Cancer survivor's book encourages others 'not to give up, but to live'

The first thing that strikes you about "Challenge and Joy" is the fearless honesty found on each page.

This forthright account of surviving breast cancer one day at a time is at once inspiring and daunting.

Inspiring because of the faith and confidence the writer has in God's ability to heal and to sustain. Daunting because evidence of so great a faith is not easily found.

The subtitle, "Surviving Breast Cancer" may be a bit of a misnomer as the writer has not survived breast cancer in the commonly accepted sense of being cancer-free for five or more years, but rather, has lived under the diagnosis of stage IV breast cancer for more than three years.

Sally Williams, the wife of the Rev. R. Samuel Williams, rector at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in McCook, received the initial diagnosis of breast cancer on moving day, Feb. 1, 1999.

Confident of God's call for them to serve at St. Alban's, she had her physician in Pennsylvania contact physicians in McCook to arrange for treatment to begin a week after their arrival.

The book reads like an intimate conversation over a cup of hot tea as Sally shares the daily intercession God has displayed in sustaining her through this catastrophic illness. In it she shares the impact of the illness on her family and friends and shares their honest accounting of life lived in the valley of the shadow of breast cancer.

"During the course of this journey," Sally shared, "I have found prayers, Scripture and words of encouragement to be life and health to me."

She refers specifically to Psalm 118:17 as her "battle cry."

"I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done."

That has become the purpose of the book, said Sally. "I have a story to tell and I am overwhelmed with joy that God has allowed me to write this book.

"I hope it will be an encouragement, a reminder to all, in spite of their circumstances to not give up, but to live."

Sally will sign her book this Thursday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and from 5-7 p.m. and on Saturday, June 28, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at New Life Christian Bookstore, 212 Norris Ave.