Sips from the Fountain

When Life Feels Too Much and Too Tough

• Martha Gano

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What do you hold on to when the bottom drops out twice? We sit down with our friend Linda Blechinger to trace a path through two life-altering storms: a shocking cancer diagnosis that led to years of agony, and the sudden onset of her husband Dan’s stage four lymphoma during the first terrifying weeks of COVID. Linda kept leading as a mayor while navigating relentless pain, then walked with Dan through surgeries, chemo, and an experimental trial, only to face grief in a world where funerals moved outdoors and travel stopped.

Linda’s candor is the heartbeat of this conversation. She talks about naming pain without feeding it, choosing honesty on days when prayer felt impossible, and the hard, scriptural work of “fighting to enter rest.” Along the way, Isaiah 54 reframed her daily life with the steady assurance of God’s nearness as husband and protector when loneliness, finances, and decisions pressed in.

If you’re wrestling with grief, illness, or the aftershocks of loss, Linda offers more than inspiration—she offers tools. Magnify God over fear. Let the Psalms reset your scale. Stop performing long enough to be held. Take the next right step, then the next. There’s no rushed timeline for healing, and there’s no shame in needing quiet. Join us for a story that refuses clichés and shows how resilient faith forms, one honest moment at a time.

If this conversation encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope today, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

SPEAKER_01

Do you ever feel like life can get too complicated and maybe even overwhelming? Yeah, me too. And it's okay. My name's Marta Ganome, and in this podcast, we're going to talk about life, love, faith, family, relationships, all kinds of things. And we're gonna drink from what God wants to pour into us one small sip at a time. Because when it's the fountain of living water, these months make all the difference. Sometimes it'll be just you and me. Sometimes we'll have a friend join us. If we could have lunch together today, this is what I'd want to talk about. Hey, hey, hey, everyone, and welcome back to the podcast. Uh, today is a great day. This is our third and final episode with my dear friend Linda Bleckinger. She shares her story with us. I don't know about you guys, but I have definitely had seasons in my life where I have thought and felt and said out loud, I just can't take anymore. This is too much. This is too many hard things. And while I feel it is really important to acknowledge the difficult things that are happening in our lives, as well as the feelings of overwhelm that often accompany them, I've found that there is a line where I can say over and over again how difficult and hard things are to the point where they actually grow in their power and in their negativity, larger than the actual circumstance itself. But what if there was another way to handle all of those hard things that come at us in life? And that is the story of Linda Bleckinger. So if you haven't heard her first two episodes, which are the last two in our podcast, then you definitely want to go back and hear those full of inspiration, full of hope. And this one, episode three, with the story of this latter part of her life is the same. If you're a person who needs hope that yes, you can make it, yes, the father can and will meet you and heal your heart from the difficulty and pain in life, then this story of Linda Bleckinger is for you. The third and final episode with Linda Bleckinger. Here we go. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And uh it was a total shock. No idea. Had no idea.

SPEAKER_01

That's pretty rare cancer, too, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Uh yeah, you know, my dad had it. And uh when I was young, it's not hereditary, they say, but my dad had it. Um, but uh the commonality between us was that he smoked, and I did too.

SPEAKER_03

Wow, okay.

SPEAKER_00

I smoked, uh, you know, the household that grew up in, whether I had smoked or not, I would have smoked because eight people in the house smoked. Wow. So you were smoking. Yeah. Um, but I did smoke, and during those days, uh, they know now that the chemicals they used in the tobacco caused bladder cancer. Oh, wow. Yeah. So um was completely shocked, uh, went through treatment, was allergic to the treatment. Um, it turned my bladder to a stone. Wow. And uh very, very bad, uh, very painful extremely. For a year I went through that treatment. And um, so much so that you know, I had a few people that would bring me back and forth, and one being David, my son David. And um, towards the end, he would just carry me up the stairs and lay me on the couch. And I have this image of him kneeling down beside me with his arms over me like wings over me, just like he was protecting me. Because I would writhe back and forth in pain. I mean, it was excruciating. And uh yeah, that went on for a year. It was it was torture. Um, and uh I ended up having to wear a fully catheter with a bag.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

Introducing Linda’s Final Chapter

SPEAKER_00

Um, and I did that for five years. Wow. And continued to work as mayor, never stopped working. Goodness gracious. Yeah, never stopped working. That's right. And in fact, I was named president of the Georgia Municipal Association during that time period. So I was flying all over the place. Wow. Wow. Yeah, it was extraordinary. Um, but uh, you know, I just really did trust that the Lord had an answer for me. And um as it my doctor, my urologist started telling me, look, you know, you're gonna have to start making some decisions because you can't, you can't wear a fully catheter forever.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

Shock Bladder Cancer Diagnosis

SPEAKER_00

You can't. Um, and you know, it started getting worse. I had a lot of UTIs, and um, after a while the antibiotics don't work, and you know, then you're in a really bad situation. And um, so anyway, so that's where I was at, still working, still serving. And um, yeah, and then my husband, who I for those of you that don't know Dan, he was 6'2, eyes of blue, blonde hair. Um, I called him my farm boy. He was brought up on a beef cattle farm all the way upstate New York, just about on the Canadian border. So I called him my Canoek. Um, and uh just a strong man. He was strong. He was and um and he unbelievably was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma. And we had no clue, no idea. He had had a complete physical the year before. Goodness, everything came back clear. And uh he was on a business trip and called me up and said, Yeah, the weirdest thing just happened. I ate dinner at a restaurant and came back to the hotel, said, you know, got ready for bed, got in bed, laid down, and had a run to the restroom. And I he said, I vomited, I got sick. I was like, all right, well, maybe ate something that wasn't good, you know. You'll be you'll be fine. Next day, exactly the same thing happens. So I'm like, okay, something's not right. When you get back, we'll go to the doctor. Well, poor thing, but the next morning he had his flight coming home and he actually had to change seats and sit right by the restroom because he couldn't stop vomiting.

SPEAKER_03

Oh my god.

Treatment Pain And Daily Survival

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So he gets home and I bring him to my GP because I knew I could get in right away. And she examines him and she immediately said, Mr. Blockinger, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure you have lymphoma. And we're like, What? What how could you even say that? You know, I mean, and she said, Um want you to go to this uh doctor immediately, go straight there right now. And we were like, like, just uh, you know, you feel like your head's spinning, like you just you can't you don't even have time to take in the information because you're set on a path of go, go, go, go. So we go to the next doctor and he examines him and he says, Yes, you absolutely have lymphoma. We just have to figure out what stage you're at.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

Leading While Suffering

SPEAKER_00

Go over to the hospital right now. Goodness. We go to the hospital right then. He has all the scans done and everything, and he tells us, come back tomorrow, we'll go over the scans. So there's no waiting till next week or whatever. It's like everything is boom, boom, boom. So we go back in and he says it's stage four. Goodness gracious. And we're just like, okay, well, what does that mean? What what does stage four mean? You know? And uh I think Dan was just in shock. I think he just you know can't imagine. Yeah, he was just in shock. So I'm asking the questions, you know, what do we do? What's the protocol? When does he start chemo? Blah, blah, blah. And uh he says, well, the first thing is you need to go over to this doctor across the way, and he's gonna remove a tumor that's at the back of your throat because you're gonna suffocate if you don't get that out. Oh my word.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm like, how did he not even notice?

Dan’s Sudden Lymphoma

SPEAKER_00

How could Dan not know he's got this? It was a golf ball size tumor in the back of his throat. So we go over and I mean they did it that day. Boom, cut it. It it was out, and uh started chemo within two days, went through five different rounds of chemo. And then he was accepted for an experimental uh trial for CAR T cell. Um I didn't want him to do it, but Dan being the scientific mind that he had, you know, uh he said, yes, you know, we should do it. We should exhaust all possibilities. And uh so he went through the CAR T cell treatment. And um, you know, it's uh it's a horrible thing to watch the person that you love vanish in front of you. I mean while they're still there, yeah. I mean, it it was just heartbreaking. Um and uh I didn't find out until after Dan passed away that he went through treatment for a year. And then during COVID, COVID was just hitting. It was April of 20. Okay. And uh April 23rd. And uh nobody knew what to do. The protocols weren't set yet. The funeral polar didn't know what to do. We actually had his funeral outside. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Um and nobody was, you know, nobody was traveling, couldn't travel. Right. I mean, it was just, yeah, it was a mess. It was a terrible time. But uh I found out from Derek, my son Derek, uh two or three years later, Derek said, you know, mom, one time when Derek took him for treatment, he said, Dad told me, you know, you know, son, I'm not gonna make it through this.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And I had no idea he ever said that. I had no idea he thought that, you know. Um but I will say this that when DJ passed away, uh a part of Dan died. Uh that is true. He never he could barely talk about DJ to even me.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And um, you know, he he I remember him saying to DJ's cardiologist once, can't you just hook them up to my heart? Oh my goodness. I'll I'll just carry them. Oh my god. You know? And of course the doctor was like, no, Dan, we can't do that, you know. But he was serious, he was absolutely serious. Um yeah, I really do believe that you know, Dan wanted to be with DJ and he wanted to be with the Lord. He more and more talked about the rapture, talked about going to be with the Lord, and um and yeah, uh I think this is my personal opinion on this, but I think the Lord lets us choose.

SPEAKER_03

Sometimes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. And um, I think Dan wanted to go. Wow. Not that he wanted to leave me and leave his other sons, right?

SPEAKER_01

But I think he was just uh there's a readiness and awareness of eternity, even in the light of leaving you guys. Yeah.

Stage Four And Rapid Procedures

SPEAKER_00

When you go through physically, yeah, that that chemo, uh it yeah, it's barbaric. Yeah, it is, it's barbaric.

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow, would you want to stay in that?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah I I think that in not too far in the future, I think we're gonna look back at chemo and go, what were we doing?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I really do. Yeah, because it it kills you. Yeah, I mean it does. Right. It kills the cancer, but it also kills you. Yeah. So you have to try to survive both, right? You know, right. Um, but Dan, that loss was incomprehensible. Dan and I were definitely one flesh. We were we were just one unit.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. That was my next question. So that was a lot, yes. And he's how you found life. He was so life-giving for you. You walked so many things in life together. Yeah, devastating.

SPEAKER_00

My biggest cheerleader was Dan.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

I don't care whatever. I mean, I'm a pretty daring person, but clearly. We've gotten that picture there, Linda. But but I would say the most wild thing, and Dan would be like, Yeah, you could do that. And that's how Linda got where she is today. Yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, he just was so fantastic when I said, you know, I think I'm gonna write a book about DJ and about mourning. And he I said, you know, I just feel like Christians need to know, you know what, you can mourn. It's okay to mourn, you know. So good. And Dan looked at me and he goes, start writing. Have you written it? Oh, yeah, that's been out probably.

Chemo, CAR T, And Fading Strength

SPEAKER_01

Oh, and it's been out. Okay, we'll make sure and put the notes in the podcast description or the link to that in the podcast description. Good, because yeah, you want to hear more of what Linda has to say about all those hard plays.

SPEAKER_00

Straight from my journals that I was talking about. That book is straight from my journals. Yeah, a lot of Bible study in there. In fact, my editor was like, she took about half of the Bible study out. She's like, okay, Linda. She's like, we don't want them to feel like they're getting their doctrine. End of story. Yeah, that's great. It was so meaningful to me that I wanted to share it with everybody, but it was kind of funny. So we took about half of that out. So the story is great. And Dan wrote the last chapter.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. Yeah. Wow. So it's great. So these last years, um, even with everything that you had been through and all the processing you'd done with the father and the things you'd learn, uh, I would think that you would have hit new challenges, new depths of struggle, new ways of struggling when Dan passed away.

Grief In The Shadow Of COVID

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um, I was still working. Oh my goodness gracious. And um I felt in some ways like that was important for some kind of continuity in my life, you know. Um so, and we were going through this crisis of COVID, and people were losing their minds, and I just felt like I needed to stay in there and be the calm in the storm. And um, so I very much felt like that's what the Lord wanted me to do. And then when I decided not to run again, you know, that is really when I had time to process at a different level and really let myself grieve. And, you know, I just now it's five years later, and I'm just now selling my house. Okay. Um, some people choose to live in their homes, and uh other people, I mean, a dear friend of mine, she sold her house within a year after her husband passed, you know. Um, I don't think there's any right or wrong there. Sure. I just needed time to process everything. Um, and then of course, you know, uh three years after Dan passed away, the doctors told me, okay, it's time. Your bladder's got to come out. Goodness. You cannot stay this way. And uh I was praying, I was searching the scriptures, and the Lord gave me a dream that I was walking around and everything, and I had no outside bag at all. I had no foley catheter. I looked normal, you know. And so I go back to the doctor and I'm like, there must be some other surgery you can do because I did not have a bag. And he goes, What? And so thank goodness he's born again. But thank goodness, right? So I tell him the dream and he goes, Okay. Uh think about that, you know.

SPEAKER_01

You're like, you don't understand. This is how I hear from the Lord. Therefore, you're gonna need to go back and do some more research.

SPEAKER_00

That's right, back to the drawing board. And um, so he calls me up two days later and he goes, Okay, I'm gonna give you the number of this surgeon. I want you to talk to him, and he's gonna decide if he thinks you're a good candidate. So I'm like, all right. Okay, so I call him. One step, next step at the time, just one step at a time. We ended up talking for two hours. Wow. And we're talking about the Lord, and we're talking. I mean, it was fantastic, it was wonderful. And he says, Okay, well, you know, why don't you come in? I'd like to meet you face to face and examine you. And okay, fine. So I come in again. We just start talking about the Lord, and it's just great. And uh he says, I'm gonna do the surgery on you. Okay. So it was that he took a piece of my intestine and he made a new bladder. Wow. Attached my kidneys to the new bladder.

Work, COVID Crisis, And Holding Steady

SPEAKER_01

Goodness gracious.

SPEAKER_00

And now I was in the hospital for a month. I mean, this was a huge surgery. Oh, huge. Yeah. Uh, you know, because they're removing your bladder, they're cutting, you know, cutting your intestines. Wow. Yeah, it's a lot. So um I was in the hospital for a month. My boys did not leave my side, they just rotated in and out and uh learned how to take care of me. They sent me home. I had like seven tubes coming out, and um got through all of that. That was about another month worth, uh, and then got all the tubes out. And I now have a new blood.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing, yes, and living a normal life, walking around with no bag on the air.

SPEAKER_00

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_01

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity and publicly just ask you if you ever dream about me, that you're gonna definitely reach out and let me know. Good, bad, or ugly.

SPEAKER_00

I definitely want to know what you've dreamed. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah, God's always done that, you know, before I open new inscriptions. Where he said that we would dream dreams. Um, I didn't even know that, but that he oftentimes would give me a dream and then I would see it come to pass. Yeah. Yeah.

A Dream Points To Surgery

SPEAKER_01

So at the so here you are. And you know, Linda, so many people by this point in their lives, and I think we all know them, would either be crushed, barely surviving, or they would be angry and bitter. Yeah. Either walked away from faith or be sitting in a faith culture, but on the inside's no intimacy with God and just eaten up with pain and questions and unresolved wounds. Are there any last words that you would give our listeners for how you made that journey? Yeah. I mean, I know we've talked about it throughout your story, but is there anything else that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, I really think that there are a couple of keys that will always bring you back to a place of healing.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And the keys are, first of all, be honest. Wow. God knows anyway. Yeah. He knows what the real truth is. Right. And so don't try to fool yourself. Don't try to fool other people. You know, there was a time period that after I stopped working, that I shut everybody out. I needed to just be alone. Okay. And I needed about three months of it, okay, of just being alone.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And um there were days where I would pray, there were days I wouldn't pray.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

A New Bladder And Long Recovery

SPEAKER_00

There were days that I would um put on worship music and just let the music minister to me and not not say a word. You know, um, the Lord really during this time period uh really showed me that with Martha and Mary, that the later on in the New Testament, um, I don't know, I don't want to misquote, but I think it's Paul that says, um, or it might not be, but anyway, there's a scripture verse that says that we have to fight to enter his rest. Right, right. Yep. And that's what he was, Jesus was trying to convey to Martha. He's saying, look at Mary.

SPEAKER_03

Right.

SPEAKER_00

She she knows just as much as Martha knows that you know that you're breaking tradition. How dare you! Like, here's the rabbi in your house, get up and get food. No, Mary chose the better part, right? And it is a fight to enter his rest, and that's really truly our only battle. It really is.

SPEAKER_01

I think it's the only time he uses that that fight or that striving in the scripture is like not to strive to be obedient, to strive to be this, or so, but to strive to enter his rest. It's one of the few times I think the word is used.

Keys To Healing: Honesty And Rest

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So um he really drove that home to me. And you know, uh, I have the ministry, Eve women ministry, Eve women's ministry, and I had to lay it all aside, had to just stop doing and just enter his rest. And so that meant entering his rest did not mean, oh, I was so peaceful and quiet and all of that. No, it was actually being real and crying and saying, Lord help me, I feel so alone, I feel so, you know, half of me is gone. And but it's only when we're real and raw with God that then the word can come in. You know, the day that Dan passed away, the Lord had me in Isaiah 54. And that's how I knew that he was passing away that day. Wow, because it was that morning he led me to Isaiah 54 where it says, You shall no no longer call me master, but call me Ishai, which means husband.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And I cannot tell you how many times over these five years that I've been in a crisis situation, financially, emotionally, um with friendship, with you know, just mental health, whatever it was. And he would just whisper to me, Isha.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And I go, Okay, Lord, you are my husband. Help me in this. Wow, help me. You know, and sometimes that's just the prayer is just help, help. That's all you got. That's it.

SPEAKER_03

That's all you got.

Fighting To Enter His Rest

SPEAKER_00

Um but knowing that he hears and he knows and he is moving, there there is a book that I think the title of it is God moves in the nightshade. And um it's it's such a beautiful picture because when we're hurting, we're lost in our hurt. And we don't really see anything else, we just are in a cocoon of hurt. Yeah. And if we could just remind ourselves that even when we're in the cocoon, God's on the outside of the cocoon going, okay, I'm working it all out together for good. Somehow I have a path for you. You don't see it yet.

SPEAKER_03

Right.

SPEAKER_00

But I have a path for you. Wow. And it's gonna be beyond anything you could ask or think. And you know, Martha, I'm still in that place. I'm just getting ready to sell my house and move into a new house and move into a new city.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, I don't know what my future holds, but I know God has a plan for me and He'll reveal it at the right time.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And you know, I if you look through my journals, you would see over these past five years, gone, where am I gonna go? How am I gonna end up?

SPEAKER_01

Five years.

SPEAKER_00

What am I gonna do? Five years. Yes, five years.

SPEAKER_01

That's what it looks like. That's what it looks like to walk through these places with the Lord.

Isaiah 54 And God As Husband

SPEAKER_00

Yep, and oftentimes he would just lead me to a scripture verse that says, just praise me. Like, okay, here we are again. Yeah, and it's so true though that um when you praise him, you make him, Jesus, bigger than your problem. Boom. It's so powerful because we actually give strength to our fears. Preach it, preach it, Linda. Job's in Job, it says what he feared came upon him. When you fear something, you think about it over and over and over again, and you make it bigger and bigger and bigger. Yeah, and it comes. Wow. It comes. Wow, but the good news is you do the same thing with the Lord, with faith. Yeah, just keep your eye on him. He's so much bigger. That's why I love the Psalms. I stay in the Psalms. I love the Old Testament because God moves in such incredible ways, defeats enemies, defeats armies, you know, with with pots. Right. I mean, you know, it's just incredible. Uh, but it's because they would magnify God. Yeah, wow. Wow that's and and for us in the New Testament days, we have to magnify God because it magnifies Him bigger than the enemy. Wow, the enemy of our soul.

SPEAKER_03

Boom.

SPEAKER_00

So good.

SPEAKER_01

Well, this has been so rich. Thank you so much. I wonder if you'd be willing to pray us out with a prayer of blessing over the folks who've been listening. Yeah, that'd be awesome.

Magnifying God Over Fear

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, thank you, Father God. Thank you so much. You are so good. Thank you that you reveal yourself to us in so many ways. Thank you that you are creator of all the earth and that you're sustainer of all the earth. Thank you that you know us intimately, that you're acquainted with all of our ways. Thank you that your love is so deep and so wide that nothing can overtake us, nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even ourselves. Thank you, Lord, that you know each one that is listening. You know their pain, you know their struggles, you know their aspirations, you know their plans. Father, we just bless each and everyone in the name of Jesus. I plead the precious, life-giving, abundant blood of Jesus Christ over every listener. May they have ears to hear and eyes to see what the Spirit says. Yeah. Lord, hold them, protect them, lead them, guide them. In the name of your Son, our Savior, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. Amen.

SPEAKER_03

Amen.

SPEAKER_01

Well, thanks, you guys. I hope that you're as blessed as I am. We've loved spending time with you today, and we'll see you next time. Hey, you guys, thanks for hanging out with us today. I hope you've got some refreshment from this Sip from the Fountain. If you're curious to hear more, or if you like what you've heard, you can go ahead and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to yours, or follow our Instagram account, Sips from the Fountain, or our Facebook page by the same name. Special thanks for coming from our tomography to the Sarah D. Harper. And I can't wait to hang out with you guys next time. Thanks so much. Love y'all.