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.)

To hear more of Tami’s story in her own voice, please listen in. Tamara is is dear to my heart and a CONSTANT inspiration to me personally. She is the epitome of a woman with battle ready faith, surrounded by praying friends. Ii is a privilege to bring you her interviews. Find more interviews with heroic folks at Fireside Talk Radio.

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.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE