It started out as any other normal morning in the Garling house. Everybody had to get up and get to school or work. And I should have been suspicious right there because everything that morning went way too smoothly. So smoothly that I ended up at my gynecologist's office 30 minutes early for my appointment.
I thought Miss Connie, the receptionist was going to fall out of her chair. I am never on time for much of anything and she knew that well.
"Why, Nancy!" she said in that cute Texan accent, "Your appointment isn't until 10:30!" I mumbled something about needing time to just sit around (which made her laugh hysterically--she knows me too well) and took a seat in the waiting room.
The waiting room was packed with women, but one in particular stood out because she was bald. And I kept looking around the room waiting for someone to ask her about it, but nobody said a word. A few minutes ticked by, and I started to get that weird feeling that I was supposed to talk to her. OK, I'll bite.
"Excuse me, did you have cancer?" I asked her from across the room, "I had breast cancer last year, and just wanted to know how you are doing--are you doing OK?". She looked up, and all those other eyes looked at her. You could just tell that they had all been wanting to ask her, because there was an audible sigh of relief in the waiting room. Someone had finally dared ask the question.
And as we talked for the next 20 minutes, she told us her heart about the whole thing, and words of encouragement and understanding poured from my mouth. A few other ladies chimed in about their experiences with relatives or friends that had been through cancer treatments too. Then she left to go see our doctor.
A few minutes later, I got taken back to my room. Doc burst into my room thanking me for taking the time to talk to her because her entire attitude about her situation had changed.
That's what happens when you become the hands and feet of Jesus. You move people. You inspire people. You encourage people. Whether it is apparent or not, you do these things.
When I went to check out, Miss Connie leaned across the desk and said in that incredibly cute Texan accent, "Miss Nancy, I do believe you had a divine appointment right here in this office today! Gives me goose chills just thinking about it! She (the other cancer patient) is a changed woman!"
Miss Connie can call that a divine appointment, but I prefer to consider myself an undercover secret agent for the Lord. You see, now that I have had cancer, I connect with cancer patients and cancer survivors in ways I could never have done before.
You know, some people out there think that I got cancer because I did something wrong. That it is punishment for some sin I committed. Oh, you don't think there are folks out there that think that? You are wrong. So are they.
The truth is that God intended for me to be a missionary in the field. Not to Haiti, or Mexico, or even to the soup kitchen in Dallas. No, my mission field is the countless doctor waiting rooms and walmart lines I am at on a regular basis. To scan the crowds for bald heads on young bodies, and be ready to proclaim that the only hope worth investing in is what we find in Jesus. Because guys, it is those who are hurting and sick that need Jesus the most. I minister effectively to them because I understand what they are going through. I have never been more certain of my purpose.
Now please don't misunderstand me to say that those who have not been through cancer are ill equipped to minister to cancer patients. That is not what I am saying at all--I have been personally blessed by my support team through all of my cancer journey, and very few of them had experienced cancer themselves. They were--and continue to be--a source of great comfort to me, because they cared enough to put aside some time to stand alongside me. Precious stuff.
What I want you to hear is that the next time something happens in your life that appears tragic, and you ask God, "Why me?" I hope you will lean into it and realize that the answer is clear. You are being trained as an undercover secret agent for the Lord. You are being equipped to connect with the hurting of this world right where they are.
Gives me chills. I think about my friend Sandy, who lost her son to a car accident a few Christmas seasons ago. She is devoted to a Grief Share group that need her encouragement--they are drawn to her. I think about the Hallmark family and the Watts family, whose children are going through cancer treatments as we speak. They burn with the light of Jesus in those hospital rooms and hurting families going through the same thing are drawn to them. Their mission field is where the hurting are waiting.
Hands and feet of Jesus.
Nancy Garling, Undercover Secret Agent for The Lord
