Here I was in the back seat of my daughter’s car, scratching off the sticky from the side window where the sales information had been located. She had not had the used car long and she had never cleaned the sticky stuff from it. Now I was performing this meaningless activity while in shock, trying to process the information I had just received.
What seemed like just a few years earlier when I was twenty-seven my husband and I adopted a beautiful three month old baby girl. We named her Jennifer, which means “Fair Lady.” She grew up tall and stately, indeed a fair lady. She excelled in everything she tried, even doing extra credit when she had an average in the nineties. We were so proud.
When she was twenty-one, she was engaged to be married and was about to graduate from college. She had a noticeable lump on her neck, which her physician had checked on ever since she graduated from high school. It was now big enough that it showed in pictures, so she elected to have it surgically removed before all those wedding pictures were taken.
The surgery was successful. They removed half of her thyroid and told us there was a 95%chance it would not come back. We lived unaware of the true meaning of that statement until the day she was due to be released from the hospital. I was famished and had gone to the cafeteria for some lasagna. When I returned she was in the hospital bed crying, and my husband was standing over her with his hand on her shoulder. I rushed over and was hugging this distraught child of mine as they explained that the doctor had come while I was gone. He had used the dreaded “C” word: cancer. This simple, cosmetic surgery had revealed thyroid cancer.
We were all three stunned, in shock even. We packed up and headed toward our home one hundred miles away. The three of us rode in silence. No one knew what to think or say. Perhaps we were not even thinking.
As I sat there in the back seat of Jenny’s car, God spoke into the depths of my bruised spirit telling me that He wanted me to trust Him in this. Then He dropped Proverbs 3:5-6 into the stillness. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” He did not promise that all would come out all right or that she would be healed or that it would be easy. At that time I started a journey with a single step, forward. I learned to put one foot in front of the other. I kept on keeping on.
Six weeks later she had the other half of her thyroid removed. Then she was ready for the radioactive iodine treatment, which required her to be in one of the hospitals four lead shielded rooms. They gave her the dose and closed that door. She would be one her own until her radioactivity level was low enough for her to be around anyone. They checked her with a Geiger counter once a day, the only time anyone went into her room. She usually was able to come after twenty four to forty eight hours. This was the hardest time for me, since I could not be in there to be with her.
Six months later she had another treatment. The results showed that there was cancer in the back of her neck. When the news came, I shared this with her and her fiancé. Ten days later the marriage was off. There were several excuses, but I guess this young man did not want to marry a woman that was not perfect. This was another blow, but as we look back, we can see that she was saved from much heartache.
One time I was reading John 14:27 as we were driving to Birmingham for another test. It says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” I pictured this peace settling on me like dew and being absorbed into my skin like lotion.
Each day I continued to put one foot in front of the other and to keep on keeping on. Trusting is even more critical when nothing seems to make sense. All God had asked of me was to trust Him. I chose to do so. At no time was this easy or did it feel good, but I did it.
The next report showed no cancer. A year or so later God chose to completely heal her. There have been no more bad reports. This year the time between tests was increased from two years to three years. We know God has healed her, but we still have these regular checkups.
Our God is truly faithful. He is the God of all comfort in times of trouble.
By Phyllis Huie, Huntsville, AL RHUIE@aol.com
I am a homemaker in Huntsville, Alabama. My husband is an architect. Both of our children are adopted. Our daughter is thirty-one; our Korean son is twenty-six and married. He will graduate from college in the spring. Several years ago I started writing tracts for Emmanuel Full Gospel Ministry to distribute. Most of these are given to the elderly as they are ministered to at their retirement centers and nursing homes. My desire is to become ever more intimate with God and to become ever more like Jesus.