If Ever There Was A Sign, I Got One Yesterday

Has God ever spoke directly to you? Well, He did to me yesterday and there was no confusion in what He was trying to say to me.

I have to share this because it was just so wonderful. I want to stand on a mountaintop and scream it to the world and the Internet is my mountain of choice. Here's a quick run down of the situation followed by my miraculous God moment.

As you know, my grandmother just had brain surgery because she has cancer. Well, the surgery Friday went well, but the doctors weren't able to remove all of the tumors. She's very agitated and aggressive every time she comes out of anesthesia, so that was an issue, as well as some cognitive stuff, but that's expected. The woman just had brain surgery. She's been there for six days now and on Monday they had to open her incision again because blood was clotting under her scalp, which could cause infection. She stayed another night in SICU after that and came out of the anesthesia fighting once more.

Because of her cognitive issues, she will need some form of therapy after leaving the hospital (which could be today). She'll be moving to Trust Point, another hospital here designed for cases like hers.

Last night, her oncologist came by the room and told us that her pathology report came in and it was consistent with grade four cancer. The levels are only one to four, meaning this is a pretty bad deal and her tumors are incredibly aggressive. Despite all of her cognitive issues, she had no trouble understanding what her doctor meant when he said that.

"Well, it doesn't sound good. Four," she said to my mom after he left.

My mom knelt down next to my grandmother and proceeded to tell her my story...

Yesterday, I went to the gym to try and work through some of the stress that's been plaguing me in the last few weeks (graduation is two days away!). I was in the women's circuit room, moving from machine to machine and thinking about everything that's been going on lately. I was walking through the room and something across it caught my eye -- someone had neglected to turn off the television after leaving one of the treadmills.

I don't even know what channel it was set to, but all I could see were the words Jeremiah 33:6 with the verse written above it in smaller print. 'Hmm,' I thought, 'wonder what that verse says.' But as I began to walk toward the treadmill, it faded away before I could get there. I reminded myself to look it up after leaving the gym. I continued with my workout, checking my phone now and then for any updates regarding my grandmother.

Mom had asked me to take care of a few last minute Christmas shopping things, so I planned to do that before heading back up to the hospital. I went to the bank and deposited some graduation money (and ended up accidentally taking an entire book of deposit slips... oops!) and then headed to the mall.

'Oh! Jeremiah 33:6,' I thought to myself on the way.

I grabbed my phone and googled the verse. Even though I was in the car alone, I audibly gasped when I read it:

"Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and let them enjoy abundant peace and security." -- Jeremiah 33:6 (NIV)

Never in my life has something been so clear, so obvious. God was speaking to me and saying my grandmother will be ok. I called my mom and we cried together on the phone. In Jeremiah, God speaks to the people of Jerusalem. Other versions of this same verse name the people directly, but when I pulled it up on my phone, New International Version is the first one I saw.

He is the Ultimate Healer and it's in His hands. By leaving it in His hands, I know we can beat this cancer. And we will.