Even if you’re not religious, you most likely have heard the story of the mustard seed. It appears in Matthew 17:20, when Jesus is talking to his disciples: “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
The mustard seed has become a major part of my fight against cancer. I am a Christian and was raised to hand things over to God and not to doubt or worry – much easier said than done, even on a good day. But when you’re diagnosed with cancer, it’s hard not to worry – about everything. Every time I would start to fret about my treatment, my future, my finances (the list goes on), I would then start worrying about worrying! It was like a constant mental tug of war. I felt that if I truly believed that everything was going to be OK, I wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) be worrying. It was a vicious circle with which I became obsessed.
Then one day I was reading a daily devotional and the scripture for the day was about the mustard seed. I felt a calmness and assurance I hadn’t felt in a long time. Have you ever seen how small a mustard seed is? It’s tiny! I thought to myself, “I already have that much faith. If I believe in that, everything will be OK.” My outlook changed that day.
When I was a little girl, mustard seed necklaces were popular – glass spheres with a mustard seed suspended in the center. I didn’t have mine anymore, so I made one. I ordered a perfume vial, about the size of a dime, from eBay and put a mustard seed in it. I began wearing it the first day of my treatment and have continued to wear it ever since. Coincidentally, shortly before surgery, one of my childhood friends from my hometown gave me a mustard seed bracelet, not knowing how important the mustard seed had become to me. It is visual reminder that a little faith can go a long way.
Share the strength.
Sharing the Strength 
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