About Me
I assume most of you who are reading this already know me, but in case you do not here is a little bit about me. My name is Erin Fray. I am 30 years old and live with my family in a suburb of Savannah, Georgia called Pooler. I have three young children: Lydia (3 and ½), Hudson (2), and Samuel (6 days). My husband is Matt, a pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Pooler and part-time teacher at Savannah Christian Preparatory School.
About My Cancer
Three days ago (exactly one month after my 30th birthday) I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’ll give some more background to this in a future post, but for now here are the basics: (1) I have Stage One invasive ductal breast cancer, (2) I will have surgery to remove the cancer in about 2-3 weeks, and (3) I will have several months of chemotherapy after that.
About My Blog
Seven years ago my dad (who also happened to be a pastor and part-time teacher) died of liver cancer. Throughout his battle with cancer he kept a diary to record the details of his illness as well as his personal reflections on all that was happening. As a pastor, he was able to understand and speak about his cancer with biblical wisdom and model his deep faith in God during the hardest moments of his life. After he died his diary was published and has been a source of encouragement to many people. While I don’t have nearly the wisdom, influence, or maturity of faith as my father did, I thought it would be helpful to keep a diary while I fight my cancer. And while people could not read my dad’s diary until after it was published, my blog can be something of a “live” diary that friends and family can follow to keep track of what is happening with me day-by-day. And maybe my three children – who are too young understand what is happening to me now – will someday be able to read this diary and have a little bit better understanding of this period of our family’s life. While I will try to write entries as often as possible, my husband will probably write the majority of the entries since there will be many days when I am either too sick, tired, or busy to write. As you may have noticed, my blog is entitled "Joy in the Journey," which is the title of a beautiful song by Michael Card (you can see a video of him singing it below). I thought "Joy in the Journey" was a fitting title because even though my journey through cancer will be incredibly hard at times, I am trusting God to sustain me with the joy only He can give - joy that is not dependent on my circumstances, but that is dependent on His promises to me as His child. In the end, my hope and prayer is that this blog would simply bring glory to God as I – and we – see how He provides for me, sustains me, and strengthens me in every way.
