "Do you trust Me?" To be honest, I didn't want to at first. I could not believe that this was happening to my 30 year old body. He was patient with me and kept pursuing me and once I realized that nothing in this life is technically ours, including our bodies, I knew and trusted that I was going to be okay. The road ahead of me is going to be long and difficult, but He is helping fight this battle with me. My body is weak and failing, but He is strong and holding me up! I received a call today from my surgeon letting me know that the cancer has not spread to my bone marrow, therefore I have Stage 2 HL which is wonderful news! I had so many people praying over me and praying that it wasn't in my bone marrow (if it was, I would be considered stage 4). He answered those prayers and I know He will continue to be faithful throughout this journey. He is going to teach me so much and I am grateful to be able to tell of His goodness, especially in this Christmas season. I have been blessed with some amazing family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers and the body of Christ has truly rallied around me these last few weeks. I just want to say thank you to each of you for praying daily, and for praying for our family in the days to come. My prognosis and my treatment plan is all very positive, and I will continue to praise Jesus for this great news. I begin chemotherapy on December 30th so I would appreciate your prayers in the days ahead. He is so good to us!