I've been there! I see you!

Hey there! I'm so thankful you found me! Let me introduce myself. 

My name is Megan Cheatham. I am the wife of Riordan and the mother of three beautiful miracle children, Noah, Kyah, and Finley. After 6 years of walking through infertility, God decided to give us these precious gifts "on loan." They are His, and we are humbled to be raising them in "the way they should go."

We reside in the sleepy little village of Tequesta, Florida, where the sun is always shining, and the ocean calls us daily. Although my husband is a Florida "lifer," I am a Western New York native. I grew up with bitterly cold winters and the breathtaking change of seasons. I took a job as a teacher in Florida in the early 90s and, after meeting my husband, never returned to NY. No matter where I am, from the ocean to the mountains, I love to travel for pleasure or on a mission and explore the world around me, especially God's magnificent creation. 

After the arrival of the twins, I decided to stay home and take a break from teaching. When our third miracle came along, I was running the children's ministry at church and connecting young moms weekly. Over the next several years, after my daughter was diagnosed with some significant learning challenges, God called us to the homeschooling world. We are still at it today with the twins in their senior year, and our youngest is a freshman.

Teaching and encouraging others wherever they are in life has always been a calling in my heart. However, life during those earlier years of marriage, parenting, and homeschooling was hard. Hard on our family, relationships outside our home, and especially our marriage. As a fixer, a perfectionist, a doer, and a striver of all that is right, I neglected to put on my oxygen mask. The mental and emotional stress I took on trying to be everything to everyone led to a life event that changed me forever. 

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and was faced with several questions. The most pressing of these were, "What am I doing?"," What has my life become?", "Who have I become?" and "How do I want to live out these fleeting days God has given me?"

I had been secretly struggling for several years. I carried a heavy backpack of painful stories from my past that became my identity. I fully believed I was a victim of my circumstances, yet I was very good at pretending that I had it all together. I stuffed every negative emotion. Played a game of shame and blame. I stored so much resentment and bitterness that it physically made me sick. I was overweight. I suffered paralyzing migraines. Was hospitalized for high blood pressure. My hormones were whacked entirely, and my adrenals were in complete shutdown. Stress became my drug. Living in constant business and high vibration became the perfect numbing agent for feeling the pain. And there I was, 45 years old, faced with the thought that I may never have a chance to turn it all around. I yearned to feel hope and joy and freedom, to love unconditionally, to believe that God had more for me, and yet I struggled to believe I was worthy of it. I was stuck. I knew I wanted to live, but not the life I had been. I needed someone to guide me to the hope I knew was there, but I couldn't wrap my head around it.

After a complete hysterectomy and double mastectomy with two reconstructive surgeries, I began to study the scriptures, along with everything I could about healing the body. I discovered a world of studies and programs that taught me about the connection between mental, emotional, and physical health. I rejected the medication that the oncologist wanted me to take for 10 years and instead went head first into healing my body from the inside out. I followed the protocol of Chris Wark, a holistic cancer survivor and author of "Chris Beat Cancer." I rebuilt my body through nutrition, movement, and strength training over 90 days. I knew that part of this healing needed to be mental and emotional as well; however, after trying to get to the root of my pain myself, I found myself stuck yet again. I needed help. 

That's when I found Life Mentoring School, a Christian life coaching program created by Dr. Edie Wadsworth. Through the life-changing tools they offered and the transformational group coaching, I began a deep dive into the work the Holy Spirit asked of me. I wanted to change. I was ready to do the work.

One step at a time, one day at a time, one renewed thought at a time, my heart slowly opened. I began to receive that unconditional love that God had offered me. I learned to process my emotions and sit at the feet of Jesus like I never had before. I was able to let go of my painful story and become the person he has called me to be for his glory and my good. I experienced transformation in a way that I never thought possible. And I NEEDED to share it with the world! 

So, here I am now. A certified life coach myself. Ready to help those who are right where I was. And also where I am. Coaching and being coached. Setting goals. Nourishing my heart and my mind and dreaming again, living a life of hope, joy, freedom, and abundance! I am constantly being refined. The work I have done and continue to do isn't easy, but it sure is worth it!

So that is my story, or what I know of it so far. I know that many of you may see yourself in my story. I chose to share it with you so that you will be encouraged. So that you will feel less alone. So that you will feel seen. So that you will have hope and find comfort in the fact that you, too, can become the true self that God always intended you to be.