"In all their distress He too was distressed,
and the angel of His presence saved them.
In His love and mercy He redeemed them;
He lifted them up and carried them;
all the days of old."
(Isaiah 63:9)
How do you convince someone who has endured so much suffering, and who has already lost all of his large intestine due to a relentless, chronic disease, that God loves him more than he could ever imagine? When I first met Mason, he was an angry young man, and understandably so. There were so many things happening in his life that he could not understand. Fortunately, it wasn't my job to convince him of anything. God was bringing everything together and setting things in motion behind the scenes to demonstrate His love for Mason in the most incredible way. It was truly an amazing thing to witness God's love for this lost and hurting child!
After our time of prayer for Mason, we headed to church. It was around the first week of September, 2011, and this church was just beginning their annual "At the Movies" series. This series, which was purposely planned around the month of highest attendance each year, was my children's absolute favorite series. Not only did this series always contain a great message that pointed people to Christ, it was sure to keep your attention. The pastor would take a popular movie, show clips from the movie, then take the theme and turn it into a powerful message. I was confident that this particular series had the potential to reach Mason. Now that all of his anger had surfaced, I was praying that this message would somehow touch Mason's heart. I wasn't confident that we would be able to get him back in church again any time soon.
I continued to pray silently in the car as we headed toward the church. We made our way in and slipped into the back of the church. My mind was on Mason the entire time, and even as we began our time of worship, I continued to pray that Mason would feel the presence of God. Although Mason did not appear ready or willing to receive anything, because of the powerful prayers that had just been prayed over his life, I felt hopeful.
It wasn't long into this service that it became evident to me that God intended for Mason to be at this very service. The movie, Cinderella Man, inspired by the life story of heavyweight boxing champion, James J. Braddock, was a story of hope and triumph in the midst of seemingly impossible circumstances. In the story, which takes place during The Great Depression, this former light heavyweight champion is offered a chance to come back after a career ending injury had left him struggling for work to provide for his family. The circumstances appeared impossible for this 10-1 underdog, but with much more at stake than just a title, he refused to give up. Against all odds, with everything on the line, he demonstrates no fear and goes on to pull one of the greatest upsets in boxing history.
After we viewed clips from this inspirational story, the pastor began to speak to us. He asked if anyone was facing something that appeared hopeless or impossible. He began to call out different scenarios that many of us have faced at one time or another in our lives. When he mentioned disease, I saw Mason raise his hand up as high as it would go. "Me!" he shouted out. The pastor then went on to deliver another powerful message as he assured us that nothing we face in this life is too big for God. He had Mason's undivided attention.
Mason left the service on this night in a much different state of mind. He no longer appeared angry. Although he had demanded that Michelaine take him home before we left for church, he did not ask to leave again. Something had changed inside of him. I believe that perhaps, for the first time in his life, he had hope.
Once we got back to my house, it became evident that something was also taking place inside of Mason's body. He began throwing up profusely. This was not typical for him, and this continued on throughout much of this night. I don't really have a clear explanation for this, but because I had prepared Michelaine that Mason might get worse before he got better, we wondered if this might be a result of our prayers. It was hard to know for sure, and it was a little frightening. Yet, in a strange way, we both had a peace.
Something else surfaced in Mason shortly after this, and one night he "broke" emotionally. He crawled up in Michelaine's lap, got in a fetal position, and began to cry. "I ain't got no friends," he kept saying over and over. "I am all alone." It was one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever witnessed. Michelaine just held him in her arms like a baby and assured him over and over that it was going to be okay.
I want to go back and mention something I forgot in the previous blog. Michelaine had been given a sign, shortly after their first visit with us, that let her know God had ordained our time together long before the two of us had reconnected through facebook.
Years earlier, before Mason had become so critically ill, Michelaine felt that God was calling her to something. It was one night during a church service that she felt this calling, and she documented this in her Bible, along with the date. She told me that she remembered feeling that the date was significant. After she returned from their visit with us, during a time she was still struggling with doubt, she pulled out her Bible and noticed the date she had written in it. It was August 18th, my birthday, and the day of Kaylee's healing. In that instant, she told me that she felt a peace that God was leading her. Amazingly, He had already provided her with an answer for Mason, even before the crisis came. Because of this assurance, she was able to remain steadfast in the weeks leading up to Mason's surgery, no matter how bad things appeared.
Although we were seeing many changes in Mason, he had still not asked Jesus into his heart. It was evident that God was working, but again, I believe there were many doubts and questions in his mind. In many ways, Mason reminded me of the children I had worked with and counseled through the years. He had a rough exterior, but deep down, I believe that he just needed to know that he had value and worth. God had instilled the importance of this in me by using the troubled children in my classroom to bring me messages concerning Kaylee's healing. He was about to reach Mason in the same way (by playing the broken "violin"). I didn't even think anything about it when I asked Mason if he would pray for a friend of ours who was in some serious trouble. Mason eagerly agreed and took this "assignment" very seriously.
Michelaine and Mason had been making plans to move in with us, and were back and forth a few times before finally settling in. During one of their trips back to Birmingham, Mason stayed in the car to pray while Michelaine ran into the store to pick up a few things. While Mason was in the car praying for our friend, he had a life-changing encounter with God.
While this was taking place, the children and I were in church. In the middle of the service, I began to get numerous text messages telling me about his experience! After he texted me, he ran into the store to tell his mother about it. He was overcome with excitement about what had just happened to him, and Michelaine could not keep him quiet. He could not contain his enthusiasm about his experience with God!
I believe that Mason was saved that night in the car, as he experienced the mighty presence of God, but he came back to my house wanting to make sure he went through the proper steps of salvation. He prayed to receive Jesus into his heart, and from that point forward, he was a completely different child! I had never witnessed such a dramatic turnaround in my life, and for the next few weeks, we had an amazing time together with God. After they moved in, we would gather together at night to pray. Mason was the one making sure that we didn't miss a night. The weeks leading up to Mason's surgery were filled with a new excitement and hope!
With Mason's surgery quickly approaching, Michelaine was hard at work preparing for their trip to Cincinnati. There were so many details that I had never even considered, including working out a private plane ride to get him there. Everyday life with Mason was a full time job for her, but she handled it all amazingly well. This time, however, in addition to all of the normal planning, she was also working hard to prepare her spiritual "battle plan" for the trip.
She created a facebook page inviting everyone to join us in prayer for Mason during this surgery. She also called a fast. Bob and his wife joined us, and we all began fasting and praying together over this surgery that was ahead.
Mason's new found faith was one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. Not only was he like a sponge, taking everything in about God, he was a "clean slate" with pure, child-like faith. He had not been programmed by any specific teaching or theology telling him what God would or wouldn't do. He didn't limit God at all, and believed in Him completely! Those personality characteristics, which once seemed to be a negative, made the "new" Mason all the more beautiful! Mason would NOT stop talking to everyone about God!
With our "battle plan" in place, we were counting down the days to Mason's surgery, scheduled for mid-October. Mason had to be in Cincinnati about a week before the surgery, and I had planned a birthday party for Barret right before he was scheduled to leave. I invited several boys to come camp out in the backyard and to watch some football together. I had also invited a couple of Barret's cousins to spend the weekend with us. We had a house full that Friday night, October 7th.
Although Mason was doing very well spiritually, he was continuing to struggle physically. That Friday night, less than two days before he was scheduled to leave, he suddenly took a terrible turn for the worse. I was asleep in the next room when I heard him get up and start throwing up again. This happened several times, and at some point in the night, Mason got so terrified by what was happening to him that he began insisting that he needed to go to the emergency room. Normally, he would do anything to avoid a trip to the hospital, so I knew it was bad! Michelaine was always the one insisting that they go, but this time, she was afraid that if she took him, he would be admitted and they would miss their scheduled flight to Cincinnati. She was well aware of how things worked, and if they felt Mason was too sick for the flight, he might miss his surgery altogether.
It was a very long night, to say the least, and not knowing what else to do, I just laid there in the bed praying. After what seemed like forever, Mason finally calmed down and everything got quiet. At this point, I got up out of the bed to go make sure everything was okay. As I made my way toward their room, I saw the two of them laying in the middle of my living room floor. Mason was curled up in a ball, completely wiped out, and Michelaine was laying on the floor beside him asleep. I will never be able to erase that image from my mind, and in that moment, I was completely overcome by the reality of what the two of them had been living for so long! I went back to my room, fell to my knees, and began to beg God to deliver them both! I knew God had just allowed me to see a picture of what had been so heavy on His heart for a very long time.
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