There Is No Easy Way To Say This

I need your prayers right now

I have no essay for you today. In a rare moment, I find myself at a loss for words.

On Monday I was diagnosed with breast cancer. You can read the story here.

My family and I would love your prayers. I’m pleading for them, in fact.

The past week has been one of the hardest of my life. The news has been devastating for me, my husband and kids, my family and friends, and so many people who love us.

If you would like to support us, a dear friend has started a GoFundMe. I will have to step back from nearly all my work as a writer and speaker over the next year while I seek treatment (chemo, surgery, and radiation). This effort will help us to cover medical bills, living expenses, and the loss of most of my income.

I plan to keep writing here at The Holy Labor as I have the energy and time to do so. To update friends and family (and lovely folks I have yet to meet), I have started another Substack: Not A Caring Bridge, But A Compassion Brigade.

It will be decidedly snarkier than what I write here, since coping with humor is infinitely helpful for me. I also don’t want The Holy Labor to turn into A Cancer Story. I want to keep musing about life and faith and prayer here, in all the ways I have loved doing with you in the past. If you would like to support me as a paid subscriber here or on the new Substack, this is a very helpful way to provide a small but steady income for me over the next year.

In a serendipitous turn of events, I had already written most of the “After Easter” series for paid subscribers before I got the horrible news on Monday. So even though it feels strange, I’m going to keep sharing those reflections on Scripture for the next 6 weeks on Mondays. This is still a season of Resurrection. I need to remember that more than ever.

Above all, your prayers mean the most to me. I know they are a powerful force, and I know so many of you are people of deep faith. You can help me bear this heavy burden and all the suffering, mysteries, questions, and paradoxes it will hold as it unfolds.

I cannot tell you all the ways God has already been at work in recent days. To call it a hard Holy Week would be a profound understatement, but I have been immersed in God’s love and providence in ways I never knew before. The Divine is thisclose to us, always, but often it takes the worst to help us see the best.

Thank you for being here, reading along, sharing and supporting my work. Your encouragement and prayers have kept me going countless times in the past. Now you will be part of the fierce faithful friends to help me fight for what matters most.

In Easter hope and peace—

Laura

Budding lilac branches in our backyard, two days after my diagnosis.