"...weeks to live."

That's what her status said.

"I have been to four doctors in the past month--all the way from Seattle to Houston--and they all said the same thing: there is nothing they can do for me."

I met my friend Sonia in Idaho, and I'm pretty sure she made me laugh in every conversation we had. We did talk about serious things as well, but even in sharing the difficulties she'd faced in life, she did it with her dry, quirky wit.

"My cancer is terminal. They said the cancer is moving very quickly and I have weeks to live."

Her son James is the same age as my Jessica. He was in my Sunday School class for a while--at that time he was the one we were worried about. He had been born premature and was still dealing with things connected to that--had to wear a heart monitor, which made me nervous. But he's healthy now.

"Please pray for my husband and children".

Her son Jason turned 8 today, the same as as my Rebecca. They were nursery buddies. One Halloween she dressed as a bee and he was a honey pot. :)

" I thank you all for your love and encouragement, I couldn't have made it this far without the help of my dear friends, you are all so precious to me. I love you all!"

How can this be real? That's what I kept asking myself when I read this message. I'd been praying for Sonia since she first went to the doctor to check on some unusual symptoms...and then when they said it might be cancer...and that it was, and she had six months to live. That was not too long ago, and now it's weeks?

When my brain (or heart) is having trouble accepting something, I go into avoidance mode. Don't think about it, ignore it, and it's not real. Like when my dad died of a heart attack, and we were living in Idaho and had to fly to Arkansas the next day. I knew I needed to pack suitcases for myself and my girls, but I couldn't seem to make myself do it, because that would mean admitting it had really happened.  That's what I thought of when I got Sonia's news. I managed to avoid it sinking in until I took a shower that night and actually started praying for her and her husband Brian and their 2 boys. I cried more than prayed, because I didn't know what to say. What do you pray? Keep praying for healing? For comfort? I'm so thankful the Holy Spirit prays for us when we don't know what to pray, because I'm still not sure.
God sent me a message the next morning, though, when the following verses "just happened" to be in my verses I use to guide my prayers:

1 Corinthians 13:12 Now I see dimly, as in a mirror, but then I shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 2:9 No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

Psalm 39:4 Lord, make me to know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.

Psalm 103:14-18 You know how I am formed; You remember that I am dust. People's days are like grass; people flourish like flowers of the field. The wind passes over them and they are gone and their place remembers them no more. But Your lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear You, and Your righteousness with their children's children, to those who keep Your covenant and remember to obey Your precepts.

I don't know what's the "right" way to pray, and I don't know why this is happening or even how it could. But I do know God loves Sonia and Brian and James and Jason more than I can even comprehend, and I can trust Him with them. Please join me in praying for them.