My name is Charles Sturgell.  I am a cancer survivor and this is my story.  I participate in the Relay For Life in Rogersville, Tn. I have been a survivor since 1994.  I titled this blog "Bigger Than Me" for a reason.  It relates to my survivor testimony.  My story starts back in April of 1994.  I was 33 years old and getting ready for work one morning.  I was putting on shaving cream and I felt a small lump on the right side of my neck.  I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.  From April until June the lump more than quadrupled in size.  I was having headaches, dizzy spells and blackouts.  My Doctor kept telling me it was just an infection that wasn't responding to the antibiotics.  Finally, after I had reached my ropes end he said, "The only alternative is to send you to a surgeon and have it taken out."  By this point I knew what the diagnosis would be.  The surgery was supposed to be simple with a local anesthetic. But I ended up having general anesthetic, an invasive procedure that left me with a five inch incision and a pen rose drain.  They gave me an appointment for a week later to have the stitches and drain removed.  I don't have to tell any of you how horrifically long that week was.  I finally sat in the doctors office and he came in with the report.  All I heard was, "its cancer."  It was Non-Hodgekins Lymphoma.  I slumped for a split second. Then I sat up and said "Okay, how do I fight it?"  He said that would have to be determined by my oncologist.  After I was referred to a local oncologist I went through the evaluation process to determine what course of treatment I would receive. I had blood work, bone marrow biopsy, x-rays, scans the whole nine yards.  We settled on fifteen radiation treatments to start.  My doctor told me that the survival rate for this type of cancer is over 90% if you can go three years without a recurrence.  I only experienced a feeling of despair again when I sat in the treatment room the first day at his office.  I was surrounded by people taking chemo therapy.  I saw swollen faces and bald heads and thought, "that's going to be me soon."  As I was sitting there I saw a small laminated card lying on the end table beside me.  It read, "Cancer can be the answer to your prayers."  How could that be?  Then I realized that this card was helping to strengthen my faith.  I spoke silently to God and said, "Okay Lord. Turn this curse into a blessing. Let this cancer answer my prayers."   A little over a year from the first diagnosis I found another lump.  This time on my left shoulder.  I got another lump in my throat but it was just fear.  I had another surgical biopsy and I went through thirty radiation treatments this time and it really played some tricks on my lungs.  I was left with a dry cough.  After all of my treatments my doctor decided since the cancer was more aggressive than he had thought he was going to send me to a specialist in bone marrow transplants.  He sent me to Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville to see Dr. John Greer.  Even now I still hadn't forgotten that little card (Cancer can be the answer to your prayers).  I just didn't realize what prayer He would be answering!  You see my wife Jareta and I had traveled from our home in Benton, Kentucky to The Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee approximately 375 miles one way every year on vacation since we married. We always loved the mountains and we had often prayed, "Lord if it's your will, we would love to live in the mountains someday."   Well, after the cancer had come back the second time, life and time became so precious to me and I wanted to make the most of every moment I had left.  So we decided to move to the mountains.  My wife had her beauty shop in a 12 x 36 trailor so it could be moved.  We moved in January of 1996 and in February the cancer came back for the third time.  I found a lump in front of my right ear.  By the time they did the biopsy it was as big as a grape and very easy to see.  My new doctor in Kingsport decided to just do a needle biopsy this time. So they inserted a needle and drew out some fluid and looked at it under a microscope. "Yes, it's the lymphoma back."  I was getting used to hearing those words and hated them.  All the while I kept asking God when the prayers were going to be answered.  He reminded me that a big one had already been answered.  "I got you to the mountains you love so much didn't I?" He seemed to be saying.  Hey you're right!  My doctor decided that after three occurrences it was time to try chemo.  I took one treatment on a Tuesday afternoon.  I woke up on Wednesday morning and the lump was gone!  "Honey! The lump is gone!" I shouted.  I knew that something extraordinary had happened.  I knew that it was more than just the chemo therapy.  God was on the scene!  That night in bed asleep He confirmed it for me.  He said, "You're not a leaf, you're not a rock, and you're not a piece of wood that's been hewn! You live. You live because I have given you life. Live it abundantly!" That cancer has now been in remission since May of 1996!  That's how God works.  I moved to Tennessee to die and He taught me how to live.  Now all this time I had believed in God and went to church but I had never been saved. I had never accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  I got saved April 20th 1997.  I didn't know about Relay For Life at that point but I always wanted to share my experience with others and do what I could to help others.  I got the call to preach in August of 1999 and our life became one of service to others.  In 2005 I participated in my first Relay event.  You know cancer is an emotional disease as well as a physical one.  I couldn't hold back the tears as I made my way around the track at Rogersville's City Park on my first Survivor's Lap!  But they weren't tears of pity, they were tears of joy!  I am a survivor!  So many thoughts and emotions flooded my mind as I walked my lap.  Then it came time for us to sing.  We had been asked to sing at the Relay.  God had given me a song a few months earlier that summed up what I had gone through.  These are the lyrics: Sometimes this world overwhelms my soul, And I don't know which way to turn. Placing my trust in one who is bigger than me, Was a hard lesson to learn. My back was bent from carrying the load of the world on my shoulders it seemed. Then I met the one who created it all, He said, "Cast all your cares on me!"   Now I look to the one who is bigger than me. He threw out the stars, He poured out the sea. There's not a problem He can't solve, or an answer He cannot find. He formed every mountain I have to climb.   When I look at the world from His point of view, Things seem smaller somehow. When I'm faced with a trial I can't get through, I have an advocate now. Now there is someone to carry the load When the burdens get too hard to bear. I don't have to do it all on my own. Jesus my Savior is there!   Now I look to the one who is bigger than me. He threw out the stars. He poured out the sea. There's not a problem He can't solve or an answer He cannot find. He formed every mountain I have to climb.   The tears flowed again when we got up to sing.  They've almost flowed again tonight as I sit here writing my survivor's story.  Cancer can be scary but I thank God for letting me go through this.  He has taught me how to live through this trial.  And I am humbled that He gave me this song that seems to be helping so many people who hear it.  The message that we are not alone in this, there is someone that we can turn to, is a simple but profound one.  That is why I want to share it at as many Relay events as I can.  Contact us at: soundsosalvation@bellsouth.net if you'd like for us to come to your event.  If you're going through a battle now and need to be remined that you're not alone, Just remember to look to the one who is bigger than you!  Accept Jesus as your Savior.  He will get you through whatever comes your way.  May God Bless You and keep you.                                Charles Sturgell