(this article and picture were copied from ksdk.)
It was a year ago when we first introduced you to Kayla Ackerman, a 7-year-old from Elizabeth, Colo., who had been suffering from brain tumors since she was two. By the time we met her, she had already been through nine brain surgeries for her cancer; more than most kids have ever had to endure.
Her mother, Janine, said she was so touched when Kayla's school, Singing Hills Elementary, held a fundraiser to pay their medical bills, that she told KUSA-TV, "I wish I were the one giving them the check instead of them giving it to us."
Two months later, Kayla made news again, when the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to terminally-ill children and those with life-threatening illnesses, granted Kayla's one and only wish, and took her entire family to Disney World. Janine was overjoyed, but deep down, amid her smiles and happiness, she was suffering too. Seeing her daughter in pain for so many years was unbearable. Christine Cobb, one of Janine's best friends said, "It was very tough on Janine because she never wanted to see her daughter go through this."
Janine had always prayed for her daughter, but soon began to turn to God in a different way. And in her prayers, she asked him to take the cancer 'away' from Kayla and 'give' it to her instead. Cobb says, "Janine just prayed and prayed that Kayla would get better and that she'd be glad to take on the illness, the cancer for Kayla, so that Kayla could have a long and fulfilling life."
Her friend Teri McTague said, "We always went into the hospital Chapel at Children's Hospital together and for the first time she asked me not to go in with her. She just wanted to be alone. And that's when she asked God to please take this pain and suffering away from Kayla. She told God, "I will be glad to take it all, just please let my daughter grow up happy and healthy."
Soon afterward there was a shocking discovery.
In April, Janine was diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer. And miraculously, Kayla, for the very first time in her young life, was declared cancer-free by her doctors. McTague said, "She just was so thankful that God answered her prayers and she never was angry because that's what she had asked Him for."
For nine months, Janine tried hard to beat her cancer, but last week, she lost her battle. Janine died at home with Kayla at her side. Cobb said, "I really don't know how to handle it because Kayla is doing so good, but we lost our best friend."
For those who ask, "Why pray for cancer?" her friends say, you must know Janine. "She just loved her daughter so much. She wanted Kayla to live." They also say Janine led a life that exemplified the power of a mother's love. "It's the Ultimate Gift that Janine could give her daughter. And it brought her tremendous peace. She left knowing her daughter was cancer-free."
Janine Ackerman was 33 years old. Her funeral was held Tuesday in Parker. She is survived by her husband Todd, her daughter Kayla, who is now 8, and her son Tyler, who is 10.
14 comments:
Yes Conni, I do. Do you?
I believe in the power of prayer; but, the tenor of this article is, in my opinion, pagan and not about the God of the Bible. The idea that God strikes a mother with cancer to allow her daughter to heal is more akin to tribal worship of "let's make a deal" with animistic spirits than the message of love and grace as revealed in the New Testament. Death and disease are consequences of the Fall of man. While as a parent I can appreciate the thoughts of self-sacrifice for my child, I reject the idea that this article suggests that there is a causal connection here between a mother's cancer and death and her daughter's healing. We have to be careful about deriving our theology from the media. Satan loves to use such events to confuse people about the nature of God who did send his son to die for all of us.
oh, I do't know, sir. . .the Bible is replete with imagery and stories FULL of the idea that SOMEONE mst suffer (the sacrifice of Christ is the first and foremost) What about Job and his loss, the story ends with him being "blessed richly" as if the loss of his OTHER sons and daughters was of no consequence. . .
The whole idea of blood atonement that SOMEONE must suffer and die is at the very CORE of the biblical scheme of redemption. . .
Agreed, that is not a popular idea at this time, but it was the norm in a book full of people being struck dead for little white lies, of people being consumed by fire for bringing unauthorized fire, for being turned into a pillar of salt for casting a last look at their lifelong home, and being smitten dead for trying to keep the ark of the Lord from falling over.
I DO agree with you that the modern media is not a good compass in matters of spirituality, however, if one believes the bible to be inerrant and infallible, it is not fitting for us to reject certain concepts of God because they interfere with our modern politically correct, grace and mercy loving sensibilities.
God showed no mercy to the children of Jericho when He asked Joshua to kill them down to the last man, woman, child, granny, and goat.
Again, not meaning to dismiss anyone's faith system, but to be honest, i believe that the above statement, labelling the concept of a God that would transfer disease from one person to another as "unbiblical" or "pagan" is a little hasty.
For the benefit of the anonymous person who responded to my comment I would share a scripture found in the gospel of John in Chapter 9.
"1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. "
The disciples wanted to know the answer to the question of why people suffer? The God I worship does not cause disease or death. He made the world perfect. It was man (Adam & Eve) who messed things up. Sin and death are a consequence of the Fall from grace. Our puny finite minds cannot comprehend the relationship between cause and effect. A child dies of cancer and we blame God. We "don't see" that some greedy person who wanted to rid of waste oil cheap sold it to trash hauler. The trash hauler spreads the waste oil over gravel roads (like Times Beach, MO) to keep the down the dust, and children play on the road introducing carcinogenic chemicals into their bodies that produce cancer. Who is to blame? It was not God. Blood atonement only works if the person is perfect. There was only one who met that criteria and he gave his life as a ransom for many. There is nothing else that any of us can do on that scorecard. To suggest that God struck this mother with cancer in exchange for her daughter's life is not a Biblical perspective in my opinion. But, we can ask God someday when we get there?
well, again, Mr. Stevens, why is it incomprehensible to think that God would move cancer from one person to another at the request of another, when he would strike Job with illness and tragedy just to prove a point?
Why would he Forbid Moses from entering the promised land for getting ticked off at the children of Israel about the water and the rock?
Keep in mind, this is the same God that struck all of the firstborn dead in egypt. . .many of whom were NOT acive political players in the whole
What about poor old Uzzah? Poor old Uzzah with the BEST of intentions? It was NOT his decision to put the Ark of the Covenant on a wagon. Not HIS fault the Wagon teetered. . .All he tried to do was steady the Ark. Then BOOM, dead as a doornail!!
My point is this. . .if we claim to rigidly adhere to a "Biblical" veiw of God, we need to be consistent. . .the God of the Bible is at times very merciful, as well as savage, brutal, and ruthless. We can choose to have a veiw of God that does not posess these negative traits, but if we do, are we not, inadvertantly, denying the way that God is portrayed in parts of th eBible that we claim to believe in?
The chrisitan can rely on the old chestnut of "Well I don;t understand it, but i have faith" and that is VERY legitimate. . .in fact it is, in mY humble opinion, the oNLY way to reconcile these inconsistencies, but if we do that, we can also, just as aptly, say "I don't understand WHY God would answer a woman's prayer to recieve her daughter's cancer, but i have faith that God answered the prayer".
This is a heavy blog. I found the article to be interesting, and thought provoking. I am just not sure why everyone is making this bigger than it needs to be. The woman prayed and her prayers were answered. She prayed for her daughter to be cancer free. God answered that prayer. In her desperation she prayeed that God would give her cancer. God answered that prayer too. Isn't that the point? God answered her prayers!
The point of this article is not that God played "Let's Make a Deal," because He didn't. The point is that God answered this woman's cry for help and peace. She got both.
As Christians, we need to be very careful that we don't miss the point. If we are so busy destroying or arguing about every piece of media about God, we are only pushing people away. WE should be sharing articles like this one with the world to show people that God does exist, and he does answer prayers.
You two arguing back and forth looks more like a match where people need to prove that they are right. May I suggest that we bring the focus back to the point? God answered her prayers.
Steven
Dear anonymous,
You can call me Brad. In fact, I would like to learn your identity? Your knowledge of Bible facts is impressive. But, I would respectfully disagree with your theology. If you would like to engage in a true dialogue, I would invite you to our church. We actually study and discuss these issues in our Bible classes. For example, if you read Job carefully, you will see the God does not strike Job with illness or tragedy. He does allow Satan to do that. Why does God allow Satan to exist? I think the answer is in the definition of love. We were made in the image of God. He gave us the ability to "choose". Without choice, you cannot have love. You cannot make some one love you. Satan has a role to play in the design of life. I would suggest that God does not tempt anyone. Yet Jesus taught us to pray that we would not be led into temptation but delivered from evil. It is a great mystery. Yet, God's nature is best revealed in the personality of Jesus Christ.
Please come visit us! We would love to meet you and share our understanding of God's will for our lives with you. If you need contact information check out:
http://www.mcknightroad.org/
Bradford L. Stevens
Brad,
Thank you sir, you are more than kind. I understand totally where you are coming from, AND lived many years with the same approach to God and the Bible that you apparently have now. I say that, not to imply that there is anything wrong with what you believe, in fact, quite the contrary, I appreciate the emphasis that is put on love and mercy in everything that you are saying.
Please note that my comments and concerns were not an attack on what you believe the nature of God to be. I also believe in a god that is a healing, merciful, loving, forgiving God full of grace and love. We share this common belief and i think that it permeates what we do as humans.
In my previous comments, i simply sought to take issue with the comments you made related to the article that Conni posted. You stated that the concept of a God that can be "bargained" with or that seeks to have disease transferred from one person to the other is unscriptural and, as you said "pagan". My contention is that the concepts that you regard as "pagan" permeate the Old Testament, and by implication of involving the same Deity, the New Testament as well. The concept of God being a terrible, vengeful, and arbitrary God, while not a popular concept and certainly terrible to think about, is a very common theme in the Old Testament, which is full of genocide (Jericho), vengeful workings of God (Nadab and Abihu), terrible miraculous acts (Elisha and the Bears), and other things that do not fit into the mold of a "merciful and loving God". The sort of act that is discussed in the article is precisely the sort of story you would read about in the Old Testament.
Now, keep in mind, i stated that you and I probably have more in common regarding our veiw of God as merciful, graceful, and forgiving than you might think. The difference is that, as a skeptic, i do not seek to reconcile the parts of the Bible that are inconsistent with this veiw. When I read about Jericho, Nadab and Abihu, Uzzah and the Ark, etc, instead of struggling and trying to understand how a good an loving God could do these things, i simply reject these things as factual: myth, legend folklore, propoganda whatever. Maybe these things were the work of redactors compiling texts. Mybe they are simply the result of the superstitious inhabitants of palestine. Granted, this DOES jeapordize the precept that the Bible is an infallible, inerrant, source of authority as the "Word of God", but it DOES maintain what you and i seek to believe, that God is merciful and loving, rather than arbitrary and brutal. Thus, I take the text with a grain of salt.
Your invitation is highly appreciated. I am afraid that i must decline on BOTH counts at this time. My anonymoty serves a purpose. But i thank you for your desire to personalize our conversation. I must also respectfully decline your invite to Mcknight Road, geography, in addition to personal reasons would make that inappropriate. I will say, however, that all that I have heard of the congregation there gives me nothing but respect for you all as a group and a family. Thanks for your good thoughts.
Well, I will close for now, thank you so much for your good thoughts.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your thoughts. I would love to discuss them with you in person someday. If not here, maybe in heaven! I certainly respect your requests and simply wish you godspeed on our journey through life. I don't pretend to have all the answers and if people think this was an argument, please understand that truth emerges through dialogue. I appreciate your time and response.
In Him
Brad Stevens
brad,
Your graciousness is highly appreciated, from one seeker to another. . .I hope for that dialogue over a cup of coffee as well one day!
Well, I am glad that you have enjoyed your dialogue. I certainally didnt mean to stir the pot...I just thought it was good article.
Sorry anonymous...Brad doesn't drink coffee....but he likes orange juice!
Sheeoot!!!!!
Doesn't like coffee???!!!! Starbucks is one of the reasons i still believe in God at all!!!
You do know that caffiene is a drug. But, we won't start on that issue! Enjoy!
I personally knew Janine, she was a child of God to the t. She opened her home to everyone and every animal imaginable, she waited for the right man, whom she married and saved herself for, she was not a pagen, the type to even warrant for this kind of talk, I ask you please to think about the true person you are talking about, and know that you just don't know, God works in mysterious ways, lil Kayla is still cancer free, and for someone who watched this disease rip apart our family, I know personally that Janine has found peace in the arms of God and that she reached a level most of us cannot comprehend.
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