When U Pray

Please read below as Meleah Denson explain how she fought like a girl with her sister through her diagnosis of breast cancer….🎀
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose” Rom 8:28. I’ve have had that scripture book marked and highlighted for years. It has been somewhat of a safety net in times of struggle and uncertainty, but I had never actually tested how strong that safety net was until February 2013 when my big sister Daneka was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. 

Hearing the doctor speak those words to my family was like being underwater. I faintly heard bits and pieces of what was being said, but I was overwhelmed and fighting not to sink into fear, sorrow and disappointment. My sister was an otherwise healthy 34 year old. I just could not wrap my mind around why someone so young was hit with such an aggressive cancer. It was unfair and just wrong. I won’t deny I felt anger and resentment towards God, but while I prayed and released my feelings to Him, He reminded me once more that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. I definitely could not understand why my sister and family was chosen to endure this particular situation, but I had to trust that my Father would look out for me. Like Job I had to decide that no matter what my life looks like or what I go through God is still good and I have to always trust Him. 

That’s a hard attitude to adopt when you go from being able to go to your sister for any and everything and being able to rely on her, to her relying on you. My family rallied around my sister and together we gave her all the support she needed. I was with my sister everyday during her fight, right up until she decided to end her fight on Earth and continue it in heaven on June 12, 2015. 

Although my heart wept for the loss of my sister, my spirit was comforted in knowing that there will always be a “good” that manifests from every situation. That “good” may not be manifested for years, but knowing that my sister’s life and fight with cancer was not meaningless helps me hold on to hope and remember her with pride. Watching my sister fight her cancer the way she did stirred something in me. Despite what she was faced with, she refused to give up and when God told her the fight was to be taken up a different way, she didn’t groan or complain, she trusted her assignment. Her relationship with God during her crisis inspired me to reevaluate mine. As I watched my sister love God no matter what, it caused everyone around her to do the same. Even though her health failed, everyone that knew my sister were drawn to her. Just to sit with her, talk with her, pray with her or laugh with her. Her spirit was infectious and lifted everyone around her. As I continue to love and trust God I know my relationship with Him was made stronger because of the inspiration I drew from Daneka. She was nothing short of amazing.

 In her own words found in her journal a few months after she transitioned, “This has been the most frightening thing that I have had to experience. I choose to fight this fight with a smile on my face because I know who is in control and I have faith in Him.” My prayer is that as I endure and wait for the “good” that is to come about from my sister’s fight, that someone else who struggles as they wait will be inspired to continue to trust and love God. Know that your good is already worked out and on its way. 🎀