Cedarville Stories Podcast: Open Hands When You're Losing Your Grip
Ali (Stein) Christian graduated from Cedarville in 2014 with a plan for her life. But a stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis has quickly taught her the value of having open hands with her hopes and dreams.
Ali was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2019. In April that year, she began chemo, and then in August 2020, she received a stem cell transplant.
During the procedure this August, Ali had to be away from her husband and best friend, Ben, also a 2014 alumnus, and her two precious little girls, Willow, 3, and Ali, 5. But the Lord ministered to her during three difficult months of recovery.
Her mom and she lived in an apartment in Atlanta, not far from the hospital, and she redeemed the time by writing notes to Ben and the girls, and to other friends and family. The Lord gave her peace throughout the ordeal, assuring her that even though she could not be with her family, He was with them.
Ali is back home now, and she has seen Jesus continue to redeem her experience through a new venture: “The Whether Channel” podcast. On the podcast, Ali has conversations with others who have undergone a wide array of suffering, from serious illness to eating disorders, sexual abuse, and other types of loss.
“Even if He doesn’t deliver me from cancer, or even if He doesn’t make COVID go away as quickly as I would like, I don’t need to choose an idol of comfort or fear or self-medicating or eating or anything that we can be tempted to cling onto when we are living in uncertain times,” she said in the Cedarville Stories podcast. “We don’t need to choose those things because He’s always there, and He’s always offering joy and peace, and He’s truly where the joy and peace are.”
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More to the Story
“The Whether Channel” podcast is available from the Apple podcast store or Spotify.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.