Strong and Courageous

"Drenda Howatt has transparently combined personal notes from emails and social media to create a new kind of journal; one that allows family and friends to comment on your inner-most 'posts.' What emerges is a fascinating journey of hope through one of today's biggest battles. The love and encouragement of family and friends reaches beyond the page. Howatt's faith grows before the reader's eyes and transforms us with her brutal honesty and resolve." - Kim Seeds de Blecourt, Author of A Willing HostageThis book is a journey. A journey that is relayed to you through my e-mails and Facebook postings. It is a normal life, interspersed with breast cancer. After I learned I had cancer, I used Facebook notes to update my family and friends on the status of my treatment. But before long, my notes changed from merely updates to more commentary on the things happening to me, and the people surrounding me. As hundreds of my friends can attest, it is an emotional 'read.' Believe me, it was an emotional 'write.'I used the words "strong and courageous" in my Facebook status update on November 11, 2008 as I awaited my diagnosis. Not that I was 'strong and courageous' by any measurement. It was that I would be. I would be 'strong and courageous'...willing those traits to be present amid the terror.Those words have taken on a life of their own. You'll read about where they came from (Joshua 1:9). Those dear family and friends that came alongside to support me used those same words to encourage me when I could not get up and go another moment. Team Strong and Courageous was 43 members strong at Walk for the Cure on September 20, 2009.Strong and Courageous. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9