Jim Mott had walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death long before he developed cancer last year. Each time the 66-year-old has gone through a trevail he's drawn his strength from his faith in Jesus Christ. His bout with prostate cancer - and words that offered him comfort through it all - have been put down into book form.
Cancer-free Mott, a 27-year-old resident of Ceres, has published a 54-page book, "My Walk With the Lord: Through the Valley Called Cancer" through Publish America, a print-on-demand publishing company in Maryland.
"This has had an effect on a lot of people in just drawing them closer to the Lord," said Mott. "One person told me that it let them know they had gotten away from being with God and reading His Word and needed to get back into a closer communion with Him. Our motivation for this definitely is not money. Is strictly to help people."
A physical problem prompted Mott to seek a medical checkup in March 2007. Doctors found that the cancer was relatively early in its advancement. He had surgery and a two-month radiation treatment at Memorial Medical Center's oncology department.
Mott, whose father died of prostate, lung and bone cancer, recalls the initial shock and fear of "what next?" Right after that, he said, "the Lord just gave the wife and I just a tremendous peace of mind about it."
Family was great support. So was Scripture. The passage found in Proverbs 3:5 was of particular help to him: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
Writing the book not only helped him process his experience but could be of help to those going through cancer treatment.
"Most people with cancer, I find, hold everything in because you talk about cancer and people have a tendency to shy away from you," said Mott. "It's like you've got the plague, something that's going to spread. It's the fear of the word "cancer.' If a person has cancer the first thing you think of is, "Okay, they're going to die.' The main thing people are afraid in this life is death so they want to distance themselves from anything that has to do with that."
Looking back, Mott believes that he got cancer so that he could share his faith with people who other cancer patients as well as medical technician. "As I was writing these, I'd print them up individually and was able to share these with some of the people there. I shared it with some of the technicians. I found out the technicians shared some of them with their higher ups and a couple of them got read at some of their staff meetings."
Mott's experience with radiation treatments was amazingly side effect free with the exception of some occasional tiredness.
Mott said he's been through a lot of medical issues over the last 15 years but that "the Lord has seen us through every bit of it."
One such time was a night in May 1988 when he came home to his Acorn Lane home and ended up shot by a would-be robber. A man rolled up to the curb in a car and demanded his lunchbox. He was pointing a gun at him. Mott thought it was a joke and walked towards his house. The man got out of the car and shot him in the back.
"He got me right next to the kidney. It went through the small intestine and richocheted inside me.
"The Lord was involved in that because there was an angel guiding that bullet so it missed all my organs."
Neighbor Carolyn Condit, wife of then Congressman Gary Condit, heard the shot from her garage and called 9-1-1.
"If I hadn't been there, she would have been the next one in line," said Mott.
The experience put him in the hospital for a week.
"I've survived two heart attacks and numerous mini strokes. It tells us in the Bible that we're put through certain things to learn from those things how to help others going through similar circumstances. If we allow ourselves to be used by God, He can use us in ways we never imagined. When we're our weakest, He's at His strongest."
Next-door neighbor Rev. Adrian Condit reviewed the book and recommends it for "anyone who is going through serious illness." He noted that it is a "very unique book because it comes from the heart of a man that has truly been through the Valley."
"It's the Lord's book, not mine. My hand was an instrument in writing out the words. The words just flowed from me. When He'd wake me up in the middle of the night and I'd have to get up and go out and write. Sometimes I'd be up a couple of hours writing."
He also includes a chapter on ways to pray.
The book sells for $12.95 and is available on line through www.publishamerica.com, barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com and bordersstores.com. Local book stores can order it as well. The ISBN is 1-60441-803-6.
Cancer-free Mott, a 27-year-old resident of Ceres, has published a 54-page book, "My Walk With the Lord: Through the Valley Called Cancer" through Publish America, a print-on-demand publishing company in Maryland.
"This has had an effect on a lot of people in just drawing them closer to the Lord," said Mott. "One person told me that it let them know they had gotten away from being with God and reading His Word and needed to get back into a closer communion with Him. Our motivation for this definitely is not money. Is strictly to help people."
A physical problem prompted Mott to seek a medical checkup in March 2007. Doctors found that the cancer was relatively early in its advancement. He had surgery and a two-month radiation treatment at Memorial Medical Center's oncology department.
Mott, whose father died of prostate, lung and bone cancer, recalls the initial shock and fear of "what next?" Right after that, he said, "the Lord just gave the wife and I just a tremendous peace of mind about it."
Family was great support. So was Scripture. The passage found in Proverbs 3:5 was of particular help to him: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
Writing the book not only helped him process his experience but could be of help to those going through cancer treatment.
"Most people with cancer, I find, hold everything in because you talk about cancer and people have a tendency to shy away from you," said Mott. "It's like you've got the plague, something that's going to spread. It's the fear of the word "cancer.' If a person has cancer the first thing you think of is, "Okay, they're going to die.' The main thing people are afraid in this life is death so they want to distance themselves from anything that has to do with that."
Looking back, Mott believes that he got cancer so that he could share his faith with people who other cancer patients as well as medical technician. "As I was writing these, I'd print them up individually and was able to share these with some of the people there. I shared it with some of the technicians. I found out the technicians shared some of them with their higher ups and a couple of them got read at some of their staff meetings."
Mott's experience with radiation treatments was amazingly side effect free with the exception of some occasional tiredness.
Mott said he's been through a lot of medical issues over the last 15 years but that "the Lord has seen us through every bit of it."
One such time was a night in May 1988 when he came home to his Acorn Lane home and ended up shot by a would-be robber. A man rolled up to the curb in a car and demanded his lunchbox. He was pointing a gun at him. Mott thought it was a joke and walked towards his house. The man got out of the car and shot him in the back.
"He got me right next to the kidney. It went through the small intestine and richocheted inside me.
"The Lord was involved in that because there was an angel guiding that bullet so it missed all my organs."
Neighbor Carolyn Condit, wife of then Congressman Gary Condit, heard the shot from her garage and called 9-1-1.
"If I hadn't been there, she would have been the next one in line," said Mott.
The experience put him in the hospital for a week.
"I've survived two heart attacks and numerous mini strokes. It tells us in the Bible that we're put through certain things to learn from those things how to help others going through similar circumstances. If we allow ourselves to be used by God, He can use us in ways we never imagined. When we're our weakest, He's at His strongest."
Next-door neighbor Rev. Adrian Condit reviewed the book and recommends it for "anyone who is going through serious illness." He noted that it is a "very unique book because it comes from the heart of a man that has truly been through the Valley."
"It's the Lord's book, not mine. My hand was an instrument in writing out the words. The words just flowed from me. When He'd wake me up in the middle of the night and I'd have to get up and go out and write. Sometimes I'd be up a couple of hours writing."
He also includes a chapter on ways to pray.
The book sells for $12.95 and is available on line through www.publishamerica.com, barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com and bordersstores.com. Local book stores can order it as well. The ISBN is 1-60441-803-6.
