JOYCE: YOU KNOW, 20--I DON'T KNOW, IT WAS 1989, SO HOWEVER
MANY YEARS AGO THAT WAS, 28?
IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID? BOY, YOU GOT SMART PEOPLE HERE.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]
JOYCE: I WAS GONNA HAVE TO GET MY CALCULATOR OUT
OF MY PHONE TO FIGURE THAT OUT.
I WENT TO THE DOCTOR FOR A CHECKUP AND FOUND OUT
I HAD BREAST CANCER.
WELL, I WAS OUT PREACHING FAITH, YOU KNOW, I WASN'T GONNA GET
BREAST CANCER, I WAS PRAYING FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO BE HEALED.
AND IT WAS THE VERY FAST-GROWING TYPE OF CANCER;
LITTLE, TINY TUMOR, BUT VERY FAST-GROWING CANCER.
SO, I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY WOULD TREAT ME TODAY, BUT THEN THEY
JUST SAID, "YOU HAVE TO HAVE A MASTECTOMY.
THERE'S NO MESSING AROUND WITH THIS.
THAT'S JUST WHAT YOU GOT TO DO."
SO, HERE I WENT FROM BEING A WOMAN OF FAITH AND POWER
TO BEING IN THE HOSPITAL LOSING PART OF MY BODY.
WELL, I HAD A DECISION TO MAKE.
AND PROBABLY SOME OF YOU HERE TODAY HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE,
AND PROBABLY MANY OF YOU WATCHING TELEVISION HAVE
A DECISION TO MAKE.
I LOVE WHAT PAUL SAID.
HE SAID TO LIVE AS CHRIST, TO DIE IS GAIN.
YOU KNOW, NONE OF US WANT TO DIE, BUT IF YOU'RE
A BELIEVER, YOU DON'T NEED TO BE AFRAID OF IT BECAUSE, HONESTLY,
IF WE READ THE BIBLE, THINGS ARE GONNA GET A WHOLE LOT BETTER
WHEN WE'RE NOT HERE THAN WHILE WE ARE HERE, SO.
[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]
JOYCE: WHEN PEOPLE THAT ARE BORN AGAIN LEAVE THIS REALM
AND THEY GO HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD, WE'RE REALLY NOT
GRIEVING FOR THEM, WE'RE GRIEVING FOR US.
IT'S OUR LOSS THAT WE'RE GRIEVING FOR, AND THAT'S RIGHT
AND THAT'S PROPER AND THERE'S NOT ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT,
BUT THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY GREAT THINGS IN THE BIBLE
THAT WE CAN REMEMBER THAT WILL GIVE US COMFORT, ONE OF THEM
BEING WHEN YOUR TIME COMES, YOU ARE GOING TO SEE
YOUR LOVED ONES AGAIN BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GONE,
THEY'RE JUST NOT HERE ANYMORE.
THEY'RE WITH GOD AT THE RIGHT PLACE.
AND SO, WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT WE CAN HAVE A TYPE OF DEEP
REST KNOWING THAT THINGS ARE GOING TO BE OKAY.
AND I WENT THROUGH THAT WHEN I HAD THE BREAST CANCER.
AT FIRST I WAS SO SCARED, SO SCARED.
AND I HAD TO WORK THROUGH THAT AND COME TO THE POINT WHERE I
BELIEVE THAT GOD WAS IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE AND HE
WAS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF ME NO MATTER WHAT.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT?
I ENDED UP, I DIDN'T HAVE TO HAVE ANY KIND OF CHEMO
TREATMENTS, NO KIND OF ANYTHING, THEY GOT EVERYTHING.
EVERY YEAR, 28 YEARS IN A ROW NOW, I GO AND I GET TESTED,
AND EVERY YEAR, CLEAN REPORT, EVERYTHING IS GREAT.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
JOYCE: NOW, A FEW YEARS AGO, I WAS HAVING SOME REALLY SERIOUS
BACK TROUBLE.
AND SO, THEY FINALLY DECIDED THAT THEY WERE GONNA LOOK
AT MY WHOLE SPINE, AND THEY DID SOME KIND OF A SPECIAL TEST,
AND SO THEY CAME BACK AND THEY SAID, "WELL, WE NEED
TO DO A FURTHER TEST," I FORGET NOW WHAT THEY CALLED IT,
BUT IT WAS SOMETHING WHERE THEY JUST LOOK AT YOUR WHOLE BODY
BECAUSE THEY SAID, "YOU'VE GOT SOME LESIONS ON YOUR SPINE
THAT COULD BE CANCER THAT HAS METASTASIZED
FROM YOUR BREAST CANCER."
WELL, CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW THAT MADE ME FEEL?
OH MY GOSH, WELL, GOT ANOTHER DECISION TO MAKE.
SEE, WE'RE ALWAYS MAKING DECISIONS, AREN'T WE?
ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO HANDLE THINGS AND WHAT WE'RE
GOING TO DO.
SO ONCE AGAIN, I HAVE TO SAY, "WELL, GOD, I'M IN YOUR HANDS.
I HOPE THAT'S NOT THE CASE, BUT I BELONG TO YOU.
I TRUST THAT YOU'RE GONNA TAKE CARE OF ME."
AND SO YOU WAIT IT OUT DAY BY DAY BY DAY.
WELL, SO THEY DID THIS TEST ON MY WHOLE BODY, LOOKED
AT MY WHOLE BODY, I THINK THEY CALLED IT A PET SCAN, AND THEY
CAME BACK AND THEY SAID, "WELL, INTERESTING THING,
IT LOOKS LIKE ON YOUR SPINE," I LOVE THE WAY THE WORLD PUTS
IT, "THAT YOU HAD CANCER AT ONE TIME, BUT SOMEHOW
OR ANOTHER, IT HEALED ITSELF."
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
JOYCE: WOW.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
JOYCE: WELL, YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW THAT MADE ME FEEL.
AND SO, THE GOOD NEWS IS, IS THEY LOOKED AT MY WHOLE BODY
AND THEY SAID, "YOU DON'T HAVE ONE TINY BIT OF CANCER
IN THERE ANYWHERE."
SO I GOT A GOOD PICTURE OF THE WHOLE THING AND CAME OUT
OF IT FEELING BETTER THAN I DID BEFORE I WENT IN.