I’m sure many of you have seen the “Message from God” Facebook app, this is a story of how one particular message took on lifelong meaning. It had been a long, hard day. I was physically and emotionally exhausted and my heart was broken by the news that my friend, the 23-year-old son of a dear friend of mine, had end-stage bone cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments weren’t working and he was hopelessly discharged from the hospital. He went to a famous cancer hospital looking for a second opinion and a glimmer of hope, but the light we had long hoped for was not there either.
It didn’t make sense to me. Hope is sometimes the only thing that stands between life and death, couldn’t you at least try to offer that? I always cling to hope, it is my lifeline. I have learned not to always believe what I am told. I walk by faith, not by sight, and I surround myself with eternal hope. This is how I continue to fight my own battle against cancer. I prayed that my young friend would find the strength and courage to hold on to hope and never give up, no matter the diagnosis.
I saw her mom at the Healing Mass and I could see the pain on her face. It was only a few years ago that she lost her husband suddenly to cancer and now her eldest son was also being called home. She could feel her helplessness and her desperation for a miracle. Our meeting left me with a very heavy heart. When I got home I lit a candle and prayed for the family and that God would give me the words to comfort that mother’s heart.
As I got ready for bed, I went online to quickly check my email and Facebook. When I opened Facebook I found a daily “Message from God” post waiting for me on my wall. His timing, as always, was impeccable.
“In life you can absolutely count on one thing: everything can change in a day, in a minute sometimes. Don’t you dare give up, you could be a moment away from victory.” ~MessageFromGod
He had just asked God for words, and He sent the perfect ones! No matter how bad it looks right now, we can’t give up. We have to do everything we can to turn that feeling of defeat into the ultimate battle for victory. That message inspired me to take action. I started thinking about what I could do to send a hopeful message to my friends.
I decided to empower her mom by giving her a lesson on healthy juicing. She started making healthy and nutritious fruit and vegetable smoothies for her son. She was so happy when she later reported that she could feed it to him with a spoon and he would keep some of it. She found hope in being able to feed him and make it delicious for him. I watched his helplessness turn into a sigh of relief.
I also picked up a blank journal with a great writing pen for your son. We had a great heart to heart about heaven and earth and his dad. I presented him with my gift and encouraged him to keep a journal. I find journaling to be very healing and even liberating. I told him that I knew he thought his story was going to be a bestseller and that he had better start writing it. I tried to give him hope for the future by telling him that once he was cured he should think about becoming an exercise guru to help people eat better and live stronger. I prayed that my hope for his future would be enough to spark his own hope. No matter the end result, living in hope is much better than living in despair.
I am sharing this story to remember my friend and to remind my readers that it is not just about helping others, we truly are the hands and feet of God here on earth! Just as our brain communicates with our body, God communicates with us AND through us. He sends a lot of messages, and not just through the Facebook apps, lol. Listen to what God is saying to you in your life and remember the message of this and every day:
“No matter what happens, don’t you dare give up!”
“In life you can absolutely count on one thing: everything can change in a day, in a minute sometimes. Don’t you dare give up, you could be a moment away from victory.” ~MessageFromGod