Miracles Happen

I was gathered with my church choir tonight right after our rehearsal, when we share prayer requests and praises. I've been overwhelmed lately with all the prayer requests for children in bad situations and for the number of people who are discovering they have cancer.

One of the hardest cases recently is a man my age. He was an emergency room physician who has always kept himself in the very best physical condition possible. He and his wife and three children, as well as their parents and other family members, are strong in their faith. This has been a definite advantage for them over the past couple of years after he was first diagnosed with bladder cancer.

We thought the treatment he received was successful -- surgery, chemo, radiation. It was tough to see this strong bicyclist at less than his physical peak.

Wave after wave of setbacks led to the ultimate announcement that extreme surgery was needed. The recovery would make his previous problems look like nothing.

But tonight he was at choir again, stronger every week since he's been able to come back the past month or two. This man, who was so near death, was a little sore tonight -- from taking part in his son's scout camp over the weekend. God's hand has brought him back to becoming a strong man again, enjoying his physical body and testing its new limits.

Ah, but that's just one part of this story. Tonight, HE had a prayer request for his wife's aunt.

The aunt had been checked after a lymph node became tender and swollen. The biopsy showed an adenoma, one of the worst types of cancer. Usually, by the time it is detected in the lymph nodes, the cancer is a Stage 3 or 4 at least, meaning there's not much hope.

The doctors in her small north Texas town were unable to find a tumor where they expected it to be. The genetic signature of the cancer cells indicated it was probably located in the pelvis, but nothing could be found at the local clinic.

The aunt then was sent to M.D. Anderson in Houston. They did complete body scans of every type.

Their conclusion? Yes, there had been a cancer of this type, but it was nowhere to be found in her body now.

The doctors' explanation was that her immune system was strong enough to deal with the tumor and conquered it, leaving only the cell that was found in the lymph node.

I'll accept that. Being that wonderously created is plenty of miracle for me. God heals, even when we aren't aware of it. Miracles come in all kinds of ways.