Facing Childhood Cancer
I would never have believed that a church would pray for a family they didn’t know. But when they heard the news that doctors believed a child in this family had cancer – Lymphoma – that’s what they did. My son Sam had a mass on his liver and spleen and small tumors forming in his abdomen. He was three and a half years old at that time.
The day we were scheduled to meet with Pediatric Oncology at a local hospital, was a Tuesday. It was a MOPS day. MOPS is a national group for “Mothers of Preschoolers”. A friend of mine went to MOPS that morning. She was upset, and could barely get out the news about what my family was going through. Friends in the group immediately ran to all the other discussion groups to ask the Moms to pray for my son.
Seeing with new eyes
I believe that it was because of that prayer that I noticed a framed poem outside Sam’s examination room. Sam was being examined at the exact same time that MOPS was meeting and all those Moms were praying for my son. I keep a copy of this verse in my Bible to this day. It was dedicated in the memory of a child who had died. It begins with the words…..
“I’ll lend you for a little time, a child of mine” He said,
For you to love while he lives, and mourn when he is dead.
It may be six or seven years, or twenty-two, or three,
but will you, ’til I call him back, take care of him for Me?
He’ll bring his charms to gladden you, and shall his stay be brief,
you’ll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return,
but there are lessons taught down there I want that child to learn.
I’ve looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true,
and from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labor vain,
nor hate me when I come to call, to bring him back again?”
I fancied that I heard them say… “Dear Lord, Thy will be done,
For all the joy Thy child will bring, the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness, we’ll love him while we may,
and for the happiness we’ve known, will ever grateful stay.
But shall the angels call for him much sooner than we planned,
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes, and try to understand.”
As I finished reading this poem, I realized that the situation with Sam was completely out of my control. For twenty-four hours, I had been totally paralyzed with grief and fear, thinking my three and a half year old child could die. But suddenly, I was in a very peaceful calm. My child belonged to God. God was telling me He trusted us enough to choose us to be Sam’s parents. I had to trust Him now. In that moment, I gave Sam to God.
Sam was going to be okay
Three days later a biopsy showed that the liver tumor was benign. There was nothing on his spleen, or in his abdomen. Two weeks after that pathology reported that it was not cancer, it wasn’t even at risk to become a precancerous condition.
Later I learned that this church had continued to pray for my son, and for our family. My neighbor had continued to talk to the church’s pastor about us. I remember asking my neighbor to pray for us. I felt so unworthy. I had grown up in church, gone to parochial school. But as an adult, I didn’t go to church, or read my Bible. When I did read it, I didn’t understand it. I knew my neighbor was very strong in her faith, knew her Bible, and I felt like she had some sort of “hotline” to God.
Something was missing in my life
What I didn’t know was that my neighbor had arranged a home visit for me with her pastor, for what I thought was my chance to thank everyone for praying for us. I soon realized it was not the visit that I thought. As the pastor and his wife prayed with me, I began to see what was missing in my life. God did love me, that I was worthy in His eyes. He even heard my prayers. That night, I prayed to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.
Since that night six years ago, God has opened my eyes in a powerful way. I can clearly see the work He does in my life. My son will be ten this year. He remains healthy, and yearly sonograms have shown the liver tumor to have continually shrunk in size. The most recent sonogram this month showed it to be all but gone.
I have since become a member of the church that prayed for my son. I was baptized there. God speaks to my heart through His word, and I understand through His word what plans He has for my life. He puts the most godly people in my path, to help light my walk. I know with God in control of my life, I can only continue to grow in my faith, and all glory and honor are His for all He will do through me.
Take a look at your life. How would you describe it? Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Holding back? For many of us it’s all of the above at times. There are things we dream of doing one day, there are things we wish we could forget. In the Bible, it says that Jesus came to make all things new. What would your life look like if you could start over with a clean slate?
Living with hope
If you are looking for peace, there is a way to balance your life. No one can be perfect, or have a perfect life. But every one of us has the opportunity to experience perfect grace through a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.
Is this the life for you?
If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest.
