Melody’s Story

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with an inspiring testimony!

Given that last month was lymphoma awareness month, I want to tell you about Melody, who four years ago was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma throughout her nervous system. A very dim prognosis for Melody and her husband, and the doctors did not sound hopeful. No matter what kind of cancer, when they say you are Stage 4, wow, that’s pretty grim. Right away, Melody began receiving aggressive chemotherapy, and she had a choice. She could either collapse emotionally and turn inward, or this woman could see this diagnosis as an opportunity, a platform to reach out to others. Because at that point, with Stage 4 cancer, Melody assumed that Heaven, for her, was just around the corner. She thought she had very little time left.

And so, she and her husband began praying up a storm for all her nurses and chemo technicians and doctors and the staff. She began praying for the others at the chemo clinic, reaching out to everyone and learning their names. She was more bold—more bold than ever before—with the name of Jesus and His salvation message. Melody missed no one. In fact, her reputation as a follower of Jesus who loved to pray began to spread throughout the hospital and chemo clinic hallways. Before long, nurses and aides and technicians began looking her up when they heard she was in for treatment. No, they weren’t assigned to her, they just wanted to bring her their prayer requests. They could see that this was a woman of great faith, and they loved being around her.

Now here’s the miracle: When I met Melody just a short time ago, four years have passed since her diagnosis. Yes, the doctors consider her a miracle and have told her that she is cancer-free. And that is amazing, but I’ll tell you what’s really amazing. When I asked her where she found the courage to keep reaching out to others during that extremely difficult time, you know what she said? She said, “Joni, I just kept picturing arriving in Heaven (‘cause I thought I wouldn’t make it); I jsut kept picturing Jesus greeting me at the Pearly Gates but saying, ‘Melody, here I gave you that cancer so that you might reach scores of people who otherwise wouldn’t hear about me, and all you could do was think of yourself? I gave you people to share the Gospel with and you didn’t? You only worried and fretted? How could you have missed my plan? Why didn’t you tell others about Me?’ And Joni,” Melody said, “I dreaded disappointing the Lord that way. I did not dread the idea of dying. I just wanted to make sure I did what I knew God wanted me to do.” Wow! Can you see why I was so amazed when she told me this?

The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians Chapter 6, verse 19 “Pray that I might be given the right words so I can be bold when I speak the Gospel.” Well Melody was bold, and she was also a miracle. Everyone else with Stage 4 cancer was dying all around her, and whenever she would come in for a check-up after her chemo, people would look at her with amazement, like, “You’re still here? What are you doing here?” Yes, Melody is still here, and she’s still being bold about sharing the Good News. And the really great news is with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can be just as bold as Melody. And you know what? You do not have to have Stage 4 Lymphoma cancer to do it. So pattern yourself after the apostle Paul who asked for boldness and Melody. And get out there and share the Good News.

© Joni and Friends