Wednesday, June 30, 2010

VICTORY IN PASCAGOULA!


Our youth group from Bethel Baptist Church have been going to Pascagoula, Mississippi for the past 3 years doing back yard Bible School and various other ministries. The first year they went they met a family with 2 young boys named Jarvis and Jamarkus. They fell in love. They came back with pictures of the boys and told us all about them. Missed them terribly! Last year I got to go with them and I was blessed beyond measure. Not only by meeting so many sweet parents and children but also by watching our teenagers grow in their service to God and their love for others. But when we set up for our Bible School at the same apartment complex they had been at the year before, they were disappointed to learn that Jarvis and Jamarkus were not living there any more. They talked to the apartment manager and he knew where they had moved to and contacted them so they could come! They were so excited to see our teenagers! To know they had not been forgotten, to know that the people from Kentucky REALLY loved them....and so did Jesus!! They all had a great time. This year I didn't get to go with them, but was praying for them and getting texts and phone calls from them letting me know what all was going on. Imagine my suprise when I got a phone call from Marlo and when I answered a sweet little voice said..."Is this Ms Sheila?" I said yes and he said "Guess what I just did? I just prayed and asked Jesus into my heart!" I don't have words to describe the joy I felt...knowing that this precious baby boy was now my brother in Christ! One of mothers of another child got saved too! 3 trips to Mississippi, 3 years in a row. It was so worth every mile, every gallon of gasoline, every anxious moment, every prayer, every tear...to know that even if I never see him in Pascagoula again.....


I will get to see his sweet face in Heaven some day! I am so proud of you Jarvis!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

MADISON COUNTY RELAY FOR LIFE

I was honored to be able to speak at the Relay for Life event at Mike Caudill Middle School on Friday night. God gave me words and helped me tell my story without crying uncontrollably. This is what I said:

"On Monday Nola came to the Richmond Register where I work to talk to Lori and Ronica about the Relay tab that was printed on Wednesday. I've known Nola for many years and she asked them if I still worked there and then came over and asked me to speak tonight. I said "No I can't" But Nola said "Yes you can." Lori and Ronica said "Yes you can." They both told me I was one of the strongest women they knew. But I promise I'm not. If I have any strength at all it is because of my God. He gets me up out of bed every morning and I praise Him because I couldn't even be standing here without Him.
I went home and called my pastor Kenny Davis and he said "yes you can, if you do it in God's strength." He prayed with me and I decided to do it.
I'm positive that everyone here today has been affected in some way by cancer. Some of you are fighting the battle right now. Alot of you are cancer survivors. Many of you know how hard it is to watch a loved one suffer with the pain of not just the disease but the treatment of the disease.
My 20 year old son Tony was diagnosed with a malignant tumor behind his sinus cavity in January of 1995. He was in the hospital for 3 months. It took a month to even diagnose him but after they did, he had aggressive chemo (I remember the nurses called it the Red Devil) every weekend and radiation Monday thru Friday. But he died just 2 months later on March 25. I was devastated.
My husband Roger was diagnosed with lung cancer in April 2002. In the 7 years between these dark times in my life alot of research was done and alot of progress was made in the treatment of cancer. But again I was devastated because it didn't help my husband. He died too in October 2003. He was 52. He wasn't hospitalized the way Tony was, just when he had low counts and once when he had pancreatitis. I was honored and blessed to be able to take care of him at home.
Before Tony died, he had a talk with me. Well, he couldn't talk but he had a letter board that he used to spell out words. He told me not to be mad at God. That if he could go back and change things and not be sick he wouldn't. That because of his sickness alot of people had become closer to each other and to closer God. He trusted God and knew that He was in control. It was his courage and faith that kept me going. The same was true with Roger. He kept telling everyone his was a "win/win" situation. If God healed him here on earth, he won and if God chose to take him home, he won. And so even in my devastation...when I thought I would never have joy in my life again...I have been blessed beyond measure. God gives me joy unspeakable in so many ways that if I started naming them ya'll would have to listen to me all night.
We are here tonight to remember our loved ones that lost the battle with cancer, and to honor those who have won that battle or are still fighting the battle. We are here to raise money for more research that will bring us closer to a cure. Even though I have lost more loved ones and friends to this horrible disease in the 15 years since Tony died, I also have many loved ones and friends that have won the battle, in particular my brother-in-law Gordon. I praise God for them.
If you are here tonight and you are in that place where you have no hope and you feel like you will never have joy again, please believe me when I say there is hope. There will be joy. Have faith.
We have to keep on fighting. We have to keep up the research. We can never give up hope. But most of all we have to keep on praying to Almighty God for a cure.
Psalm 103 verse 2 says, "Bless the Lord. O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases."
Even though neither Tony or Roger had a lot of money to leave me when they died, they did give me something far more valuable. The assurance that they had eternal life in Heaven and that we would be together again someday. The most precious gift you will ever give your loved ones is one that won't cost you anything. Jesus already paid for it."

I hope God was honored and someone was encouraged. I still miss my guys.

Tony in his white t-shirt showing off his new tatoo that gave his momma a heart attack! Must admit though that it was a neat tatoo. An American bald eagle with it's wing (American flag) across it's beak.
This is Roger at the Relay for Life the year after Tony died.