"Leap of Faith and into His Will" by Mary LaFrance

School was well under way and I decided that I would form my own team for “The Race for the Cure” to be held in downtown Portland, OR. The Susan G. Komen was the organizing foundation and every year over 7,000 breast cancer survivors and their supporters either did the walk or run. I decided my team name would be “Purple Warriors of Persuasion” and I purchased matching t-shirts for my 11 teammates and had their names embroidered on them. We completed our 5K walk and then had lunch together at Applebee’s Restaurant afterward. We all had a great time and the day was full of Jesus and sunshine. Jesus was my strength all day, during the walk and after, and I was again seeing first hand, the power of His love for me.

After experiencing and witnessing “The Race for the Cure”, God laid it on my heart to do a benefit concert to help raise money for the local women in the Camas-Washougal area that is my hometown. I hadn’t ever been the organizer of any such event, but I thought I would give it a try. I asked the vice-principal if I could book our fabulous performing arts center at Washougal High School for the event. He said, “Absolutely, and I will be your sound man, and I’ll accompany some of the performers. He was a master guitar player and my heart got excited. I soon had the word out that I was looking for performers: Students, faculty and community members. They came out of the woodwork. I had several high school students, faculty and community members volunteer to perform. The date was set for October 22, 2005 and the event would be called, “Sing for the Cure.” One of the current high school teachers was a breast cancer survivor and she graciously agreed to be the MC. She was the perfect choice as she had great wit and humor and a voice that people would not be bored with.

In the meantime, round #3 of chemotherapy took place. I was introduced to my new nurse Janelle who I found to be equally as sweet as Dina. Janelle soon found my situation with not getting ill during treatment to be odd, yet refreshing. I continued to shower people with my boldness for Jesus and kept them all reminded at the clinic that God is not normal or a statistic.

September 29, 2005 and time is picking up quickly and I still have so much to do before the benefit! It was a gut wrenching day at work, as one of my girl’s that I helped with English and Math came to school in a deep depression. The night before she had cut herself with a razor blade and that was a cry for help. When she came to class I could tell she had not had much sleep. I asked the teacher if I could please take this girl for a walk. We went outside and I asked her, “What’s going on and how can I help?” She broke down in tears and clung to my shoulder as the river flooded my blouse with her emotions. I listened for a long time, giving her my undivided attention. So many things were going on in her young life. I asked her if she believed in God, and if she did or didn’t could I please pray for her. She said that she did believe there was a God and agreed to let me pray. When I finished, her countenance was different, and she even smiled with a sweet peace on her face. I was blessed and carried that moment in my heart for days.

October 5, 2005, I met my high school music teacher for dinner this evening. My childhood friend Kathy Brock, had prompted me to get back in touch with Nona, and she said, “Nona still thinks of us all as her students (kids) and would want to know that you’re going through cancer.” I told her, I doubt that Mrs. Olsen would even remember who I am since I was so shy and quiet and always sat on the upper tier row in the choir room in the corner chair. Kathy was persistent at me calling her. When I dialed Nona’s phone # my hands were sweating because I felt like I was still in her classroom and I had so much awe and respect for her. She quickly answered her phone with her melodic voice and said, “Hello, this is Nona how can I help you?’ I softly said, “Hi, Mrs. Olsen, this is Mary Schulze (my maiden name), and Kathy Brock gave me your number to call you. You probably don’t remember me, but I was in the class of ’76 and one of the students you took to Hawaii. She laughed with pure sweetness and she said, “Oh Mary! Of course I remember you. You had long, thick curly blonde hair, big brown eyes, dimples galore, and a tremendous alto voice with perfect pitch.” I always tried to get you to audition for lead parts in our musicals, or solos during concerts, or state competitions, but you were just always, always so quiet and shy. I was shocked at her description of me…wow! We agreed to meet for dinner, and it had been 25 years since I last saw her. She brought along the big photo that was taken of our group in Hawaii and as she still beamed with pride, she asked, “What’s been going on in your life?” Gulp! I told her about my husband, daughter, my job in the school district and other small topics trying to find the right entrance into telling her. God opened the door when she said how cute my short blonde hair was. It was then that I told her about my breast cancer and treatment plan. She grabbed me by the hands with tears in her eyes, and told me she would pray daily and for me to remember The Lord’s Prayer because “Thy will be done.” I didn’t know whether to smile or cry. What a moment in time that I’ll never forget. Nona is still living and at the age of 92 is independently still sharp and enjoying many things.

October 14, 2005, round #4 of chemotherapy, and this Energizer Bunny continues to move on, with Jesus as my strength, power, and unending source of everything I need. More things are coming together for the benefit. Chuck Phipps, our retired friend who was an executive chef, will make cookies and scones and donate them all for the benefit concert. What a guy! The local newspaper interviewed me and did a front page advertisement and article about the benefit for free! God is great and good! My brother David turns 60 on October 20th, so I made him a pan of homemade cinnamon rolls in advance…he’s not to spoiled.

October 21, 2005, round #5 of chemotherapy. I was anxious to get my 7 1/2 hours of treatment done, so I could go to the home football game, chaperone the dance after the game and get home for some sleep before the concert tomorrow night! Things were the same and I still felt strong with absolutely no side effects. Thank you Lord for the continuing miracle you allow each day!

October 22, 2005…it’s here! Tonight will be what I hope is a success to raise money for mammograms and other medical help for low income women in our community! God already knows how things will unfold and I praise Him in advance for the blessings to come. I got up that morning at 5:00 a.m. and started putting things together to load in my car. I was glad I only lived about 1/2 a mile from the high school. The butterflies were already making quite a swarm in my stomach, so eating was out of the question. I kept looking for my my purple/cobalt blue hand painted outfit to wear tonight. It was nowhere to be found. I had thrown 4 bags of clothes in the dumpster down by shop this week. Could it be that I mistakenly threw that expensive outfit away! I rushed down to the bottom of our property, climbed in the dumpster and searched through the bags of everything. Nothing! I came back up to the house and found the outfit had fallen off the hangar and was laying on the floor in the bottom of my closet! Whew! The rest of the morning and afternoon went off without a hitch…thank you Jesus!

I decorated the hallway, donation table and the front of the stage with 3 different shades of pink balloons, silver balloons and white balloons, using fuchsia and pale pink ribbons. The background lights on the stage were set and the sound checks were ready to be done. Three of the best high school boys came by and said they were there to volunteer their help for anything I needed. I put them to work backstage. One was in charge of the curtain between performers, one would help rearrange the stage and the third boy would be the gopher between the stage and the upstairs booth if there were any lighting and sound difficulties. God was working even before the concert began.

By 6:30, every performer had their sound check, the donation table was manned by two friends, the refreshments were done and ready to enjoy. All that was needed was for people to come and enjoy an inaugural event that I prayed would bless the audience and all who performed and helped. By 6:45 p.m., about 350 people had filled the performing arts center and my heart was filled with warmth. Thank you Lord for bringing the crowd and let our voices be raised up to You, our Composer with joyful noise and all that goes with the harmony of this evening…Amen

7:00 p.m., it’s showtime! Susan, the MC started off the evening with some humor and wit. She also explained what the event was about with a reminder that all donations would go to help women in our area get mammograms and other medical help. She finished her introduction by saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce the event organizer and current breast cancer survivor herself….Mary LaFrance! The black curtain parted, and the background wall of the stage was lit up with pink breast cancer ribbons from the light board in the upstairs booth. I could hardly contain my tears as my music started to play. I opened with the Martina McBride song, “This One’s for the Girls”. When I finished the whooping and hollering and applause lifted me to a new revelation of what my journey would be like the rest of my days. I was going to do everything I could to help other women going through breast cancer or other cancers, and women who just needed encouragement in any way God saw fit!

I interspersed my other solos throughout the concert. My song choices were, “In My Daughter’s Eyes”, “Wind Beneath My Wings”, “In My Life” and “My Love”. My friend Ann and I sang “Another Time, Another Place” and then we joined Gordon Washburn in a trio of Dan Fogelberg’s “Longer Than”. The concert lasted 2 hours was loads of fun and everyone performer had a blast. When I counted the donations at the end of the evening, it was a good thing I was sitting down. WE had raised $11,252….holy cow! The tears streamed down my face in humble thanks and appreciation to our Father in Heaven. I was called the next morning, by our school district superintendent. She informed me that she too was there at the benefit concert last night, and was totally impressed with the professionalism and all that she had seen. She asked me to make it an annual event each October since that is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I told her I would certainly pray for God’s will. This would be the beginning of another part of my journey over the next few years, which included writing many songs, singing at many breast cancer events, and speaking as a motivational speaker for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. God does not call the equipped…He equips the called.