Nancy Sanders
In my life’s journey and story I have found that God often speaks and gives His followers his presence in many ways, some small, some very large and some too wondrous to appreciate at the time.
My 17 year old son was diagnosed with relapsed leukemia in the fall of 2013. As he was super high risk and very sick, Dale left our home the day we found his cancer had recurred and was not allowed to come home. Instead Dale spent the last 6 months of his senior year of high school living between the hospital and the hospital-provided bone marrow housing apartment. Not exactly the way he was planning on spending his senior year of high school!
After having a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor, there were many, many complications. Two months after the bone marrow transplant Dale was discharged to the apartment, but was quickly re-admitted to the pediatric oncology unit. As the next 2½ months in the hospital unfolded Dale continued to have a host of very severe things occurring. In that time period he was moved to the pediatric intensive care unit (again!) and this time was placed on a ventilator to breathe for him.
One day within the span of about 4 hours I received two texts from two different people that they had had a vision of Jesus sitting at Dale’s head. Not an angel, but Jesus himself! One of the people who contacted me was a friend who herself had lost not only her daughter but also her husband 2 short years later to cancer! She knew what we were going through; the pain, the terror, the sadness, the unbelief, the worry, the no sleep, etc. This woman is an unbelievable prayer warrior and prays like no one I ever met. She had prayed with me many times but she never, ever promised me that God would heal Dale. She did not promise what God hadn’t told her to say. So to have her tell me that she had seen Jesus at Dale’s head, talking with Dale (as Dale was totally sedated and unable to communicate) was, to say the least, pretty awesome, but at the same time a bit unnerving.
I was awestruck but didn’t quite get the significance of the message these two people were giving me until a bit later.
About two weeks later our family made the agonizing decision to take Dale off of the respirator knowing he would die. There was nothing more that could be done, medicine had done all that it could. He was just 20 days past turning 18 years old.
In the days and weeks after Dale’s death, one difficult day I was reminded that it was not just an angel, but instead it was Jesus himself that was with Dale. God knew Dale’s earthly life was ending and I believe sent me not one’ but two messages of comfort! I will not paint a rosy picture and say that all has been great, fine, or wonderful. We’ve had some unbelievably dark and scary periods for all of our family in the 14 months since our beloved Dale transitioned into God’s presence.
I know that Dale is with God. I live it, I believe. And when I’m having a particularly rough day (or week!) God continues to whisper to me that he was with Dale in those dark and scary final earthly days, and I have the proof. Proof provided by two faithful people who walked beside of us in our journey and helped to ease a mother’s anguish by witnessing to God’s continuing LOVE, CARE, and FAITHFULNESS!!
Nancy Sanders