Sunday, December 7, 2008

Experiencing God!

Today I thought that I would share a story about Mary. No, not the mother of Christ, just Mary a person whom my husband and I met in a chemotherapy treatment room. Pete had treatments at The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. This experience happened in 2003 when Pete was getting chemotherapy in preparation for a stem cell transplant. In the cancer treatment center, when your name is called you wander back to the little room where you will be sitting for 4 hours to have the poisonous drugs infused to your body. This particular course of treatment took along time, they are not always this long, some we had were all day affairs, some were 2 hours. In these rooms there are two recliners, so that two people are having treatments at the same time. We came into that room and Mary was already in her recliner, receiving the chemo, a man was with her. Pete and Mary's actions were very much alike. Pete taps his feet nervously all the time and I noticed Mary's feet were doing the same dance. We introduced our selves to each other. Pete and Mary shared some feelings about chemo and we all laughed as they seemed so much alike. The gentleman with her was her brother who came to support Mary through this journey. He had a book in his hand and so did I! He was reading Chicken Soup for the Soul, for Cancer patients, and guess what, so was I! They were two of the kindest people we have ever met in a chemo room. We talked and laughed and the time went so fast! We all agreed if you could ever have fun in a chemo room, this was a fun day. Mary shared her story. She had a cancer that involved her colon, and tumors that were entwined everywhere in her abdomen. Mary had already had a surgery and was doing follow up chemo at this time. Her surgery was supposed to be very involved and would be 4-5 hours long. They were going to film this procedure for students docs, it was quite a mess as Mary indicated. The day of her surgery Mary was pacing nervously because they kept bumping her surgery time to a later hour, this happened two times, something more critical needed attention. Her daughter-in-law was with her. Mary said her faith was strong but nothing like her daughter-in-laws. Mary described the daughter-in-law as being the most spiritual person she knew! Mary was going crazy waiting around for the surgery, she hadn't even been prepped yet so she was in a waiting area filled with other people. In the waiting are, Mary's daughter-in-law, proclaimed out loud for all to hear, You don't have to have the surgery! Everything is ok, you don't have the cancer, Jesus has taken care of it! Well, Mary was thinking, is she crazy, people in the room are staring at her! Mary said, what are you talking about. The answer from the daughter-in-law was, It's ok mom, Jesus is right here now, standing beside me and he said you don't need the surgery. Mary, did go to surgery that day! They opened her up and guess what, there was nothing wrong! Now they had xrays of the mess inside her abdomen, but presto, nothing there to fix! I think that God was present that day and of course so did she! We met her doctor that day in the chemo room. The doctor said she had no answers to what happened that day except perhaps a Miracle!! They did Mary's chemo just to make sure that there were no stray cancer cells floating about. Her daughter-in-law told her it wasn't necessary, but Mary decided to do the Chemo, just in case. Lesson learned: God speaks to his people.
If your faith is strong, you will hear him! You too, could have an encounter with God!

20 comments:

Lanny said...

Oh Marla, what a beautiful story. Our family loves to hear from people first hand how he works in His world amoung his people!

Your comment on my post, don't concern yourself about the award, I just wanted you to know how much your blog, your story touched me.

Your stories and your story, along with the post about the Dash, they have really encouraged me and lifteed up my drooping chin.

I am praying for you that you find the solace of God in this season.

Thank you so much for taking the time to think of others. I wish there was more I could say.

Kelly said...

What a beautiful story! I'm so glad you got to be a witness to it.

I wanted to tell you about a blog called "A Widow's Might." It is really good, and by a woman who works at Proverbs 31 Minstries, my favorite ministry. It is:

http://awidowsmight.blogspot.com/

Cliff said...

Thanks Dear Marla, prayers are always answered. Sometimes we don't like the answer. Sometimes we do. We do here. Great stuff.

Winifred said...

That's a lovely story and proof that miracles do exist. Thank you for telling us.

Leaon Mary said...

Hi Marla,
My name's Lea and I found you through Chatty Kelly's blog.
I'm so happy and ENCOURAGED to have read this today. Thank you for sharing it.
Lea

Scarlet said...

I wish I had the DIL's faith. Wow! What a connection to Christ and what a story...a miracle, and you witnessed it!

I love this post!

Ralph said...

Great, great story. I had heard something similiar not long ago and thought, "Yeah, right.". Then the words 'oh ye of little faith' popped into my head. I will never doubt.
Ralph

Jamie Dawn said...

What a fabulous story!!
Any time a person beats the heck out of cancer, I am thrilled. I don't have answers to the questions about why God takes certain people home way too early in my opinion, but I am thankful that people like Mary experience healing and a cancer-free life.
I wish that were the case for all cancer sufferers, and maybe some day a cure will be found that wipes this scourge from the face of the earth.
I've lost several loved ones to cancer, so I hate what it does to those we love.
Thanks for sharing a story of hope and inspiration!

Granny Annie said...

If we knew, what would the wonder be? You told the story well and it is a beautiful one.

Jim said...

Hi Marla, thank you for sharing your encounter with Mary. I have heard first hand of this happening too.
I also witnessed a friend who had faith there would be no cancer but she was wrong.
Life and our God are mysteries that we won't understand completely in this life..
..
BTW, Mrs. Jim smiled about when I showed the picture to her and told the story behind it. I don't know if she has read the blog. She didn't say anything so probably she didn't.
..

sailorcross said...

Hi Marla!

I found you through Chatty Kelly and decided to stop by!!

I'm so glad I did!! I love hearing stories of God's miracles, and this was truly one of them.

I know the holidays are a difficult time with a recent loss--I've lost many people in my life. Rest in the assurance that he is with Jesus now--no pain, no suffering--all of that gone!!

I hope you have a blessed day!

Beth

Greg C said...

Wow that is an amazing story. A co-worker of mine had a huge cancer in his abdomin a few years ago. This thing was huge. It was so large that it made him look pregnant. The doctors decided to open him up just to see if they could remove some of it just to give him some comfort in his last days. They found this tumor was only attached to his appendix so they simply removed it along with the tumor and he was fine.

possum said...

WOW!

LZ Blogger said...

Marla ~ What a great story! God speaks to us all... but some are deaf to his Word! ~ jb///

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi Marla! What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing this. Lisa

Edie said...

I absolutely LOVE this Marla! I love that Mary's DIL was sensitive to the sound of His voice and that she believed Him.

What a blessing that God arranged the circumstances such that you would all meet that day.

EV said...

Great story, Marla! God waits so patiently for us to talk with Him.

Janell said...

Marla; thank you so MUCH for sharing that story! What an inspiration! God's answers to prayers are perfectly timed for the person who is the subject of those prayers. Mary's experience certainly helped to build up your faith, as well as mine.

I sure do wish He had answered my prayers to heal Pete, but I trust that His plan, whatever it is, is for the best for everyone involved.

Ralph said...

Hope you are just busy and everything is okay.
Ralph

Lucy Stern said...

The trick is to listen, when God talks. I honestly believe things like that can happen and It is called a miracle! God's miracle!

Merry Christmas Marla.