“Jesus please, could I have more time here with my children…”
At thirty eight I was diagnosed with a very aggressive type of breast cancer. I had five children, the youngest just two years old. I was very fearful but God had spoken to me very clearly the day of my mammogram and said “There is life after cancer” so He prepared me for this news reassuring me of His loving care.
I was concerned to pray as God led in this situation. I knew I had the promise of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ, and had once been blessed by a vision of heaven that filled me with joy and hope for that time; but my heart’s cry was, “Jesus please, could I have more time here with my children, just enough for the little ones to remember me”…
At that time a group of friends and I met in each others homes once a week for fellowship and to sing to God and pray. I asked if they would please pray for me, but only if God led them to. One friend had a picture come to her mind from God. It was of a line drawn on the ground. God spoke to her and said we were to pray that the enemy’s work be pushed back behind the line and God’s kingdom be established in my life. So that is what we prayed as I waited for surgery…
Each day the lump felt ever so slightly smaller…
The day of my operation came. I had a feeling of knowing that God could heal me completely come upon me, and almost simultaneously the certainty that He would not. ( I found out later that He had a much better plan for my life , and I would not want to change a thing).
Following radical surgery, as I was recovering in the hospital, the astonished surgeon, who had expected a wide spread of the cancer, reported that there had been no spread at all into either the lymph or blood system. I praised and thanked our merciful God out loud in my bed, surprising the poor surgeon even more. Our prayers had been answered!
Later, when my youngest son reached twelve, and my heart cry had been fully answered I rejoiced again as I do to this day, having been blessed to see all my children grow up, and to hold my grandchildren.