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Meet Rebekah Hughes. When her grandmother passed away after a long, hard cancer battle when Rebekah was just 14-years-old, Rebekah knew that God had planted a seed in her. After high school, she planned to become a nurse, but God had other plans. “All I wanted to do was help hurting people,” Rebekah explained, “but all the doors seemed to close for college.”
Her plans changed, but her mission did not. Rebekah ended up moving to Mexico—volunteering at an orphanage for disabled children and later homeschooling the children of a missionary family. Years later, after working as a caregiver for sometime, she gave nursing school another shot. But God closed that door, yet again.
Another Cancer Diagnosis
A month later, after returning from a hiking trip, Rebekah got out of the shower and looked in the mirror. What she saw that day—a bruise just above her right breast—quickly changed her life forever. An ultrasound, a mammogram, and a biopsy later, she became the one-in-one-hundred-thousand women under the age of 25 that would be diagnosed with breast cancer.
After a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, and years of follow-up treatment, Rebekah had beat the odds. Ready for a new chapter, Rebekah moved to California where she met the love of her life, Joel, just weeks after the move. A year later they were married.
But just before their first anniversary, the couple would get the most devastating news—Rebekah had masses in her lungs, liver, kidneys, hip, and brain. It was triple positive metastatic breast cancer, and she was given, at the very most, just six months to live. She would have another cancer battle to fight.
Yet more than 6 years later—by the grace of God—we had the absolute blessing to sit down with Rebekah and chat with her about her decade-long fight with cancer, her strong faith in God, her relationship with Cancer Kinship, and of course, her meditation practices with Abide. Check out her inspiring responses below.
Why do you meditate?
RH: I meditate because I believe that without it, I wouldn’t make it through a single day. I love Abide because of the variety of stories and devotions that are available. It is easy to use and I can access it anytime throughout my day. Having stage 4 breast cancer, I need encouragement, I need hope, I need truth, and I can find that in Abide.
What’s your favorite meditation on Abide?
RH: Gosh, that’s a tough question. Most recently I think my favorite story has been the devotion called “What’s your plan?” on Proverbs 16:9. I cling to God’s truth trusting that God is good and his plan for my life is better than my plan could have ever been. Having terminal cancer was not my life plan, but trusting in His plan for me, not my own, gives me eternal perspective and eternal hope. And I need to be reminded of that every day. Click play below to listen to Rebekah’s favorite meditation.
What is Rebekah’s Hope?
RH: Rebekah’s Hope is the company Joel and I started about two years into my stage 4 diagnosis. Rebekah’s Hope exists to help those fighting cancer, illness, and despair to find hope and healing through our authentic, hope-filled media. My husband is a pretty prolific writer; he’s published five books, and has several more done and ready to release. These are either cancer/caregiver related or hope related. Our ultimate goal is to bring the hope of the gospel to the hurting and the lost. Our biggest project is our documentary, A Brave Hope. It’s the story of my journey with cancer and faith. It took nearly three years to film and prepare for release. On top of that we offer some online courses and have a whole custom T-shirt line line for anyone fighting or impacted by cancer. Plus, we have some other big projects in the works!
What’s your role with Cancer Kinship?
RH: When we lived in Orange County, California, my husband reached out to them about a new book he was publishing for Caregivers. We immediately formed a friendship with Yoli Origel, Cancer Kinship Founder. Not only did our goal to help cancer patients align, but also we shared the same faith in Christ. Both our missions shared the same goal to minister to the hurting, help the lost find true hope, and bring God glory in all we do. Currently, we are working with Cancer Kinship to cross-promote each other’s outreach programs, including the launch of our documentary.
To learn more about Rebekah’s cancer battle or Rebekahs Hope, visit http://www.rebekahshope.org.
Rebekah, we’re truly honored to have you as a member of the Abide community. Your eternal hope as you fight your cancer battle is nothing short of inspiring. It’s a great reminder for us all to lean into God’s plan, no matter what.
For more meditation content, like Rebekah’s favorite, be sure to download the Abide app now using this link to receive 25% off our premium subscription. With your premium subscription, you get access to our full library of 1500+ full-length meditations and more than 350 sleep stories.
