When You Prayed

                    "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction 
                     that I had nowhere else to go"                        
 —Abraham Lincoln

 People - Rozalowsky, Andrew and SuzanneIt has been over a year now since I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The news came two days before Christmas 2011 along with the judgment that I was days away from death. Today I am in remission, thanks to chemotherapy, your prayers, and ultimately God’s amazing grace.

The invitation to write this article presents me with an opportunity to say thank you to our Fellowship family for those fervent prayers that lifted Suzanne, Jacob, and me up before the Lord so faithfully.

There is much to be said about how we can prepare for suffering. Establishing our theology and worldview as we head into a time of crisis helps us know how to respond to God. This is something I am writing about elsewhere. But here I want to highlight the effect your prayers had on me since the diagnosis.

Little by little the stories have emerged about the prayers of many faithful people in the Fellowship. At the 2012 National Convention, a gentleman told Suzanne how he would be reminded of us in the middle of the night and, in tears, get on his knees in prayer. Families in our churches have prayed for us with their children. I have heard of church staff praying together. Even recently, pastors have asked how I was doing. These stories perfectly capture what has been going on for an entire year and it has had a profound impact on my faith. I have not met the vast majority of you, yet you prayed for my family and me. It was undeserved but it was exactly that which gave me a more profound understanding of God’s grace in Christ that is given so freely and undeservedly. As a result, my desire to show that same love and grace toward others has deepened. My view of the body of Christ, the community, and prayer will never be the same.

To adapt the words of Paul, “How can I thank God enough for you in return for all the joy I have before our God because of you?” (1 Thessalonians 3:9).

Editor’s Note:

A post on Suzanne’s Facebook page dated November 23, 2012 said this: “I think it's safe to say at this point it's going to be a very different Christmas for our family this year! Great check up with Andrew's hematologist. His blood was ‘perfect!’"

 

—Andrew is a biblical studies student and blogs at www.andrewrozalowsky.com. He is the husband of Suzanne, who works in the National Fellowship Office in Guelph. The Rozalowskys welcomed Andrew Daniel, a baby brother for Jacob, into their family on April 10, 2013.