Joey Feek Surprises Friends and Family with Display of Strength: 'We Almost Couldn't Believe Our Eyes,' Writes Husband

"But I guess the power of the will is much stronger than the power of fear," explains Rory Feek

Photo: Courtesy Joey Feek

Joey Feek’s energy in the face of terminal cancer is a miracle within itself.

The country singer, 40, “decided to get out of bed and take a little stroll” on Friday, writes her husband Rory Feek in a touching update to his blog This Life I Live late Sunday.

“That’s not as simple as it sounds when you’ve been in a hospital bed for weeks and were prepared to possibly never walk again,” explains Rory. “But I guess the power of the will is much stronger than the power of fear.”

Her display of strength came on a social day for the couple in Alexandria, Indiana, where she wishes to live out her remaining days under hospice care after a brave battle with cervical cancer. (The Feeks initially stayed at her parents’ home, but in late November moved into another house nearby for a “little more room,” he wrote on Dec. 4.)

“We had some friends and family here at the house with us, and when the door to her bedroom opened up and she came out in the living room, we almost couldn’t believe our eyes,” writes Rory, who posted a video clip of the special day. “We were all so proud of her, but I think Joey was even more proud of herself.”

Then Joey bonded with their daughter, Indiana, 22 months, creating new memories captured in an adorable Facebook post from Friday.

As Rory explains, “my wife had slid from the couch to the floor and was able to be something for Indiana that she hadn’t been able to be in weeks and weeks. She was a mama again. Playing with and teaching sign language to her little girl, like she’d been dreaming of being able to do.”

Sweet moments like these have inspired Joey to make the most of each day she has left, writes Rory.

“Before Joey went to sleep this evening, I sat beside her and she told me that for her it’s all come into perspective recently,” the proud husband shares. “She said that when you’re lying in a bed day after day and you can do nothing and you don’t know if you’re gonna be here next Christmas, or next month or even next week … you suddenly become hyper aware that today … that this moment – is all you have. And that today is enough. It truly is a gift.”

The Gift from Hickory Films on Vimeo.

Rory says her latest triumph reminded him of a the Grammy-nominated duo‘s music video for “The Gift,” a song on their 2011 Christmas album. (You can download A Farmhouse Christmas here.)

“And I found myself looking at the ‘Joey’ in the video we made back then, and the ‘Joey’ in the video today,” he writes. “She might look different to you. But not to me. Yes, she’s a few years older and the chemo and radiation have taken their toll on her physical body. But the same joy in her spirit and the same beautiful smile is still there, shining through. Cancer can’t take that away from her.”