It’s Ok, I’m All Right
How?
by
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The first summer that I can recall staying with my grandparents was quite a summer. Not only did I become a Christian at age six, I was a recipient of my grandmother’s prayer for healing. I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible earache. This was six decades ago when there weren’t convenience stores or Walmart stores that are open twenty-four hours in which you could buy medicine for ear aches. My grandmother turned to the only source she knew. She asked me if I believed that God could heal my earache. My simple answer was, “If you believe He can, then I do, too.” She put her hand on my ear and prayed for healing. The pain went away, my ear was restored to hearing without pain. This was one of those situations where we could call on God for healing without being at a church service. My grandmother had a lot of faith in God. What could have been a period of despondency turned out to be the beginning of my walking in faith. Not only did I believe in my grandmother’s faith, I trusted God to heal my earache.
My becoming a Christian only guaranteed me of one thing; Christ would be there to help me. However, He would only help me as I allowed Him to help. He can only work where He is welcome.
As we go through various stages of our lives we experience disappointments. But, under what circumstances do those disappointments come? By whose judgment calls are we judging the disappointments?
As our lives progress into the adult years there are so many things we encounter. The words, “It’s ok, “I’m all right” are not necessarily appropriate for every situation.
Our enemy, Satan, knew quite well what he would like to see happen. He would like nothing better than to destroy our son, our daughter, the family and the ministry.
Some of our friends said, “You’ve had enough on your plate.” But life teaches that as long as we are here we may find ourselves with trials. It is how we get through them that makes the differences in our lives.
Surely we were finished being challenged for a while. At least I hoped so. After all, as I mentioned earlier I always have goals and plans. Those plans definitely did not include my personal struggle with cancer. Our faith would be challenged again. My diagnosis of cancer came after my husband’s stroke. How could I say, “It’s ok, I’m all right?” I had not experienced healing to the point of the mass in my chest being benign. Why did God answer the prayer for my husband’s healing and not mine? As a word of encouragement our son came up to me in the hospital and whispered, “If God can bring me home from Iraq, He can get you through this.”
My journey through the experience of chemotherapy had its moment. Or should I say sometimes its days. I had told God long before this happened that if I ended up with cancer I did not want to have to go through being constantly nauseated. He granted my prayers. I joked with the nurses, I told them, “ I must be paying rent, because I am in here longer.”
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About the Book
How can anyone who woke from an open heart procedure revealing a malignant tumor instead of a benign tumor pen these words, “It’s ok, I’m all right?”
At age fifty-four I could confidently pen those words. My faith had already been through multiple challenges. Going through chemotherapy was not going to be easy. But, some of the other challenges I had faced earlier in my life weren’t easy either. Was I disappointed? Greatly! No one looks forward to chemotherapy. The tumor had grown eight times its size. It had eaten into my heart, my vocal chord nerves and the nerves for my shoulder.
Some said, we just knew you would be healed. You were anointed at church. Had God let me down? No. My family and I could have gotten worse news. My faith still held. Eight years later I faced an even greater battle. This is my story.
About the Author
Jean Brown currently serves as Associate Pastor at the Coalgate, Oklahoma Church of the Nazarene. Prior to that, she taught Special Education and Early Childhood for twenty-seven years. She serves alongside her husband, Ken who is Senior Pastor. Jean graduated with a B.S. degree in Elementary Education from Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University) in 1973. She completed 59 graduate hours in Special Education, Early Childhood, Curriculum, and Instruction. She is the mother of two adult children. She has seven grandchildren. She and her husband have been married for forty-five years. She became a Christian at age six. It was then that her journey of serving Jesus Christ began. God spoke to her at age nine about serving Him in full time Christian service. She enjoys sharing the gospel with children and families. Encouraging others in their Christian faith brings her great satisfaction. She also finds joy in being a wife, mother, and grandmother.