Anonymous
Beloved of All
I posted a request a while ago that God would go back in time to correct a serious injustice, which caused much damage to me spiritually, emotionally, and mentally at the time. I've changed that prayer request a bit, seeing that He had already somehow gotten me through the initial problem that arose back in 2010, though not totally unscathed -- the close relationship I had with Him had been damaged, but He was faithful. It's really shocking to me that I got out of that quagmire -- never thought I would. I've come to realize that from about 2017 on I'd pretty much gotten back to some semblance of normalcy, and that my relationship with my family was back to being pretty good. Things kept getting better and better up to 2024, and my work performance and creativity soared (I'm a design engineer), though my relationship with God was still suffering. I played in a worship band with my son for all those years, and my son had noticed that I didn't want to talk about God for much of that time. It was because of what happened in the original incident. Anyway, unbeknownst to me, he had been praying for me for at least two things: that God would keep me healthy (I'm an older father and he was concerned for my health) and that God would restore my relationship with Him -- two VERY GOOD things. He'd been praying this for 1 - 2 years, but told me just recently. On December 26, 2024 I ended up in the ER due to a one-off freak minor mishap. I was on vacation and we'd been out to eat when this happened, and my wife and son insisted that they take me there, so I went just for them. They found metastatic melanoma (I never saw one of the characteristic moles associated with it). I ended up transferring to a better hospital, where I had brain surgery. My son and my wife were devastated (I can't imagine it...) when they got home. I guess it didn't hit me right away so I wasn't in too bad of emotional shape at that time. I have always done everything I could to stay healthy, and to be a good role model to my son. I had no bad habits -- didn't smoke, drink, do drugs, vape, etc... and had no tattoos. I did everything to honor the body God gave me, which was always very healthy and strong. I was a pretty big guy, too (until I lost tons of weight due to this illness and hospital stays), but with not much fat. I ate a healthy ketogenic diet with which I had lost a little fat, and was about the right weight. After the surgery I went on immunotherapy (checkpoint inhibitor) that stripped my immune system of its checkpoints that prevent it from attacking good cells. It is supposedly less risky than chemotherapy, and is particularly well-suited to treat melanoma. Well, after only two treatments I developed ketoacidosis. My wife called 911, and on the way to the hospital my blood sugar level skyrocketed up to nearly 1000. I was in and out of consciousness, but I remember the EMT in the back of the ambulance yelling out, "Your blood sugar is 'X.'" X kept going up. Long, painful story short, my immune system had destroyed the beta cells in my pancreas, making me an effective type 1 insulin-dependent "diabetic." I'd never had any kind of diabetes. I heard this news shortly after regaining consciousness in the hospital. I was devastated. I'm a mid-60s active outdoorsman with a real penchant for spontaneity. I couldn't imagine the burden of having to depend on insulin injections 3 or 4 times a day, every day. I think this is what really harmed our family the most. We had been praying about the melanoma, had been to healing services, and it was shrinking or disappearing pretty quickly. My son was also devastated by the insulin-dependent news. He and I were both active, and did many father/son things together. Our family is very precious, and we love each other dearly. My wife was 100% answer to prayer -- exceedingly abundantly more than I asked for. Our precious son, born about a year after our God-centered wedding, was also a gift from God. We played by God's rules. We were obedient to Him. We both waited until marriage for intimacy -- I waited 43 years for God to send me the right one. Anyway, my prayer request is that God answer my son's prayers. The problem is that it's too late, seeing I've already lost my health. Specifically, I ask that God reverse time to July 2024 when we were on our summer vacation and answer my son's prayers for my health (preventing the melanoma) to restore my relationship with Him. I suppose you could view it as retroactive answers. This is the most important prayer of my life (besides prayer for salvation when I was a boy). My son is in college and this has devastated him to the point where he is having serious trouble. God had already blessed him with a 4.0 GPA (which he prayed for) he needed at the time to get accepted to his first-choice school (which he also prayed for). I can't stand seeing him this way. This has also seriously affected my work performance -- 2024 was probably the most productive year of my life, and now this... Thank you. In Jesus's name, Amen.