Better Than Ever by April Osteen Simons

Author:April Osteen Simons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: N/A
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2021-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Fight for It

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”

—Margaret Thatcher

In 1981, my healthy, energetic mom went to the doctor because of a pain in her side. During her examination, he noticed something abnormal. He immediately admitted her into the hospital for extensive tests. Her “check-up” turned into a several-week stay in the hospital. The prognosis was shocking. The doctor told my mom and dad that she had metastatic cancer of the liver. At that time, he expressed that chemotherapy and radiation wouldn’t benefit her because the cancer had spread and was too far gone to respond to any treatment. As if that information wasn’t grim enough, he also added that my dear mother only had a few weeks to live.

The day Daddy brought her home from the hospital was one I’ll never forget. I assure you that I certainly wasn’t expecting what I saw. Mama had changed so drastically in a very short period of time. My once-healthy, forty-eight-year-old mom now looked very sick. Her skin was jaundiced, and she seemed so incredibly fragile. She weighed eighty-eight pounds and looked like she was ninety-eight years old. If there’s one word I could use to describe how she looked, it would have to be like “death.” I watched as my mom and dad went into their bedroom and laid down on the floor before God. Daddy spoke God’s Word over her life, saying that she would not die, but instead, she would live. He talked from his heart and in a simple, sincere plea to God said, “I need my wife and our children need their mother.”

I then watched as Mama got up and placed her Bible on the floor. She slowly put her tiny feet on the Word—she physically stood upon it! Oh yes, you read that correctly. My frail and sickly mother, who’d just received a literal death decree from her doctor, actually placed her Bible on the floor of her room and stood upon it! I’d never before, and haven’t since, seen such a graphic display of someone “standing on God’s Word.” Standing on her Bible, and with a shaky, yet bold voice, she spoke out, “Father, the only thing between me and death is Your Word…and I’m choosing to stand on Your Word.”

I watched from the doorway, unnoticed by my parents. I happened to be the only child at home during this time, and I was certainly a captive audience. I was mesmerized as I stood there, silently watching and listening. I never dreamed these moments would be forever etched in my mind or that they’d have such a powerful impact on the rest of my life. To say I was amazed would be an understatement.

The next morning, I woke up and got ready for school. I can remember, like it was yesterday, the picture I saw when I walked into our kitchen. Talk about business as usual. There on the table was my hot breakfast. My sack lunch was in its usual place on the counter, just like every other school morning.

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