Go To Hell, Harold!

Hi friends, I know every blog in the history of blogs usually starts with some content and then asks you to share somewhere towards the end of it. But, I want to be straight forward here and ask you to share this one whether you read it or not. This post is here solely to provide hope financially and spiritually for a great person who is up against the battle of her life.

Meet Meghan… (She is in the middle holding a T-shit)

Before we get into Meghan’s diagnosis, let me paint a picture for you of who Meghan is because I believe Meghan’s story will not be defined by a diagnosis alone.

When my wife Lyndie (pictured on left) and I moved into our new apartment home in NoDa, Charlotte last October, we were one of the first in this new building. If you don’t know this about Lyndie and I, we work for a company called Apartment Life and one of our main objectives in this role is to basically just love our neighbors and create a sense of community in the building. We do this through several resident events each month, welcome visits to new people as they move in, and just generally doing life with the people God places in our lives. It is truly one of the biggest blessings in our life.

All this being said, the time had come to start throwing events. Our first event was joining a food tour that was happening in NoDa, so the lack of residents was not an issue because if no residents from our building came, the event would still happen as it was an open to the public style event.

The second event was not open to the public and basically, we were hoping that we would be able to raffle off prizes to residents every half hour and just get to know the few people in our apartments. The only issue was that we had only met one other couple from our building at the last event and they were expecting baby twins in a few months… Apparently a free beer isn’t an ideal incentive for a pregnant person to want to come to an event at a local bar.

I remember walking to the event and actually praying “God, please let just one person come”…

In walks Meghan… all by herself… with a smile on her face.

As we hung out with her throughout the evening, we learned a little about her story and what brought her to NoDa. We talked about our favorite coffee spots, her boyfriend Joe who would be living with her as well but could not make the event, and so much more. I remember sitting there thanking God for Meghan being so willing to stick around at an “event” with no other people. One positive about being the only person there was that she had no competition and won the raffle prizes. 😂

Meghan was such an amazing blessing to Lyndie and I as she supported us at basically every event we threw from that point on. She introduced new neighbors to us. She brought Joe with her. She stayed and helped us clean up after events even sometimes carrying things back to our apartment. She helped share our posts to promote upcoming events. She supported us in times when we were stressed by just randomly knocking on our door to ask for toilet paper and then allowing me to reenact my favorite scene from the Little Giants even though I’m not sure she had ever seen the movie before. She hosted her own gatherings in between our events on her OWN budget that truly formed a VERY CLOSE KNIT core of neighbors who became family.

Heres a few fun shots from events in the past year and a half.

Meghan is a great friend and shows up every time we need her. But now, it is our turn!

Last week, Megan told us that she was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer and after the results that came back today from her CT scan saying that it has spread to her lymph nodes, she no doubt has a huge battle ahead.

We were able to visit Meghan last week since she has moved out of our apartments and is now living with her boyfriend, Joe in Huntersville. While we were there, she shared with us that she named the mass in her colon, Harold. At first everyone was like… wait, what? But she went on to explain that it helps her talk about her diagnosis without saying negative words like cancer and disease. She simply refers to it as Harold and that he is a tenant that won’t be occupying space for long. (I told you, Meghan is freaking awesome.)

Here is the part that threw me and I’m not sure if Meghan knew this, but the name Harold means “ARMY”.

Meghan, I know I told you this before I left, but I hope that this blog entry can be proof of this… That even though you may feel at times you’re going to be under attack from a mighty army, YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING ALONE! And there is no army that has been formed in the history of humanity that can not be defeated. We will stand with you in this. We will fight for you in this. We will NOT let you go into battle by yourself. PERIOD.

There is a passage of scripture that reminds me of this from 2 Kings 6: (15-16)

15 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha.

16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

Basically, the man wakes up one morning and finds himself surrounded by an enemy army ready to kill & destroy everything. His initial reaction is to panic and feel alone in the battle. But, what the enemy army fails to realize is that although they have him surrounded, they too are surrounded.

Meghan, it may seem that you are surrounded, but just know that you don’t have to fight Harold alone.

Friends, please help me help Meghan fight this battle by donating and maybe leaving a comment below this post or on the caring bridge link.

I can’t wait to throw a massive event in the near future celebrating Meghan being CANCER FREE!

Please share this post or even just the link to her Caring Bridge page. Everything Helps!!