How do families look when they are battle ready, no matter what Life dishes out? Is your family battle ready to face a major crisis? CrossRiver Media Publisher Tamara Clymer says it’s possible to build a battle ready faith. And she has the battle to prove it.

“About 17 months ago, I came home from a conference. And my husband had been complaining of a headache. Headaches were not unusual for him.” Thus she begins.  

For a few days, they monitored his headache. No progress.

Finally, on a Sunday morning he woke me up and said, ‘Okay, it’s time to go to the emergency room,’” Tamara reports. 

A Battle You Don’t Expect to Fight

Since it was during COVID, Tamara was not allowed to go in with him. So she dropped off Shad, her husband of 32 years. He’s also her high school sweetheart. And father of their four grown kids.

Then, she sat alone in her car with her thoughts. This is something simple. Sinus infection. Maybe his cluster headaches are back. Who knows? High blood pressure.

“Never would have thought I would get the news I got when the doctor came out to talk to me,” she says. 

She rolled down the car window, but she could tell by the look on his face that it wasn’t good news. 

“Tami, we found a spot on the CAT scan and it looks like there’s a tumor, a spot of some type,” said Shad’s doctor. Next stop Denver.

A World Turned Upside Down

“And that was the beginning of just absolutely my world turning upside down. Really. We ended up, Shad having surgery on my birthday. The very next day. My 50th birthday,” says Tamara. 

They got the official diagnosis on their anniversary about 16 days later.

“Glioblastoma, which was a grade 4 brain tumor,” she reports. (Find more about Glioblastoma.)

Battle Begun. Now What?

Of all the cancers, Glioblastoma is especially deadly. A true test of battle ready faith.

“In fact, no one survives it. There’s no cure. There are treatments. You can buy time,” she says. “But it’s a terminal diagnosis.” (If you or someone you know has glioblastoma, find support.)

Personally, I’ve been amazed to me to see how God surrounded Tamara and Shad with friends who have so much affection for them. 

For example, anything I could do from Texas, I want to do it. About the only thing I’ve been able to offer is prayer. Tons of prayer. 

“That is the most important thing. That’s the only thing that’s gonna help, at this point, is prayer,” she says. “So when people tell me ‘I wish they could do more,’ I’m like ‘No. That is the ultimate gift, right there, is that prayer.’”

A Team of Friends With Battle Ready Faith

I’m not the only one. All over the country, multitudes of friends feel the same way about Tamara and her sweet family. 

Ironically, Tamara and her team began rebooting CrossRiver’s purpose statement just as she and Shad entered their battle with Glioblastoma. The team chose “Publishing high-quality books and materials that help women build a battle-ready faith.”

“Battle ready. We really feel that God has pressed on our hearts that we really need to be preparing women for these days that we face,” Tamara explains. “That spiritual battle that we all face. So, that’s one of the missions we have at CrossRiver. You know that has really played out in my own personal life in the last 17 months or so.”

God Prepares Us for the Unexpected Battles

Together, Tamara and Shad wake up every day to face down trauma, stress and new challenges. As friends, we’re observing them purposefully savor every day together. 

I wondered how she manages to mesh her work with such a precious time with Shad. Yet, she tells me God prepared her and her family for a battle they could not possibly predict.

Of course, her dad’s example immediately came up. Years ago, when Shad was facing a job transition, Tamara felt overwhelmed. Certainly not battle ready.

“Then one day I tried something new. My dad, a former minister, told me to read the Psalms out loud to my heavenly Father. ‘Let Him know how you feel,’ he said. ‘If David, a man after God’s own heart, could say these things to Him, so can you. You’re the daughter of the Most High.’ I grabbed my Bible and dug in, determined to find the toughest passage in Psalms. It didn’t take long — there it was in chapter 22. ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’ I prayed out loud. ‘Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.’ (Ps. 22:1-2)”

~From The Benefit Package

“Dad passed away almost a year ago actually,” says Tamara. “But one of the things I miss most, is just those words of wisdom. That deep-seated wisdom that the Lord gave him. He had a way of reducing all of life’s trials to a few words, just a few words of  wisdom to kind of turn your perspective.”

Learning to walk through that early job-related battle, with such stalwart co-warriors in her husband and her father, was one small ways God prepared her for this current battle, according to Tamara. (Find more about brain tumors.)

Battle Ready Faith for Our Kids

Now she’s learning again God is her first and only place to turn. 

“So, I’m trying to teach that to the kids. You know, preparing them for what they’re going through,” she says. “It’s probably one of the hardest thing I’ve had to do as a parent.”

Since all their kids are adopted internationally, Tamara feels they’ve experienced losses, some of which they don’t even remember consciously. But she tenderly safe-guards the knowledge in her own heart.

“They’ve already lost a first set of parents that they obviously don’t remember,” she explains. In addition, they’ve lost a language and a culture, she points out. “They’ve lost two grandparents. So they have already faced a lot of loss.” 

With deep comfort, she treasures the growth she notices in each of their hearts.

Heaven Bound

“God was using those instances to help them prepare for this. They’re scared obviously; they’re worried,” she says. But they also experience a massive amount of comfort from knowing exactly where their dad is going to be, according to Tamara. If you’re not sure about your eternal destination, find out more.

“The minute he closes his eyes here on earth, he will be in heaven. And the minute we close our eyes, we will be there with him.” 

Moment By Moment

Tamara and Shad make sure they all get any professional counseling they need. Even as they emphasize a very important truth.

“We’re trying to teach them that every moment is a gift. That God is our anchor through all of this,” says Tamara. “And that we really can rely on Him to provide comfort that is so strange to the world. That is beyond our comprehension, as scripture says.”

“We’re just taking it a moment at a time. God is faithful. He’s so faithful,” she adds. 

Battle Ready Faith

As far as training your family to be battle ready, Tamara says the most important thing for us all is to be able to look back on what God has done in our lives to lead us to that point. 

She even points out that her earlier brush with stress over Shad’s job change proved to be a gift from God. 

“We would not have been in this community that has wrapped their arms around us. He [Shad] wouldn’t have had the job he has that provided the great health insurance. Long term disability. All those. He didn’t have those kind of benefits at his last job,” she reports. 

However, we don’t always understand the steps as they unfold. Still, God does. 

“He knows we’re gonna go through this trial. He prepares us whether we realize it or not,“ says Tamara. “Going back and looking for those moments is such a comfort because you know if He had you then, He’s gotcha now. 

Thanking God for the Moments

One last request, please do me a favor and keep praying for my dear friends, Tami and Shad and their beautiful family.

“Well, Shad is stable. He had the surgery to remove the tumor, went through chemo and radiation and has been stable ever since,” she reports. “He did have a grand mal seizure a couple of weeks ago that scared the daylights out of us. We’re gonna have another MRI next week just to make sure that everything is still stable. But right now, I mean he’s doing fantastic. He’s doing real good.”

Thank you for praying. I am grateful for YOU!

Next, A Special Treat Just for YOU

In next week’s interview, you’ll hear the moment when Tamara spontaneously decides to make a special offer just for my reading and listening friends. But I’m letting you in on the surprise now.

On the spot, Tami offered a special price on her own book, The Benefit Package.

ONLY $1.99!!

Type in YOUR special CODE: fireside.

Tami’s devo, The Benefit Package is perfect for your work friends especially. It’s filled with very personal stories from some of my favorite authors. Each story ends with a Bible verse and a prayer. 

The Benefit Package is not a pushy about faith. Just sweet, very surprising. Perfect for gently explaining to people of other faiths (or no faith) how Christians find comfort in Jesus.

More Heroic CrossRiver Media Friends

One thing about the team at CrossRiver Media, they turn colleagues into friends.

You, too, can find many of their personal stories on Fireside Talk Radio. Look for Lindsey Bell,  author of Unbeaten; Catherine Brakefield, author of the Destiny Series; Deb Butterfield, author of Carried By Grace; Brooke Frick, author of Hands Full; Nancy Kay Grace, author of The Grace Impact; and DeeDee Lake, author of Next Step. Also, some of them have interviewed me, including the amazing Andy Lee, author of Radiant Influence.

Tami and I are so aware as we talk that all women face trials. We bring you her story today because we love you. All women need comfort and prayer. We hope her words and wisdom —her sacred story today— bring you the encouragement you need to face your own trials. 

🙂

cathy

We LOVE to hear from YOU!

How has God gone before you to prepare you for the battles you face today? When has a friend said the perfect comforting word to you? In what ways has God blessed you with your children’s maturity?

May we pray together?

Dear good Father, remember my friend and sister, Tamara, today, please. All of us who love her want healing for Shad. We ask for it knowing the doctors would never endorse such a prayer logically. But Your power is greater than man’s logic. In the meantime, we praise You for the Clymers and all our friends who demonstrate battle ready faith. Somehow today, help them make their day a mirror reflecting Your goodness and mercy. In those who suffer well, we see Your own beloved Son’s reflection. Draw them to You, dear Lord. Delight them in Your presence. Strengthen them for the battles they face. Prepare us all. Help us prepare our children and grandchildren. Bless us now because that is Your heart’s desire. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

Cathy Krafve, host of Fireside Talk Radio and author of The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations and Marriage Conversation: From Coexisting to Cherished. We welcome your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. 

❤️ Truth with a Texas Twang! ❤️