Stories of Faith

The Light She Carried

Through a lifetime of quiet faithfulness and an unexpected fight with cancer, Erin Cotgreave has learned that even the hardest seasons can become opportunities to reflect the love of Christ.

For Erin, faith was woven into life from the beginning. Growing up in the small town of Fairview, Oklahoma, she was surrounded by parents and grandparents who faithfully followed Jesus. Church was not simply somewhere her family went. It was part of the rhythm of their lives. “Every Wednesday night I was at church. Every Sunday morning I was at church,” Erin said. “Any time the doors were open, I was there.”

Her maternal grandmother made a particularly lasting impression. Each morning, she intentionally made space to read Scripture, spend time in her devotions, and be quiet with God. Her example showed Erin that faith is not only expressed publicly. It is also formed in the quiet, ordinary moments of everyday life. As a child, Erin was encouraged to understand the meaning of salvation and baptism for herself. With the guidance of her parents, Sunday school teachers, and others in her church, she studied Scripture, asked questions, and was baptized at 12 years old.

Her faith remained strong through high school, but college brought a more distant season. “I kind of went backwards in college,” she said. “I had faith growing up because I was underneath the household of my parents. Then, whenever I got out of the household, I just kind of fell away for a while.” Even then, God had not let go of her. While attending Southwestern Oklahoma State University, she met the man who would become her husband, Jared. His faith helped draw her back toward the Lord. “He was just a light,” she said. “He pulled me back in.”

Finding a Church Home

After marrying, Erin and Jared spent two and a half years living in Fruita, Colorado. Away from their families and before having children, they learned to lean on one another, study Scripture together, and grow in their shared faith. In 2013, they moved to the Tulsa area. Expecting their first child, they began visiting churches and looking for a place where their growing family could belong.

When they arrived at FBC Jenks, one person’s simple welcome made an immediate difference. Glenn, serving near the front of the church, greeted them with warmth and genuine joy. “He was more welcoming than anybody else when we hopped churches,” Erin remembered. “He was just a light. We were like, ‘This is our church.’” It was a simple interaction, but one Erin still remembers years later. Someone had taken the time to notice them, welcome them, and reflect the kind of light she now hopes to offer others.

As their family grew, so did Erin’s involvement at FBC Jenks. Over the years, she served in preschool ministry, helped lead MOPS, welcomed people at the Info Desk, photographed church life, and served with children. Her work outside the church has become a ministry, too. As a preschool teacher at Lone Star, Erin knows that some of the children who enter her classroom are carrying circumstances far beyond their years. She wants the hours they spend with her to feel safe, peaceful, and filled with love.

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“I want to be that safe place for them to come into a classroom,” she said. “I want them to understand that this is a place of love.” She plays worship music in her classroom, cares patiently for her students, and looks for everyday opportunities to reflect Jesus. “These little kids probably don’t know who God is,” she said, “but I still want to shine a light onto them.”

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Peace in an Unexpected Season

In July 2025, Erin discovered a lump in her breast. After additional testing and a biopsy, she received the diagnosis she had feared: breast cancer. Her children were staying with their grandparents when she received the news. Looking back, she sees even that timing as evidence of God’s care. It gave her space to sit, cry, and begin processing all the questions that came at once. “I don’t want to die,” she remembered thinking. “I want to be here for my kids.”

The waiting was one of the hardest parts. She wanted answers. What stage was it? What would treatment look like? What came next? Eventually, doctors determined that the cancer was stage one and that she would undergo surgery followed by radiation rather than chemotherapy. The night before her first surgery, six friends surprised her at home and gathered around her to pray. Among them were women she had served alongside through MOPS. In a season filled with unknowns, they reminded her tangibly that she would not walk through it alone.

Still, fear followed her into the morning of surgery. She wondered what could go wrong and whether she would wake up afterward. But as she walked into the operating room, something changed. “I just felt God throw a peace over me,” she said. “I knew that God was there for me.” Lying on the operating table, she looked at the clock and prayed a simple prayer: “Everything’s going to be okay because God has me.”

The circumstances had not changed. But in a moment filled with every reason for fear, Erin experienced a peace she knew could only come from God.

Turning a Fight into a Ministry

Following surgery, Erin completed eight weeks of radiation from late October through the end of December. Treatment meant rearranging life around appointments, teaching, and caring for her three children. She temporarily lost feeling in her right arm after lymph nodes were removed. And even after being declared cancer-free, medication and ongoing monitoring remained part of her life.

But through it all, Erin began looking for opportunities to love the people God placed around her. Radiation appointments put her in waiting rooms alongside people carrying their own diagnoses and fears. Sometimes she quietly prayed for the person sitting nearby. Other times, she started a conversation and simply listened to their story. She got to know the receptionist and treatment team, who began to recognize her for the smile she carried into her appointments. “When you have something that you’re fighting, you have to turn it into a positive,” she said. “You have to love on people around you.”

Her willingness to speak openly about cancer created opportunities outside the treatment center, too. After sharing her diagnosis on social media, a woman from her hometown reached out to tell her that she had cancer as well. She had seen Erin’s honesty and faith and felt safe enough to reach out. Erin told her she would be there for her. In the middle of her own difficult season, God was giving her opportunities to help someone else feel less alone.

She also became more aware of the people God had already placed around her. Friends prayed over her. Her church family encouraged her. Women who had walked through cancer offered understanding and support. And through every part of the journey, Jared remained beside her. “He has been a supporter throughout all of this, from day one,” she said. “His faith has grown, which has made my faith grow. My husband is the light of my life, and he makes me grow closer to God.”

New Mercies Every Morning

Today, Erin is cancer-free, though the journey has not completely ended. She continues to take medication and undergo regular monitoring, reminders that life after cancer can still carry uncertainty. But uncertainty has not changed what Erin has learned about the faithfulness of God.

The words of Lamentations 3:22–23 have become a meaningful reminder:

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”