Regular readers here will remember, ‘m sure, a lovely young mum from Londonderry, Emma, who has had the tragedy of 5 brain tumours in the last 14 years, and she’s still only 37 years old, married to Tim, who I think is nicknamed Harry (that’s what I’ve been calling him for some weeks!), and has a lovely 9 year old daughter, Hope.
It’s been a privilege to get to know Emma, Tim Hope – and Emma’s brother and sister, Clare and Rory, over the past couple of months. More recently, Tim’s parents and sister and brother have been over, visiting from Australia. Emma’s had some wonderful improvements during those weeks: but there have also been some ‘dips’ in her condition, which normally stop when she’s been prayed for. A week ago, I went to see Emma again, with Davy, local pastor Adrian Curry, and with Carly, Grace, Peter, and Miriam – a fiend of Grace’s.
When we arrived, Emma was in bed: and, to be honest, she looked as though she could have been been – at best – in a coma, at worst, dead. She’d had a bad week, with the medication given to her for one thing having massive negative impact on another part of her body. She had a brain swell, and had gone down and down as the week went on. We got round her, and commanded – again – life and healing back into her. We couldn’t be with her too long, as the nurses arrived to do whatever nurses do….
Was back to see her yesterday. It was unbelievable to see the transformation. Emma asked if we’d ‘seen the white’ last week: I asked her what she meant, needless to say! Though she was completely ‘out of it’ last week, she was aware we were there, and heard the prayers. While praying, Emma first saw a brilliant white light: then ‘someone’ in white, and she said that she felt incredible as she was with him. She knew, though she didn’t know how to verbalise it, she’d been to heaven, and met Jesus….she was there some time. When she came back, her body had done a 180 degree about turn, and she felt amazing.
This week, she looks totally different. Her body has recovered remarkably (they should have reduced her – maximum – dose of steroids today) – her faculties had all returned, her voice is recovering remarkably (it had been a problem since the surgery in September last year to remove the last tumour, when the surgeons removed too much of her brain – by mistake – and severely damaged the speech and sight parts of the brain. Her mind was working so fast yesterday, her speech could hardly keep up with it! She talked about nothing else other than the man in white, where she’d been, the impact that he, and heaven, had on her… she said that not only was she changed health-wise, but changed forever inside, and knows that she’s not going to die….
The whole family has been impacted by what she saw, where she ‘went’, who she met… heaven’s invaded her life, Jesus has touched and talked to her… and she puts it all down to prayer…. she’s so on her way into the Kingdom!
