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It was just before my eleventh birthday when I got the news that changed my life.
I had cancer.
I didn’t understand how this could happen to me… I had always been a healthy, carefree kid. My life consisted of homeschool, church, singing, acting, dancing, and hanging out with our family of 7. None of us could have seen this coming.
It started like this: One day, I noticed a pain in my right leg that seemed to come from nowhere. As the pain increased, I limped from the discomfort and my parents began to seek answers. Doctors told me that what I was experiencing was merely growing pains. But the pain only got worse as the months droned on.
It wasn’t until I finally got an MRI that showed a small mass just below my right knee that I was sent in for surgery where they did a biopsy of the mass. Finally, after excruciating days of waiting in the hospital for results, my family and I were told that I had Ewings Sarcoma. This is a rare bone cancer that usually occurs in children during their growth period.
Have you ever felt like all that’s waiting for you on the road ahead are hard things?
My husband and I have been in a season like that recently. A season where the things we’ve been praying about are being answered, but for the most part, not how we’d “like” or how we’d expected.
I have to admit, though I am grateful to hear God’s answers to my prayers, sometimes a part of me is hesitant to fully run with what He’s said. When I start to think through what actually doing what He’s said will look like, “reason” starts to kick in. My mind gets flooded with overwhelming thoughts of how hard it will be, how some people won’t like it, and how even painful it may be. I find myself beginning to question God’s words and assuring myself that, “Surely God wouldn’t be calling me to do that.”
Do you ever do this? Many of us pray for the Lord to answer our prayers yet when He does – we miss it – because it wasn’t what we wanted to hear. We keep praying for confirmation and asking Him to make something clear when perhaps He already has, we just haven’t wanted to accept His answer. I can explain this process because I know it well. I’m guilty.
Currently, there are three major things that the Lord has asked Chris and I to do that we’ve had to come to grips with. All of which, are hard. This puts my faith to the test and causes me to do a heart check. Do I really believe that “he who trusts in the Lord will prosper?” (Proverbs 28:25).
Yes, Lord. I do.
I believe this because I know the amazing character of the God I serve. I know He’s good. I have experienced His blessing when I follow Him, and how the things He gives me are far better than the things I leave behind.
I want to encourage you if you’re in a “season of hard” and God has told you to do something that you’re scared to do… take a step of faith. It doesn’t have to be a leap, just a step. Though it may not be how you would choose to do things, trust Him. He knows you and longs to delight your heart, not burden it. Whatever it is that God is calling you to do is an integral part of His purpose for you and for others. Remember, His plans are to prosper you, not to harm you (Jeremiah 29:11). One day you will look back on those hard steps of faith that you took in your life and trace your greatest blessings back to them. We have a whole book of God’s Word that proves His track-record, and millions of testimonies of those who have run this race before us.
The last few months I’ve been tucked away writing a book that truthfully, I’m still surprised to be a part of. I am incredibly honored to have the chance to write A Book of Prayers for Young Women with my amazing mother-in-law, Stormie Omartian.
Though, to be honest, I feel completely inadequate to have my words on the pages next to her’s, I am excited about the combination of the two of us writing this book. Stormie and I represent different generations coming together to pray through issues that deeply affect young women. Our desire is that this book would come alongside women at a crucial time in their life to lead them in prayer through the situations and issues they face.
A Book of Prayers for Young Womenwill be released in April 2013.
“Bestselling author Stormie Omartian partners for the first time with her daughter-in-law, Paige, in a brand-new book of prayers specifically designed to speak to the heart of young women.
Stormie is loved by millions for her ability to share powerful prayers that encourage readers to embrace a close and personal relationship with God. Paige shares that same desire to speak to teens and young adults as they step out into the adventures of their lives, covering daily events big and small with a few moments before the throne of grace.
This beautiful padded volume is full of Scripture, praise, prayers, and petitions a young woman can offer up over her own life and the lives of those she loves. A Book of Prayers for Young Women is perfect for personal use or as a gift to anyone who wants to grow in her conversations with God.”
