More From Eugenia French Shaver

“You need to do what? Cut my nose open to take out skin cancer? It’s right in the middle of my face, for heaven’s sake!” The dermatologist looked uncertain as he took a biopsy and closed the wound with a couple of stitches. I had hoped he would look at the small red patch and say, “That is nothing to worry about.” A week later, I had the confirmation that the lab results came back positive for skin cancer—basal cell carcinoma.

As panic overtook me and adrenaline began coursing through my body, my mind immediately jumped to the unfortunate outcome of being left with a permanent, grisly scar in the middle of my face. How could this be happening? It reminded me of my mom who also had cancer on her nose in about the same place. Our French ancestry gave my mom, my sister, and I porcelain white skin. And like most people, growing up I got my share of sunburns—usually on my nose—even with sunscreen.

As I began grappling with the reality of what this would mean, I began praying and turning to God’s word for help. With God’s help, I came across 1 Samuel 16:7 where God told Samuel concerning anointing David as the king of Israel, “Do not consider his appearance . . . . The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (NIV). That encouraged me away from the vanity that was overtaking me.

While I waited the four weeks until my surgery, I researched the procedure and asked questions of my doctor. Through my research, I realized that even 50 years ago, the procedure would have caused more permanent disfigurement. One hundred years ago, a person would probably die of such a cancer. It sure makes me thankful to live in the 21st century! With God’s help and that of my family, I made it through the surgery, and the dermatologist said he was able to remove all the cancer. What a relief!

The day after surgery, my pain level shot up and so did my blood pressure. But my general practitioner adjusted my medications to help me avoid a stroke. My family was so supportive, both before and after the operation. The first Sunday after my surgery, my grandson saw me for the first time. I explained to him that I looked a little different with a bandage and black stitches. God must have put words in his mouth when he said, “Mammaw, I love you just the way you are.” That was music to my ears!

My scar looks like a backward “L” because the skin had to be stretched to cover the wound. Much of the time I don’t cover the scar with makeup since a friend told me it just looks like a bit of sunburn unless someone looks very closely. My grandchildren don’t care about the scar, and that means the most to me.

The world values outward beauty on the surface, but inward beauty is what really matters. As we read in Galatians 5:22-23, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

God is still working miracles and teaching us! I’m trying to learn!