Embracing Grace: Mitchell's Triumph over Kidney Cancer and the Power of Faith

Speaker 1: 0:06

Hello, welcome to another episode of the Pure Faith Podcast, a podcast where we discuss all things Bible. I am your co-host, michelle, and this is my brother, mitchell, and we are here to I don't know. Ask that you like this video. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and do not forget about hitting the notification icon when new episodes are released, so that way it tells you that you can see our smiling faces or hear our beautiful voices through whatever streaming platform you use.

Speaker 2: 0:35

My face hurts.

Speaker 1: 0:36

Why does your face hurt? I'm smiling. I'm sure there are other things hurt as well. So how's your? How are things going? You have an update.

Speaker 2: 0:45

I'm recovering. I'm still alive.

Speaker 1: 0:47

He is, I know right. We talked about this we talked. There were three possible options that could happen.

Speaker 2: 0:54

So far me dying has been taken off the table, at least me dying of surgery. So that's good yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:04

And it was a hundred percent cancer.

Speaker 2: 1:06

It was cancer. There was the way he basically said it. There's three different stages of cancer, at least as far as kidney cancer is concerned, where you have the, the kind that's cancerous but it just doesn't really do a whole lot. Then you have the kind that is like extremely aggressive, and then you have the stuff that's kind of in the middle Mine was in the middle part, so it was growing but it wasn't aggressive. It was a hundred percent clear, clear cell cancer and but it was not marginal, so it was all contained within the tumor. There was nothing like spreading anywhere else. So they are very, very, very confident they got everything and that I shouldn't have any issues going forward. I still want to have followup appointments and this and that and the other, but I think only for three years and then as long as nothing pops up anywhere else, then I get a little help again.

Speaker 1: 2:08

Yeah, so that's kind of what I've been telling people as well, that you know it. After three months you'll probably have your first scan and then you'll probably do that for the first year three months, and then every three months, and then you'll probably go on to just two a year and then one final one, and then you'd probably be about done as long as nothing else shows.

Speaker 2: 2:27

Yeah, so, but as of right now, I should be cancer free.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Let's hope that stays, yeah. So, and also for those of you who did not hear, mitchell's surgery went really well and they kicked him out of the hospital after about 48 hours.

Speaker 2: 2:47

No, it was not 48 hours, just three days.

Speaker 1: 2:51

The first day you were actually in surgery for the majority of the day.

Speaker 2: 2:57

I got out of surgery at like 130.

Speaker 1: 3:02

And out of recovery about 330.

Speaker 2: 3:06

Yeah, but that's not yeah.

Speaker 1: 3:08

Well, but really, if you think about it, when you were actually out of recovery, say 330, and you and that was on Wednesday, and you were released from the hospital on Friday about 330. That's about 48 hours, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 3:26

If you go by, biblical time is three days.

Speaker 1: 3:28

Okay, we'll go by biblical time.

Speaker 2: 3:30

It's three days. Is any part of a day cancer as a whole day?

Speaker 1: 3:34

Okay, so anyhow, much better than seven to 10 days or whatever the maximum was for the, that was the max. Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 2: 3:42

It was always going to be three to seven days. That's what they did. Three was best case scenario, seven is the worst case scenario. So it was always going to be between that three to seven, and it was just at that shorter end.

Speaker 1: 3:54

I mean, you didn't even hardly make your actual room comfortable by the time you got kicked out of it.

Speaker 2: 3:58

No.

Speaker 1: 3:59

Because he was in the ICU for a good part of that time. He was able to have visitors. So I was there for the surgery, mom was there for the surgery. Of course, paige was there for the surgery. We sat in the waiting room. I didn't see you that day. I had a much more important matter to take care of.

Speaker 2: 4:18

Somebody had to get their hair done.

Speaker 1: 4:19

Somebody had to get their hair done because they had a wedding that weekend and kept missed that appointment. So I was like peace out, I'm going home. So I didn't get to see you that first night. I know that mom and Paige stayed then and then you had the pleasure of seeing myself and Olivia and Kennedy the next day. Olivia said that you had them cracking up. And they were telling you some crazy stuff. We were just asking them random questions.

Speaker 2: 4:55

I don't think they were that random. Oh, my God but anytime my monitor thing would beep, they would freak out, and so I tried to get it to go off where it was really going off, and it wouldn't do it.

Speaker 1: 5:07

It wouldn't do it. Oh my yikes. Yeah, they did they well. So the last time Olivia went to visit somebody in the hospital was Missy, so she was very anxious about it to begin with, and I don't know why she thought you were going to go from this to what Missy looked like when she passed away overnight and so I was like he looks like Mitchell, except for he's got a hospital gown on.

Speaker 1: 5:35

There's no difference to him. He has a couple of wires coming out of him, but he's fine. But she was very hesitant. So whenever I left the room after our visit, I left the room and I went to tell them they could go in. She's like okay, it'll be just about five minutes. And I said okay, she's like yeah, she's like I'm just very nervous. I'm like all right, so five minutes, 30 minutes later I just kept looking out in the hallway. I'm like are they ever going to come back out Better?

Speaker 2: 6:01

conversation yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:02

They they stay for about 30 minutes to visit with you.

Speaker 2: 6:07

Yeah, that was good.

Speaker 1: 6:09

Yeah, you will have to tell your Zeke story, though, because it cracked me up.

Speaker 2: 6:12

Which Zeke's worst?

Speaker 1: 6:13

About the surgery.

Speaker 2: 6:15

Oh. So everybody kept asking me like, okay, are the boys come in? You know, are the boys even in the air that you know you're having this done? And I did tell Zeke prior and I don't remember if it was Sunday or Monday I told Zeke that I was going to be on the rest of that week or later on that that week and possibly into the next week, because I was going to have surgery. And he's like, okay, okay, well, then the next day I get home from work, he's home from school and babysitter and all that, and he goes dad, how was your surgery?

Speaker 2: 6:59

I'm like I'm like Zeke, I haven't had my surgery yet. He's like oh well, just pretend you had your surgery, Dad. How was your surgery and went great? Thanks for asking All the best, everybody, and that's pretty much it.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Cracks me up there because I can see and be like that, like I'm going to forget a couple days to ask you how it went. So let's just pretend that. Let's just pretend that you had it.

Speaker 2: 7:24

Yeah so.

Speaker 1: 7:26

And another funny Zeke story that I heard while we were in the waiting room. Paige told me that Zeke will ask like what day is it? And if it's a day to go to Heidi's, I'll say my belly really hurts, I need to go to Grandma's house. And I tell you what mom just of course beams when you know when she said that because that means that he would get to go to her house. And I was like boy, he, he really tries, doesn't he? Grandma, spoils him, especially when it's just him. It's easy to do it when it's just him.

Speaker 1: 7:58

Yeah, he's actually very good when he's by himself oh he's so good when he's by himself, unless he has chocolate. You give that kid a fun size M&M, just a fun size.

Speaker 1: 8:10

Yeah, he gets a few minutes after he has those gone. It's about 20 minutes of complete torture because he is all over the place, all over the place. So, but if you keep chocolate away from him, he's really good he is. So I told Mitchell that I would really like to try and take him to the theater, take him to their first actual theater experience. So we'll see how that, how that goes. Maybe we'll see, we'll see.

Speaker 2: 8:40

So but yeah, as far as my, my health, I'm fine. I am in pain, but whatever.

Speaker 1: 8:48

You're working. You're you're doing way too much. That could be Matter of opinion. Matter of opinion.

Speaker 2: 8:56

So I did try to take it easy today. I didn't do a whole lot. I mean I was hardly home today but I didn't really do anything. I drove the truck for Matt as he picked up logs and then we sat in the barn and talked, kind of talked about the barn and stuff we had to do, but I pretty much sat most of that time. And then we went and looked at that house and I think that first day.

Speaker 1: 9:29

So Noah, noah and El's in town. In town, excuse me, they came in for Christmas. Well, for the wedding of Olivia and Owen got married, congratulations.

Speaker 2: 9:40

Congratulations.

Speaker 1: 9:42

So we were up in Hawking Hills for the weekend that after Mitchell's surgery. So from Friday to Sunday we were. We were there and Noah came in because he actually he got ordained to marry them. So he he did the service and um, which he did a really good job. But one of the things that he has been talking about for a very long time was helping at the barn and cut firewood. So Mitchell and Paige Paige was going to cut firewood on Monday and so I he came over, got a few things. He was going out there to help because he was available and I said, how was Paige? Paige wasn't there. Mitchell was there and I said what do you mean? Mitchell was there. Well, mitchell showed me what to do and then he went into the barn and he sharpened the blades or the chains for the chainsaw and I I cut the firewood and moved logs and stuff I'm like. So he was out in the barn. Yeah, I can already tell he's doing too much.

Speaker 2: 10:47

This is just going on to the barn. What's the difference between sitting in the house and sitting in the barn?

Speaker 1: 10:51

I guess, cause we all thought you were going to be laying in bed for at least a week.

Speaker 2: 10:54

Well, I can't do that, Cause he went out to the hospital. So what you said from after I got to recovery is 48 hours. I got out after that. First 12 hours after recovery I was like I gotta get out of this bed.

Speaker 1: 11:14

I can tell you were very antsy when I was there and did.

Speaker 2: 11:19

I saw the catheter in when you were there.

Speaker 1: 11:20

No, you told me that it was removed.

Speaker 2: 11:23

So before that, you know, I was stuck to the bed because I was literally had stuff making me stay in the bed. Well, I started removing things a little bit at a time and finally I was like, can I get up and just to sit on the edge of the bed and just sit up straight, just something? I need to get some sort of movement going here. And they did. They. Let me get up, stand up on the side of the bed and yeah, like you said, the oversight was not very good, because then the nurse laughed. So I stood up and stretched as best as I could so I was actually able to get up and move when I was there.

Speaker 2: 12:09

I did.

Speaker 1: 12:12

I felt like you were just annoyed from just being in that bed and I had asked you if you had walked or anything. You said no, not really. You had just sat on the side of the bed and I don't know what the rest of that day consisted of, but I was just like boy. Once he gets to a room he'll actually be able to get like there should be a chair where he can walk from the bed to the chair and, you know, to the bathroom and stuff. He'll actually be able to move a little bit. But I can tell that you were over it.

Speaker 2: 12:36

Oh yeah, so it is what it is.

Speaker 1: 12:40

Yeah, and now you're healing and everybody can continue to pray for a good healing, that you're not pulling a stitch or doing something that you shouldn't been doing.

Speaker 2: 12:57

I was sitting down in a chair as I was working Okay. I don't think it's gonna hurt, but All right, we're gonna start Bible study.

Speaker 1: 13:06

Yeah. Let's start a Bible study.

Speaker 2: 13:10

Leading up the last couple of episodes. They're really topicless because we didn't really talk about anything directly. We're just kind of talking about the situation and what's going on, and part of that is because I had a lot of stuff going on and I didn't really have time to sit down and put notes together.

Speaker 1: 13:33

Right, because in all honesty, you had to prepare your work ready for you to be gone for two weeks. You have to train somebody. You've got three young boys. You've got a wife. You know, you've got all these things.

Speaker 2: 13:43

We had to get everything winterized for the house.

Speaker 1: 13:45

Yes, because you weren't gonna be able to move things. Yeah, yes, I mean there was. There was a lot of prep work before surgery. Yeah, so I didn't and not knowing how long you were gonna be down.

Speaker 2: 13:53

Yeah so that's what we were talking about Like I'm not scared of the future. I just don't know what it is.

Speaker 1: 14:00

Right.

Speaker 2: 14:02

So I don't know how to prepare or how you know, whatever. Right, I just don't know what I don't know, so it's hard to prepare for that. So now that I am past that, I let my theoretically cancer-free and. I have more time, sorry.

Speaker 1: 14:22

It makes me happy to hear those words, Even though, again, we're not ringing any kind of bell here, but just right now I'm just it's good news.

Speaker 2: 14:31

I don't even know. They have a bell at the VA.

Speaker 1: 14:33

Well, I wish that we just eliminate the bell altogether, but whatever, yeah, Anyhow, we're not ringing any kind of bells here until you know our scans are done. I say hours because they truly are all of ours to watch them until go through this process, until our scans are done in three years and we know that you there's no other signs of it, you know? Then, okay, then you're cancer-free. But as of right now you are, you are still a kidney. I'm on a watch list. You are still a kidney cancer patient.

Speaker 2: 15:00

Yeah, so but like now I do have time, though I am able to sit down do Bible study, I can focus, probably not as much as I should be right now. I should be spending more time focused on Bible study.

Speaker 1: 15:18

But also we have. By the time this gets released, we have a big event coming up the birth of Jesus, that's true. We have a huge celebration coming up, so you know even that this one is being released between Christmas and New Year.

Speaker 2: 15:33

So, hopefully all of you had a good Christmas.

Speaker 1: 15:34

Absolutely. Hopefully you were able to celebrate not only Jesus' birth but to do it with family and friends and to see the true reason of the season. I mean, you know it's always fun to have, you know, a Santa Claus, and you know jingle bells and you know sleigh rides and all of that. But you know what's even better are the oh, holy nights. And you know, oh, come, holy faithful, to visit Jesus. You know, to remember the birth of Jesus. So you know it is, it's a big time of the year. So that too is keeping you probably from this as well.

Speaker 2: 16:08

A little bit. That's more pages than me, though.

Speaker 1: 16:10

Yeah, you're right, because you do have to host all of us. Now you chose and.

Speaker 2: 16:17

I now have an out to where I don't have to clean as much. I saw the clean but, like I said before, the floors are off-limits. Let me get that for ya if I get myself in the right Way, I can get to the ground. Now I am getting better. It used to be, I couldn't even put my socks on, socks on, and I Couldn't do that. At least now I can reach my feet, I can bring my feet up to me.

Speaker 1: 16:53

So I didn't get in better when they try to put your socks on, which you like. Oh my gosh, really can't you just wear slippers?

Speaker 2: 17:01

Surprisingly, she didn't complain at all. She did actually her biggest complaint. Her biggest complaint is that I Wasn't asking for enough help.

Speaker 1: 17:10

Oh, she wanted to, and so she had to go back to work, see, she only took the two days off.

Speaker 2: 17:18

I mean, she had to have taken three days off. Well, the plan was she's taking the day of surgery off. Mm-hmm and then, like I told her, I'm gonna have nurses and everybody around me.

Speaker 1: 17:29

And I'm very irritated.

Speaker 2: 17:31

You don't want to be around me yes, you don't really need to be at the hospital with me. Great right, you're better off waiting to after I get home, right when I don't have any help To take that time off, work and spend that time with me. Well, it just happens. By the time those days came up, I was like Bye. So we're making it sound like I'm a lot more active than I am.

Speaker 1: 18:00

I don't you cut your old bids off yesterday and made of into shorts. I have a picture you're white, the same.

Speaker 2: 18:10

But I'm like I told Paige, I'm like, all right, they're asking for my man card. I need to go do something, mainly so then I wouldn't work on chainsaws. Yeah, oh, okay, okay so you know you have to play the balancing act okay. But yes, I did do a lot.

Speaker 1: 18:25

I've done a lot of I'm not gonna get this wife I'm not Focus, so he actually he did. He gave me notes, so it looks like we are going to. We're gonna take a step in the right direction actually do a Bible study instead of just Talking and giggling.

Speaker 2: 18:42

Yeah, we are, we are. I have you made to the first line of a nose, but what we're planning on talking about is we're going to we're not going back to Matthew yet, and I was saying a lot of words there just to say I Didn't have time to focus on Bible study Leading up to surgery. Now I do, and so what we're going to be focusing on is a topical Bible study. On faith. Oh, we kind of talked about, you know, my, my faith was through all this and and how I had the positivity and and all that through this. Well, that's kind of some of the things that we want to talk about. We want to talk about not necessarily my faith, but we're gonna talk about faith in general through the lens of the fact of, you know, the fact that I did just Go through cancer how to kidney remove, to remove the cancer and some people are not as Lucky as what you were, that's very true.

Speaker 1: 19:41

Yeah, so I mean to have your faith is Throughout. This whole thing is an as a big thing just because some people May not survive something like that.

Speaker 2: 19:51

That's true and, like we've said before, we know that because our oldest sister passed away from cervical cancer. So yes, we want to do that. Topical Bible foot.

Speaker 1: 20:05

I.

Speaker 2: 20:06

Swear I'm not medicated right could you throw, maybe I should be maybe anyways, we are going to be doing a topical Bible study on faith, and when are we at in time? I'm gonna get time to start.

Speaker 1: 20:21

Yeah, we have about 10 minutes.

Speaker 2: 20:22

So With that, and if you haven't, if you found us on YouTube and you haven't gone back and listened to our actual podcast episodes, if you don't even realize we have podcast episodes. We have like 60, 70, a lot podcast episodes Before we even started doing YouTube.

Speaker 1: 20:42

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: 20:43

So Back in the early times, mm-hmm, we did a lot of topical Bible study. So if you haven't been with us or gone through a topical Bible study with us before and it's gonna be a lot of jumping around Because it is a Bible study where you know we're not just going through this- one section we're going all over the place and if you want to go back to listen to any of them, what you would need to do.

Speaker 1: 21:07

I just had somebody just tell me just recently. I had no idea you guys were doing this until you shared one on Facebook. How did I miss all this? So the ones before the YouTube also can be found, like if you go to your platform, say Amazon music, if you go to Spotify, if you go to Apple music podcast, apple podcast, it's a podcast, so all you would do is put in there pure faith, a Bible study, pure faith, a Bible study, right? I don't think so. I think you had to put Bible in there for it to pop up, because there's other pure faith podcast on there. So if you want the yeah, if you want the one that we're doing, you would put pure faith. You could put pure faith podcast, but you want to put Bible in there or a Bible study, and do a search, and then you would see. You know either our names or you'll see our logo and and you can follow it from there as well. So that that's how you can find the old podcast before we started doing it this way.

Speaker 2: 22:00

Or if you want an even simpler way of doing it, just go to pure faith podcast calm. Right, you can do that and on that website you have links to your favorite podcast apps or whatever podcast app you listen to.

Speaker 1: 22:14

There'll be a link on there that you can just click on that link, that you can go to that platform and let's do it on that platform so you can do it the easy way, the hard way, we don't care, but those are the ways that you can listen to our Previous podcast before we started doing the yes, facebook YouTube, all this stuff.

Speaker 2: 22:33

So we say all that just to say we want me jumping around a lot. So we're starting in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, and this reads For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. So this is a very popular Piece of scripture, because this scripture is used primarily as proof that we are saved by grace and not by works. But something a lot of people don't realize is, if you look at it, it says we are saved by grace, through faith, mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: 23:22

So faith becomes a very key element in our journey, in our lives. It Is actually, it's kind of what it all hinges on, because without faith Then we can't receive that grace. So we have to have that faith in order to receive that grace, mm-hmm. But we also need to look that, yes, the grace, the saving grace, is given freely through our faith and it's not based on, you know, physical deeds or good deeds or good works. It's not based on anything that we do.

Speaker 1: 24:07

So we can't say I just, I mean people like this. Don't say like, oh, I just, you know, donated all of this, this, these gifts or all this stuff you know. Oh, now I should have, I should get the gift of grace and faith because I did those things.

Speaker 2: 24:23

Yes, so since it's not based on that word, right, it doesn't matter if you give that right, that's what I'm saying it doesn't matter, it puts us all on the same field, all in the same plane, you don't have to do anything. No, it is a free gift of grace and you get that free gift through faith. And the reason it's not based on good works, the reason it's not based on what we do like physically in this world, is so we can't boast.

Speaker 1: 24:56

So we can't say, hey, look what I did.

Speaker 2: 24:58

I'm better than you because I did this. I did that and I realize, as we talk about faith, especially since we're going to be looking at this through the lens of what we just went through as far as my cancer goes, this could come across as boasting. This could seem as being prideful or saying, hey, look at my faith, blah, blah. That's not what we're doing here, that's not what I want. That is the opposite.

Speaker 1: 25:29

You are far from that person. If you know, Michelle, you're far from that.

Speaker 2: 25:33

That's the thing. There's a lot of people that may watch this that don't know me Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 2: 25:40

I struggled for weeks trying to figure out how to say this without seeming arrogant just by claiming that it's not about me. So I found the best way to explain it is to let the Bible explain it. So we're going to go to Paul in 2 Corinthians, and we're going to start at 2 Corinthians, 11, 30 through 31,. And then we're going to jump to 2 Corinthians, 12, 1 through 10. So 11, 30 through 31 reads If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Speaker 2: 26:21

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. So, jumping down to 12, 1 through 10, I must go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it. I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who, 14 years ago, was caught up to the third heaven whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, god knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, god knows. But he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

Speaker 2: 27:03

On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own, at behalf, I will not boast except of my weaknesses, though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. For I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Speaker 2: 27:59

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities, for when I am weak, then I am strong. So the boasting that Paul is referring to here he's not boasting about how great he is, he's not boasting about how close a relationship he has with Jesus, he's not boasting about the things he's done, he's not boasting about this money that he's donated to this charity, or he's not standing on street corners praying to be seen and heard, like the Pharisees. He is boasting. Like he said, if he is going to boast, he's going to boast about his weaknesses, about his hardships, about his struggles, about his trials, because it's through those hardships and through those weaknesses that God's glory and God's power can be seen.

Speaker 1: 28:59

Can I stop you for just a minute? Because in this reading that you gave it made me think of also the trial that you went through before surgery. The day before surgery you had to go get a COVID test. Oh yeah, let me see if there's anything left of this video again.

Speaker 2: 29:16

Okay, it's okay. Now Sounds fine.

Speaker 1: 29:16

Okay.

Speaker 2: 29:17

It's a fun story.

Speaker 1: 29:20

It's a long journey, but my thought in all of this was that Satan was trying to keep you from telling this story and keeping you from having this surgery. Mitchell's COVID test came back positive, which means he was not able to have surgery. So he sent us a message and asked us all to pray and he said I just need prayers. I got a positive COVID test. I may not be able to have surgery tomorrow. We have all prepared for this day. You prepared for this day, but our whole family, our church, our friends, everybody who's watching our podcast followers, everybody prepared for this day and Mitchell got a positive COVID test.

Speaker 2: 30:01

And I was not sick. I had no symptoms.

Speaker 1: 30:03

No symptoms.

Speaker 2: 30:05

Nothing, Not even in the past, however long I can remember feeling sick.

Speaker 1: 30:11

And I told well, I had Don's not in that message. I told Don. I said Mitchell just said he had a positive COVID test. Of course he went with oh my gosh, we've got a wedding this weekend. What's going on? But not only that. I was like but wait a second, don. I've been with Mitchell nearly every day that week. I see you every week. Again, I can contest that there's no sniffles. We told you when there was something wrong, because he would tell you hey, we've had the stomach flu and I'd be like great, next week we get the stomach flu.

Speaker 1: 30:41

No, I'm not coughing yeah, there's nothing, nothing going on. So in my eyes and I'm sure your eyes and anybody else who is faithful in this whole process that this was Satan trying to keep you from continuing with this message of this walk of faith that you were doing with your kidney cancer. So the doctor calls and tells you that ask you if you have any symptoms, correct, and Mitchell's like not one symptom at all. And he says let me get a hold of the anesthesiologist and let's just see what the anesthesiologist says. And they have you come back to do another COVID test, one that's like an at home test that you know.

Speaker 1: 31:22

it's not the one that goes up to your brain, it's the one that just does the lining of your nose. And Mitchell comes. He has to stay for that one and that test is negative. In that hour and a half time, I'm telling you, was it an hour and a half? If that, that, all of it, from the time you asked to pray, Probably probably two and a half three hours, okay.

Speaker 1: 31:44

So in that time, not only did you ask for us to pray, but each one of us asked for someone to pray, that we knew that they were also praying for you, our church, everybody, whoever we could get to pray. And you took that second one and it came back negative. What you read in Corinthians right here about boasting and about weakness and about Satan, this truly does. You said you were going to find your story through scripture. Yeah, this is the story of script, this is your story, and it's exactly the same through your weakness, through through all of it, through your hardships. That was a hardship at that time Because you did not know if you were going to be able to go and have the surgery.

Speaker 2: 32:24

Yeah, because at that point, if the second test did come back positive, then they were going to have to postpone the surgery until after the holidays, which just means we would be doing this and I'd still have cancer.

Speaker 1: 32:36

because I wouldn't have had surgery yet. But any of us who know how Satan works knows that this was just. This was a leg that was trying to get you to just bend to it all and say looks like I've got COVID, there aren't any way to do the test. No, we found power and prayer. We would reject Satan through all of it.

Speaker 2: 32:57

See my my thoughts through all that. Honestly, I didn't even go to Satan.

Speaker 1: 33:04

Really.

Speaker 2: 33:05

Yeah, I don't. I don't really give Satan any credit. My thinking was okay, Lord you, you allowed this to be a positive COVID test. Why? Because does the surgery need to be postponed? Is something, is something not lined up the way you want it to be?

Speaker 1: 33:25

What's? Are the doctors not prepared or the nurses? Yeah, okay, I can see it being that way.

Speaker 2: 33:30

So I'm like. So whenever I left to go back to do the second test, I was I was, I was actually convinced that it was going to get postponed, because I'm like this is, this, isn't God's hands Right, Right. So I had accepted the fact that it might be another two to three weeks before I could have surgery and I was like this is just building to the story. I mean, I don't know how or why, or again, like I don't know what the finish line is so I don't know what's going on, but I trust that everything is in accordance with God's will.

Speaker 2: 34:06

So when I get a positive COVID test, that was God's will. Now, maybe it was just a spark, this prayer chain, to get people praying. I don't know, we may never know the reason when I had that positive test, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:25

And that's how. Two different ways, that's two different ways of looking at it right there, two totally different ways, but in the end result was the same. You know the prayer. I truly feel like you know what. Was it God telling you that you know there was people out there who the power prayer would help? Or was it you know that for me, looking at it as Satan was trying to get in and the power prayer will knock it? Because, as many are told that, you know you've got more than one person praying that there's power and yeah, there's definitely power and prayer.

Speaker 1: 34:57

So that's why I wanted to jump in.

Speaker 2: 34:59

I apologize for that, oh no, that's perfectly fine, because that probably took up the rest of our time which is good because this is a good stopping point.

Speaker 2: 35:10

So, yes, what we just read about Paul using his weaknesses and boasting through his weaknesses, because it's through those weaknesses that we see God's glory and power. That is what I want to do, that I'm not here to brag about my relationship with the Lord. I'm not here to brag about the things I do and don't do. I just want to tell you about my weaknesses and, in this case, cancer. That way, through that weakness, through the struggles that are going on around that, in the struggles we did have leading up to it and everything else and other weaknesses in my life, we want to talk about those so that it's through those weaknesses that God can be seen and glorified.

Speaker 1: 36:00

Yes, yes, I agree, I agree.

Speaker 2: 36:02

So next week, when we come back, we are going to start getting into actual faith.

Speaker 1: 36:07

Fantastic. All right, so we thank you for joining us. Please leave a comment on this video or go to our contact page at PureFaithLivingcom to send us a message and, as always, if you like what you hear, then we ask that you share the show with others so we can all work together in spreading the good word of Jesus Christ. Don't forget to subscribe, and we will talk to you again next time.

Speaker 2: 36:30

Have a blessed day everybody.

Speaker 1: 36:31

And Merry Christmas to you all. Very true Happy New Year. It's all of it. Whatever it's coming, up too. Yeah, when they see it.

Speaker 2: 36:39

Happy birthday.

Speaker 1: 36:41

I mean right, happy birthday, it's the anniversary, right, right, and yeah, yeah and good luck, much luck, goodbye, goodbye, bye, bye.