When you solely look at cancer as the thorn - it freak'n sucks!  Last year it killed more than 609,000 people in the United States. It destroys organs and body functions. More so, cancer disrupts many families' emotional, social, financial, and vocational stabilities in the life that they have once known.

There's nothing good in the thorn of cancer. But I've come to learn and embrace cancer which He has given me by through His sufficient grace, which has become the beautiful thorn of cancer.

In fact, I desire more of His merciful lessons through cancer. These lessons are the thorns that we must choose, or not. As for me...I choose! That's the beautiful thorn of cancer. It is not cancer being the thorn; no, it's the meaning and lessons one learns through cancer, or from other life's hardships. 

I just hope and pray for His continuous use of cancer as the appropriate anvil for my life. It is my desire to learn these lessons before I face Him, regardless of my appointed time to leave.

And through this thorn, I have gained understanding in the following wisdom:

"It is vanity to wish for long life and to care little about a well-spent life...it is vanity to love what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides."

I hope and pray that my life is characterized by a "well-spent life" and that my love is directed toward Him, and those He has placed in my life. 

This is the beautiful thorn of cancer that I've come to embrace and cherish.

However, if you're still having difficulty seeing the beautiful thorn that I see, then look towards two of my kindred heroes in life who have truly taken their beautiful thorn of cancer to bless others: