Pacts With God: My Journey, His Answers

By Cindy Beach with Mary Johansen Madden

A life-altering diagnosis leads a young woman down a path to fight for her life, a path that would lead her to discover her true faith. A rare cancer and the uncertainty of survival would come to test any uncertainty she might have had about her belief in God. But with each new battle that challenged both her physical and emotional strength, she would find her faith growing stronger, faith that strengthened her will to overcome each adversity. Discover what she found in reflection on her life. Discover what she found in answered prayers. Pacts with God is a story of what built Cindy Beach as a woman of faith, now a witness to God's presence and a witness to his Word. It is a story of survival and the extraordinary journey through hardship to a belief in God that will never be shaken. It is a testament from a believer who hopes to bring a message to anyone in need of finding strength and hope, in need of finding their answers. Her story reflects all is possible in God's hands, and her message is that he is still working his miracles. She didn't know it then, but she knows it now. She was never alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639619603

Book preview

cover.jpg

Pacts With God

My Journey, His Answers

Cindy Beach with Mary Johansen Madden

ISBN 978-1-63961-959-7 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68517-448-4 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-63961-960-3 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Cindy Beach, Mary Johansen Madden

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A Message from the Authors

Message from a Friend

Preface

Who Was I?

The L-Word

Brian Austin

Charles Brett

The C-Word

Malignant Teratoma

Moving On

It Was Just a Cough

It's Back?

Maintenance and More Than We Planned For

It Can't Be!

Pacts with God

The Calm before the Next Storm

Another Pact with God

Coma

Round Two

There's No Place Like Home

Home Alone

Getting Back to Life and Giving Back

More Answers

The Aftermath

Resolution

About the Authors

To my son Charles Brett, who was and is my reason to live, and to my family, who never gave up or quit praying. To my mother, Bettye Sikes, who was always by my side and still is at ninety-three years of age. To my father, the late Charles Sikes, who was so determined to diligently investigate every promising option available and make sure I was getting the best possible care. To my grandparents, MaMa and PaPa (pronounced as Mah-Mah and Pah-Pah), who were there at my home to care for Brett when I could not. To my brother, Herschel Sikes, whose blood type was my match and who truly saved me on several occasions. To my sisters Deborah Nolen and Harriet Sikes, whose prayers, care, and love are never ending. And to God, I thank Him for giving me each day I've had. I pray that this book brings hope and strength to all who read it.

A Message from the Authors

I remember the day I met Mary as if it were yesterday. In the late 1990s, I was working for a home builder south of Houston in Sugar Land, Texas, doing on-site sales. A couple came into my model home who had been house hunting in a northern suburb, Mary and her husband Tim. Mary remembers the day as well. The prior afternoon had been a long day of searching without much luck, she said. Dusk had begun to fall, and they had decided to head back to their apartment in the city. But making their way out of the neighborhood down a side street shortcut, they both said they suddenly and simultaneously hit the brakes as they gazed at a model home with all the lights still on. It was it, they thought. It was perfect—everything they had been looking for—a two-story house with a grand entrance and a grand piano conspicuously placed in the great room window that had really caught their eye as if to say, "Stop. Take a look!"

Being somewhat late in the day, no one was there. So back the next morning they quickly went only to find out they were not building that home design there anymore. "But they are building it down south of Houston, the agent had told them. And although they had hoped to settle down up north closer to family and friends, it didn't take them long to decide that they would turn both the car and their minds around and consider living elsewhere. Off they went for the hour-and-a-half drive down to the southern burbs—to meet me, as it turns out. We struck up conversation easily, and they sat down to learn more about the house. I remember asking them what they did, and proudly, they told me they were both cancer researchers at MD Anderson—another pivotal moment, as it turns out. I remember I put my papers down and looked up at them and said, They saved my life."

The bond of friendship began. I enjoyed them and our conversations and had such an inner respect for what they did. They did end up selecting their lot and built their dream home with me, and after many years, they decided they wanted to look around for a larger space and called me to help them sell their home; I was then back in the residential resale business. We spent many weekends searching all over Houston and surrounding areas until we found just what they wanted again, this time up north in Spring, Texas. Being farther away from each other, it was harder to keep in touch; but we still did, and we tried to make it a point to always have lunch or dinner around the holidays.

Although over those years we had talked of my cancer, it wasn't until many decades into our friendship that I really started mentioning I had always wanted to share my story, to write a book. I had talked with my family about it and had tried to start it several times but hadn't gotten too far. But on the eve of my seventieth birthday, it had become more of a critical mission for me to find someone who could help. Mary and I sat one December afternoon at a restaurant that year to share some Christmas cheer, and I spoke of it again. I think she could tell how much it meant to me. It was then and there that we made our own pact together. Mary just looked at me with a smile and said, Cindy, I really think I could help you write it. Well! I can't remember everything we said at that moment as I was beyond excited and couldn't believe what I just heard, but there was, all of a sudden, a new enthusiasm in both of our eyes. We clinked our glasses and sealed the deal, and our lunch then became a celebration of embarking on this project together. Thank you, God, for bringing just the right person.

—Cindy Beach

* * * * *

It happened just as Cindy said, our own pact that day, and I couldn't begin to imagine then how much writing this book was going to touch me, what a blessing it would be to my life. I learned so much more about Cindy's life experience that I didn't know before, and her message has inspired me in so many wonderful ways. We'd sit in each other's dining rooms on the weekends. Cindy would talk, and I'd take notes and write; and each time, as the words began to come together in just the right way to convey what she wanted to say, we both knew we were not writing alone. He was in this.

I think a lot more now about that day I met Cindy. I think maybe it wasn't just by chance that that lit-up model home was there, beckoning my husband and I to stop, leading us in a completely different direction than we were headed. I'm so grateful for it. Thank you, Cindy, for your invaluable friendship and for entrusting me with putting your story on paper; and thank you, God, for the rest.

—Mary Johansen Madden

Cindy and her friend Melody, 2021.

Message from a Friend

This inspiring woman is a modern-day miracle that I am honored to have shared over forty years of friendship with. Through her fierce example, she has shown how precious each day is and to strive to live life to the fullest. God has been preparing her to share her inspirational story for such a time as this. The world needs encouragement and hope. Cindy is the ambassador for both. Her determination and fighting spirit have served her well in her life's journey. I love her dearly, and I am so proud of her courage to finally share her story.

—Melody Gerland, friend of Cindy Beach

Preface

It was February 1975, and I had just turned twenty-six years old. I had been married six years, and I felt so blessed to have my husband and our two-almost-three-year-old son Brett with another baby on the way, a time I remember being often in thought about how precious life was. God had been so good to me and our family. Everything was perfect, really, except for that nagging pain on my left