A year ago a friend of ours mentioned preparing and organizing meals for her best friend. Her friend had been diagnosed with lymphoma. She had 3 very young children and a husband. She mentioned her name, Tonia Icenhour. She was a teacher who her students affectionately called Mrs. Ice. As time passed, I heard that name several more times. There were churches praying for her and a 5k race was organized in her honor. I did not know this person but kept her in my thoughts and prayers.
When we held kickoff for Relay in January our speaker was a vivacious young woman with a bright smile, a lime green t-shirt, and a cute bow in her short, curly hair. She spoke of her battle with the illness that threatened her life. She told about her treatments and how now she is cancer free!!! That sweet little soul was Tonia Icenhour.
Tonia approached me about being a part of the book. She was just full of life and in her you could see that God was in complete control. After several emails and phone calls I could feel a connection with Tonia. We decided that sunrise would be when we did her photo session. Sunrise and sunset are her favorite times of the day.
At 6:00 am last Saturday I got up, showered, threw the backpack in the Buick and headed to Tonia's house. She and her husband, Dwayne, have a beautiful home up on a hill in the country. It was the perfect place to watch the sun come up. Tonia and I chatted and took pictures of one of God's greatest paintings. She told me how sunrises and sunsets look so different since cancer. She told me so many wonderful stories of her struggle while fighting this thing that had invaded her body and her family. They were stories of the kind acts of friends and neighbors. She showed me her beautiful home, her sweet sleeping little boy, her little girl Mollie's bedroom all pink and precious, the quilts that she has collected, family photos, where she sits to watch the birds eat, her sweet little Milas, but most of all she shared her Savior. Tonia's cancer had invaded her chest. She underwent chemo and radiation. No matter what cancer tried to take away from her, it could not take away her faith. Cancer wasn't the only thing that invaded her chest. God had invaded that space many years before. She says that cancer saved her. That's remarkable in my eyes that you can walk away from this thing with that attitude.
As our time came to a close I walked away from the 'Ice' house with a warmth that I cannot even describe. That warmth was knowing that I had not only found a wonderful friend, but that 'The Faces of the 'C' Word' truly is God's project. Those prayers were being answered. He is using me as his instrument and in the middle of it He is reshaping me. I guess I can say that the 'C' word is saving me, too.
Every morning this week I have thought about Tonia and wondered if she saw the sunrise and the sunsets. I will NEVER look a them the same. Those beautiful works of God's art are warmer because of Ice. Thank you, Tonia. I am blessed beyond measure that God put us on the same path. I love you.
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