A New Life - pg. 3

The men asked if they could talk to us and mom said yes. They told her that they were Christians and that they had come to the hospital to pray for the patients and their families. They had been through all four floors and were in their car ready to leave when they felt they had missed one. So they returned and walked through all the floors again then the hallway. They didn't see anyone new.

Then they heard the squeak and felt that this is the one, go pray for them. They asked mom if they could pray for us and again she said yes. She said we needed all the help we could get. They prayed that we would come to know the Lord through this experience and that even though our family was apart, we would be together again. They were very nice and my mom seemed more at peace after they prayed. She was surprised that complete strangers would pray for us, but she said she felt better and had some peace and hope.

We didn't go to any church even though my parents had both been raised LDS. They had stopped going to church when they were younger because they disagreed with some of the teachings and then chose to live a rebellious lifestyle. They figured that their life choices had already determined their future and they didn't need church to remind them that they weren't good enough.

Having Christians pray for us was a new experience for mom. Why would they spend their free time helping people they didn't even know? They didn't have any special authority to pray and mom definitely didn't feel worthy of prayer. Yet they were genuinely kind and sincere and there was no doubt mom felt peace from the time we spent with them. Something started that day from a simple encounter that would lead to other encounters and eventually we would meet the One who would change everything.

A few weeks later we were able to go home for the weekend again. On the way home I was asleep in the car and mom was looking at me. She ran her fingers through my hair as I slept and when she pulled her hand away it was full of my hair. It scared her so badly that she almost ran off the road. Once we were at home she told dad about my hair. Mom and dad told me that the medicine would make my hair fall out, but that when I was done with the medicine it would come back. That's why we got matching hats for my birthday.

I reached up and ran my fingers through my hair and sure enough it came out by the handfuls. Mitch asked if it hurt and I said no and asked him to try it. He did and before long between the both of us I didn't have much hair left. Dad asked me if I wanted him to cut off the rest which I did. Within a few minutes I was sporting a new look. Mitch had the sides of his head shaved so that I wouldn't be the only one without all my hair.

Before long the radiation treatments were done and the tumor had shrunk. It was no longer putting pressure on my eye so the stitches were removed. The doctor's would explain the MRI's to mom and show her how the tumor was getting smaller and smaller, it was great news.

One morning when mom arrived I was not awake to give her the usual morning hug. She knew something was wrong because I was extremely pale and lifeless. She quickly asked the nurse what was wrong and was informed that I was reacting badly to the chemo and that we just needed to wait and see. She came back to the room and cried; she felt so helpless and alone. While crying she wished that those two men would return and pray for us again, but she had no way of contacting them so she prayed.

She told God that she didn't deserve his help, but that she would be so grateful for any help he would give me. Praying made her feel better and not so alone. After she prayed she felt that same peace she had felt before. Later that day I woke up and started doing better. The next morning when she arrived at the hospital she could hear my voice before she reach the room and I was saying, "Baa ram ewe, Baa ram ewe." I was standing on my bed and happily repeating the word from the movie Babe. What a change from the day before, her prayer had been answered.