Through The Storm: A Husband’s Chronicle of His Wife’s Battle with Cancer and His Own Battle with Unbelief

By Michael Groves

There are those days when the sun is shining with no clouds in the sky, and it’s peaceful and tranquil, but then, just like that, the sky grows dark, and the storm begins to rage.
In the year 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rhonda was given a devastating diagnosis. This diagnosis would tremendously impact her health and her husband’s faith.
Michael’s transparency in this book is sure to be refreshing to all who read. The struggle is real and will test our faith in God, but with some grit and, most importantly, God’s sufficient grace, we can survive the storms of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798385019038

Michael Groves

Michael Groves was born in Springfield, Missouri, but spent most of his childhood in southern Mississippi. He later returned to Missouri, where he graduated and attended Bible College. Michael became a minister at sixteen and has served as a full-time Youth Evangelist, Youth Pastor, and Senior Pastor. He currently resides in Monroe, Georgia, with his wife and three sons. Although his faith has been shaken at times, Michael has stayed true to his mission of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bringing hope to a broken world.

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Copyright © 2024 Michael Groves.

All Rights Reserved. No Part Of This Book May Be Used Or Reproduced By Any Means, Graphic, Electronic, Or Mechanical, Including Photocopying, Recording, Taping Or By Any Information Storage Retrieval System Without The Written Permission Of The Author Except In The Case Of Brief Quotations Embodied In Critical Articles And Reviews.

This Book Is A Work Of Non-Fiction. Unless Otherwise Noted, The Author And The Publisher Make No Explicit Guarantees As To The Accuracy Of The Information Contained In This Book And In Some Cases, Names Of People And Places Have Been Altered To Protect Their Privacy.

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Scripture Quotations Are Taken From The Holy Bible, King James Version.

Isbn: 979-8-3850-1902-1 (Sc)

Isbn: 979-8-3850-1904-5 (Hc)

Isbn: 979-8-3850-1903-8 (E)

Library Of Congress Control Number: 2024903151

Westbow Press Rev. Date: 02/13/2024

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Sunshine

Chapter 2 Clouds

Chapter 3 Rain

Chapter 4 Thunder

Chapter 5 Lightning Part 1

Chapter 6 Lightning Part 2

Chapter 7 Winds Part 1

Chapter 8 Winds Part 2

Chapter 9 Winds Part 3

Chapter 10 Winds Part 4

Chapter 11 Waves Part 1

Chapter 12 Waves Part 2

Chapter 13 Waves Part 3

Chapter 14 Peace

Chapter 15 Aftermath

To my beautiful wife, Rhonda. Words can never explain all that you had to endure during your time of sickness. I knew you were a strong woman, but I didn’t realize how strong you were until you faced your darkest trial. Through it all, your unwavering faith has been an inspiration. You are more beautiful and radiant than ever, and I understand why when I read Job 23:10. He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. You went through the storm, but the storm didn’t break you. Instead, it made you stronger.

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Preface

I had often wondered, What if I had to face a storm? How would I come through, or would I make it through at all? I wasn’t prepared for what we were about to face with my wife’s sickness. I was often weak and even at a breaking point. Little did I realize that God was testing our faith. He allowed it because He knew many wonderful possibilities would come from it. We couldn’t see it at the time, but we could see it now.

Rev. Daniel Dean spoke once at our church, and he stated, It wouldn’t be faith if we knew all the details. I suppose it would be beneficial to know what the future holds at times, but we’re seldom afforded that opportunity, and it’s probably for the best because this is where we develop trust in God. To become a man or woman of faith, you can’t just add water and stir. It takes time and trials, but the end product is beautiful because God’s hands are all over it.

Thank you in advance for reading this book. And never forget that whatever you may be facing, Jesus is with you, and you will come through the storm.

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to our spiritual family at Jersey Holiness Church. We had just started attending when Rhonda became sick, and we didn’t know most of the people very well. This didn’t matter though. They loved us like we had been there all our lives. Their continual prayers and encouragement were such a blessing during our darkest trial. I don’t know how we could have made it without them.

A special thanks to Leigh Ann Cole, who was not only the photographer who captured the cover photo but also the inspiration behind the book title and theme. While taking our anniversary photos on Arabia Mountain in Lithonia, Georgia, Leigh Ann pointed out the rain clouds in the background of the pictures and stated, It kinda looks like y’all are walking out of a storm. Unknowingly, she had just made a perfect analogy and had set my thoughts in motion.

Introduction

I’m in love, I said to myself as I sat in a rugged wooden pew inside an open-air tabernacle. A cool spring breeze blew gently, and the smell of the blooming azaleas permeated the air. I loved this time of year, and I loved attending this event. It was March 1991 and camp meeting time in Semmes, Alabama.

I was fourteen years old and wanted nothing more in life at that moment than to have a girlfriend. I should have been more spiritual and listening to the preacher’s sermon, but I was intently focused on a pretty, brown-eyed brunette on the other side of the tabernacle. I jabbed my best friend, Kevin, sitting next to me, in the side and said, I’m going to ask her out after church is over, like we could go out at our age. All I knew was that she was my highest priority.

As soon as the service ended, I began investigating who she was and where she was from. I quickly found out that her name was Rhonda, that she was from Georgia, and that her dad was an evangelist. She had two sisters, one older and one younger. I also discovered that she was twelve, which was a little young for a mature fourteen-year-old like me, but I knew the age gap wouldn’t make that big of a difference in a few years.

That night I made a couple of attempts to speak to her, but she seemed to always be engaged in conversation with someone. And besides that, I was extremely nervous about initiating a conversation. I still had a few nights of camp meeting left to catch up with her, so I decided I would wait for a better opportunity.

The next night rolled around, and it was the same situation all over again. She was pretty popular and seemed to have the attention of several other boys as well. This didn’t help matters, with me being so shy.

Finally, after several attempts and never finding the opportunity, I wrote her a short letter and gave it to Kevin to deliver. Looking back now at how bad my handwriting was, I would be surprised if she could even understand what I wrote. She still hasn’t told me what she did with that letter. What I did know was that she never responded and, therefore, left me heartbroken. It would be a long time before I saw her again, but I could never forget her beautiful brown eyes and amazing smile.

Fast-forward to the year 1995. Many changes had taken place in my life in the last four years. The biggest was a move from Mississippi to Missouri. During that time, I had graduated from high school, started preaching, and attended one year of Bible college.

That summer I decided to return to Mississippi to work for a beekeeper I had worked for before we moved. I’d often told people that I used to be a thief but never had to do any jail time. It was true. I regularly robbed bees of their precious honey. Trust me, they punished me for my thievery. I’m still very thankful to Mr. Strickler, who allowed me to work for him off and on since I was fourteen. Working for him in the summer of 1995 also allowed me to attend the South Alabama Youth Camp at Allentown. I was excited because it had been several years since I could attend, so I would be reunited with several of my old friends.

I will never forget showing up at camp on Monday afternoon, June 5, 1995. One by one, I greeted my friends I hadn’t seen for some time, and then I happened to look across the fellowship hall, and there she was. That cute, brown-eyed brunette was now a sixteen-year-old beautiful young woman. For a good fifteen seconds, I struggled to catch my breath. Once I finally regained my composure, I pretended not to notice her and returned to joking with my friends. In the back of my mind though, I was thinking, Is this coincidence or what?

I had dated a couple of times in the last two years, but the relationships never seemed to work out, so I was determined to give dating a break and try to refocus. My friends would have none of it though. Immediately, they began trying to set me up with Rhonda. I pretended I didn’t care and insisted on being left alone. I thought I could move on and not give her much thought. Looking back, I kind of believe I was ignoring her for payback. I was still offended that she refused to give me the time of day four years earlier. My ignoring her wouldn’t last long, though, because word began to come to me from those closest to her that she was interested in me. Upon hearing this, I knew I had to make my move.

Every year at youth camp, on the last night, there would be an awards banquet, and each guy would have the opportunity to ask a girl to attend with him. It was a big deal. I had never had a date at the banquet in the previous years at camp, but I was determined that this time would be different. I left her hanging until the very last day, and finally, that morning I asked her if she would be my date at the banquet. This time, her answer was yes! I returned to my room and did not know whether to cry or jump up and down on my bed. I think I did a little bit of both.

That night as awards were being handed out, I was distracted and did not even notice that names were being called and trophies were being given. All I could think of was how blessed I was to have Rhonda as my date at the banquet. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her, and I noticed that she couldn’t keep her eyes off me. We both seemed to be locked in a trance.

However, we were quickly brought back to reality when the camp director announced Rhonda’s name loudly. She had been elected by all the other campers as youth camp queen. I wasn’t surprised. She was already queen to me, and I had most definitely cast my vote for her. She blushed as they handed her a trophy, and a crown was placed on her head. I was still cheering for her when I heard my name announced next. I had been elected king! I couldn’t believe it! We stood there together as king and queen. All our friends cheered as our picture was taken for the yearbook. What a moment!

Two weeks later, we went on our first official date. We couldn’t go alone until she turned eighteen, so we went on a double date. In October of that same year, I asked her to marry me. Thank God she said yes! She lived in Millry, Alabama, where her dad was the pastor of a church, and I had to return to Missouri to work, so we had to endure a long-distance relationship for over a year.

But the day finally came on August 31, 1996. It was the greatest day of my life, besides the day I gave my heart and life to Christ. We looked each other in the eye and said, I do. That day marked the beginning of a wonderful journey together. Seven years later, our first son, Jonathan, was born. Less than two years later, Ethan, our second son, was born. We thought that would be it, but ten years later, in 2015, our third son, Kaden, was born.

We’ve now been married for twenty-seven years, and that twelve-year-old girl who first made my heart flutter back in 1991 still makes my heart flutter today. The only difference is she was just an infatuation back then. Now she is my soulmate and the love of my life.

Our lives were relatively calm and uneventful from the year we married in 1996 until the year 2020. We had never faced any real storms together, just your average hardships along the way. We couldn’t see what was just around the corner, but after twenty-four years of marriage and growing closer every year, we knew nothing could separate our undying love. Unknown to us, however, our love and faith itself were about to be tested. Would it stand the test? This is the question I would like to answer in the following story.

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