Lorna Nichols takes a selfie Dec. 20 with her dog Bebe in front of her Christmas tree at her home in New Sharon. Lorna Nichols photo

NEW SHARON — Lorna Nichols has depended on her faith in God, her church family and prayer warriors more than ever this year while going through surgery and treatment for colon cancer.

“This year was full of highs and lows … after some health events I thought were not really that big of a deal, I was diagnosed in June with Stage 3 colon dancer,” she wrote in an email. “A series of events were put into motion immediately, without much time to think. I underwent resection surgery a month later, having half my colon and 23 lymph nodes removed — two nodes were found to be cancerous.

Less than 30 days after that, she started chemotherapy.

“Surprisingly, I never said the words ‘why me?’” Nichols said. “I turned to my faith in the Lord, my church family and a long list of prayer warriors across the country. At the same time, my mother was on hospice care (for cancer) with no hope of treatment to save her.”

There were a lot of ups and downs, twists and turns throughout her journey over the last several months, she said.

“The most important lesson … learning to lean on Jesus and giving it all over to Him, praying for His will and not mine, letting go of all the control I thought I had over my life. I didn’t, I don’t, I never will. None of us do. He has a plan for each one of us. He sees the bigger picture we can’t possibly fathom,” she wrote.

She stopped treatment and spent 10 days on the trip of a “lifetime” to Israel, she said.

Looking back, she said she cannot comprehend that she made it through a rigorous guided tour.

“That was definitely His goodness and mercy showered upon me,” she said.

When she arrived home with her husband, Scott, she learned her mother had been taken to the hospital the same day and things were not good. She was able to visit with her for a few hours in a hospice house the next morning but believes her mother didn’t know she was there. She died that evening.

“My world felt like it was crashing down around me,” Nichols said. “I had just spent an incredible spiritual time away, only to return to losing my mother and the thought of starting cancer treatment back up again,” she wrote.

“He brought me peace,” she said. “He had my hand through the storm and carried me through these months of sickness and then grief. Once treatment ended, like many, I became so sick. Sick enough that I did not care if I lived or died. Again, He brought me through.”

She is only about a month post-treatment and is feeling better every day, she said.

“I can say without question that I could not have made it without Him and my strong faith in the power of prayer,” she wrote.

The blessings, lessons and opportunities throughout these months made this journey for her worth every minute, she said.

“It has changed me and those around me,” Nichols said. “God used so many and put people in my path that allowed Him to use them to encourage me, and to learn how to encourage others,” she wrote. “I received the best Christmas gift this year … life and a clear PET scan!”