The year is 1998. The doors of the church are open. The regular Sunday morning worship service goes forth. Members enter the church greeting one another with smiles and praises to God for the opportunity to assemble together once more. At Greater Emmanuel Temple Holiness Church all are welcome. Visitors are greeted with warm hugs from Mable E. Perry II, the pastor’s 13-year old middle daughter who sings in the Children’s Choir with the voice of an angel. Everyone who meets her immediately falls in love with her charm and wit. From the moment I saw her, I could tell right off there was something special about her, but I had walls up to protect myself from getting too close to people. That didn’t stop the daring young lady we all fondly refer to as “Little Mable.” She crashed through my walls and quickly became a favorite fixture I sought out when I came to worship at God’s house.
Nothing could have prepared me to hear that my Little Mable had been diagnosed with leukemia.
Little Mable possessed the faith of the undefeated as she underwent treatment. At her tender age, she had to cope with losing her hair, which was a big deal. The bigger deal was losing her life if she did not find a bone marrow donor. Fortunately, it came to pass that Mable’s older sister, Joselyn, was a match! And without hesitation, Joselyn offered to save her younger sister.
We all witnessed Mable’s amazing strength as she had to wait to receive her sister’s bone marrow. For her family, it was no small notion that they now had two teenage daughters who were about to undergo a surgical procedure that was foreign to all of them.
There was also the cost of the transplant. Both girls had strong convictions that God is a Miracle Worker, and in the end, God alleviated the burden of the cost with generous donations from kind supporters and church fundraisers.
I will never forget how this young girl continued to lift up the name of Jesus when she’d pretty much been given a death sentence. I had tremendous respect for her when I heard she was giving out hugs, just like she did at church, to comfort the families in mourning as each of the children in the hospital ward with her lost their fight to the cancer that ravaged their young bodies.
My faith, on the other hand, was suffering from malnutrition and was about to be put on life support. At that time, I believed that my prayers never went any higher than the ceiling of whichever room I happened to be kneeling in. I desperately needed God to do something. I was scared to pray because all my prayers usually ended in crap. But I had to pray because Mable’s life depended on everybody around her being in one accord and believing that God could bring her out of Death’s grip victorious.
I prayed for God to help my unbelief before I ventured to pray for Mable. Watching Mable be so strong helped to grow my faith. In my faith growing, God inspired me to write the poem below which I read in Mable’s honor while the churches prayer warriors laid their faith on the altar and those who truly had a connection with God shouted the victory even before we got the news that the transplant was successful.
Mable’s complete healing was nothing short of a miracle which we continue to thank God for today. My faith has grown exponentially as the result of Mable’s life being spared. I felt like God was giving me the assurance that I could get a prayer through too!
Thank you, Jesus for your tender mercy in sparing Mable and continuing to encourage my soul!
The year is 2018. I typed up the poem posted below and gave it to Mable this past June as she celebrated her birthday and the 20-year anniversary of her survivorship. She continues to lift up the name of Jesus and sing praises to the Lord in a melodious voice filled with gratitude and love. Our Miracle Super Girl has also gone on to attain her Master’s Degree in Education and heads up Plan4Hope, a non-profit organization designed to offer hope to children and their families that have been diagnosed with leukemia.
With October being Cancer Awareness Month, I felt it apropos to share Mable’s journey in my blog. I hope that it has inspired someone else to grow their faith and believe in miracles.
To read more poems like this one, you can whet your appetite with my book, Inspirational Verse for Those Who Hunger and Thirst: A Book of Poems to Feed the Soul. Available on Amazon. Books A Million, Barnes and Noble, and eBay.
Until my next post, know that your faith can move mountains.
#CancerAwarenessMonth #FaithInGod #Plan4Hope #GreaterEmmanuelTempleHolinessChurch
