Culture & Christianity: The Allen Jackson Podcast - Experiencing a Spontaneous Miracle [Featuring Rod and Amy Butler]

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

God is still doing miracles—just ask Rod and Amy Butler. At 32-years-old, Rod received a life-changing cancer diagnosis. Then, several years later, their young daughter underwent surgery for a tumor.  Facing uncertainty and fear in both circumstances, they chose a path of unwavering faith and leaned heavily on God’s Word. In this episode, they sit down with Pastor Allen to share how they navigated these seasons of challenge and trusted God’s guidance through decisions that defied medical expectations. If you’re searching for hope, strength, and the power of faith in the face of overwhelming odds, this testimony will encourage you.—It’s up to us to bring God’s truth back into our culture. It may feel like an impossible assignment, but there’s much we can do. Join Pastor Allen Jackson as he discusses today’s issues from a biblical perspective. Find thought-provoking insight from Pastor Allen and his guests, equipping you to lead with your faith in your home, your school, your community, and wherever God takes you. Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3JsyO6ysUVGOIV70xAjtcm?si=6805fe488cf64a6d Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/culture-christianity-the-allen-jackson-podcast/id1729435597

Hey, welcome to culture and Christianity. I want to ask you a question. Do you believe in miracles? Well, I do. My life was changed by one. God healed my mom when I was a little boy, and I got to enjoy her until she was 88. God didn't always do miracles in the way I want. Well, today I'm going to introduce you to some friends, Rod and Amy Butler. They've got a collection of miracle stories. God moves in a variety of ways. But what I want to learn and what I don't ever want to forget is that God is moving in the earth. and I want to be a part of that. I believe their God's story will be an encouragement to you and hopefully spark a note of faith

in your life to trust God for his outcomes in your circumstance. Well, welcome back to culture and Christianity. I'm excited about our guest today. Rod and Amy Butler, we've been doing life together for a while. We have. For full disclosure, we worship together

here at World Outreach. How many years have you been coming to church? Nine years. Nine years. We were children. Right. Very young. Almost. She was. She was. Thank you, Rod.

And you have children. You have three? Yes, sir. We do. Three beautiful, really good children. Two girls and a boy? Yes, sir. Yep. From what are they? Fifteen to ten? And twins who are 12. Twelve. Twelve. About to be twelve. On Sunday. On Sunday. Yeah.

All right. Well, I really, I want to share a bit of your story with our listeners. Because you've got a God story that, you know, sometimes we give our testimonies, and we were drug addicts, living under bridges, and, you know, we met Jesus, and the grass turned green and the sky turned blue, and life was good. And those are wonderful stories. Yes. Yes. Yes, sir.

I mean, you worked in church, grew up in church, worked for a church. Yes, sir. Yeah. Is that right? Raised in church and was a youth pastor for several years. on staff at church and saw my parents live for God all my life. So, this is all I know. That's one of those boring Christian men.

That's a good thing. Thank the Lord, yes. But then life happened a little bit. Yes, sir. And you got a medical diagnosis that was not something that was on the plan. Right, right. Can you, what happened? For sure.

As you can see, I shaved my head. This is on purpose, but I had noticed I had a lump on my head and I would shave around it. And one day my mom just recommended that I go to my doctor and get it checked out and see what it was. And after them doing some, all the stuff that doctors do, they came back and told me that it was a type of cancer called cutaneous B-cell lymphoma. So it was a tumor, and I was 32 years old and really shocked to have a cancer diagnosis at 32. Well, to have a cancer diagnosis period. Right. And so this was May 8th, 2007 was the day I got the call from the doctor who notified me.

And our lives changed. Amy and I had just been married about a year. a little over a year at that point. And, yeah, so it was, it was scary. Well, it is. I think any time you hear the word cancer mentioned around your name, that's a frightening time.

Yes, sir. But again, I think you came to that with a background. Yes. You had known the Lord and walked with the Lord. You weren't a brand new Christian. Yes, sir. And I think your response to that was an expression of faith,

but you chose a path that not everybody chooses. Yes, sir. Yeah. I am. Thankfully, I've been raised in church, and I've learned some things about God's love and his healing power. And before I even knew it was cancer, I remember one night looking at the tumor in the mirror, in the bathroom. And, you know, I remembered Mark chapter 11, verse 23, where Jesus, you know, he spoke to the fig tree in that,

chapter, but then he said, you know, whosoever will say unto this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea. And for me, the mountain was the tumor. And so I just replaced mountain with tumor and won't doubt in his heart, but believe that what he says will come to pass, he'll have what he says. So just right then, I spoke to the tumor. I remember it also when Jesus prayed for Peter's mother-in-law who had the fever, and he spoke to the fever, and it said the fever left him. So I spoke to the tumor and I commanded it to leave in Jesus' name. And then later found out it was cancer and decided that either I was going to, well, here's what happened. I called my pastor. We called our pastor and asked if we could come see him that

evening. This was the same evening and share with him the news. And we did. And he said some things that evening that just really helped me. And, you know, I'll say this, Pastor Allen, it's so important to be in the right church. It's so important to have people in your life who can encourage you and help you stand on God's Word. And I was thankful for my relationship with my pastor because it really set me on the course. And I asked him, I said, you know, Pastor, you've helped a lot of people through a lot of things. You've seen a lot of things. Is there anything you would tell me with regards to how to deal with this. And he said, first, you cannot let fear get in. That was the first thing he said. And then the second thing he said is, if you've ever been

aggressive about anything in your life, you have got to be more aggressive about this. You cannot act like this is not a big deal because it is a big deal. You've got to get this thing out of your body and out for good. And when he said that, I feel like the Lord just helped me to know what he meant when he said, I've got to be more aggressive, because what I understood him to mean is, I had to be aggressive about getting in God's word on healing and hearing his word and standing on his word. And I decided right then, no matter what happened,

even if I died from it, which I didn't think I was going to, but even if I did, one thing that the Lord Jesus wouldn't be able to look at me and say is, son, you weren't aggressive. And so from that, point on, it was healing in the morning. It was healing all day. It was, I mean, the type of job that I had at the time, I could, I was on my computer a lot. And I had healing scriptures up on my computer in between phone calls. We were listening to healing messages. We focused more on healing than on cancer because the cancer was always there. I mean, it was always in my mind and just kind of looming with everything that I did. did. So it made all the difference in the world, standing on his word, speaking his word. And while I was doing that, pastor, the whole month of May, I'm doing that, and the tumor

doubled in size. So that wasn't fun. No. So Amy, Rod gets that diagnosis, and that's, I mean, I know that's his diagnosis, but it touches the whole family. So he's doubling down on seeking the Lord and digging into scripture, how'd that feel from your side? Well, the diagnosis was shocking for sure. And do you think about all the things in life? We hadn't done yet. We hadn't yet had children. And so there's all kinds of risk that come with treatment along those lines. But once we made that decision, once he made the decision to get in there and really fight, I knew that no matter what, I was going to be standing in it with him and fighting right alongside him. So when he said it was he said it was,

healing all day long, it was for me too, because I needed to be in that place where I fully believed that, you know, the Lord was going to take care of this for him. So I remember us, you know, falling asleep at night with healing scriptures playing as we fell asleep. And it was just, I was definitely in the fight with him. So you really did reorient your lives. We did. Absolutely. I mean, you were Christians going to church, working at church, I mean, doing all the things. Mm-hmm. But you found a whole new place with the Lord. Absolutely. Yes, sir. It's important. She mentioned treatment.

They told me that the treatment that was needed would be first radiation treatment, and I would need radiation treatment five days a week for six weeks straight. Well, first they had to find out if it was systemic or local to the tumor on my head. And so I had to go through a lot of tests, and they found out that it was not systemic. And so radiation treatment, five days a week, six weeks straight, and then some chemo after that. So when she refers to, you know, treatment and some impact of what treatment could do, you know, we were told that there was risk that the chemo could cause us to not be able to have kids, you know.

So, and I was planning to do the treatment. So we were going to start the treatment. And the first week would have been fine, but then the week two, I was actually going to be volunteering at youth camp at our church. And so the radiologist didn't want me to start treatment for a week and then be gone for a week. So she said, we'll just start the treatment when you get back. Okay, so full disclosure, that wasn't this church. That wasn't this church. We were knocking you out of treatment. Okay. All right. That's right. That was our pre-world that we changed. Yes, yes. That was a while ago. A while ago. I was 32. I'm 50 now. So this was a while ago.

But so we started, we planned to start the treatment. I planned to start the treatment when I got back. Well, I told you in the first month, the tumor doubled in size. While I was at youth camp that week, I started to see a change in the tumor that wasn't the tumor growing. It seemed like there were some parts of the tumor that started decreasing. And so when I got back, I was encouraged. by that and had the appointment with the radiologist. This was just up the street in Smyrna.

And so she was not encouraged the way I was. She was concerned about the questions I was asking. She didn't feel like the tumor had changed or decreased in size. And she just said, listen, the cure rate for something like this when we catch it early like this, like we have, is nice. 95%. Wow.

And so she was really encouraging me to go ahead and start the treatment. And so she went on, had her team get ready. Amy and I were sitting there and just, I just in here didn't feel good about starting the treatment that day. You remember us sitting there and I can't put my finger on it. I just didn't feel like I should start the treatment that day. So I just got up, went and found her, and asked her, told her that I just wasn't comfortable starting that day, if I decided to come back tomorrow, would you be willing to treat me? And she said, how about we do this?

Let's go ahead and set an appointment for a week from now for you to come back and we'll start the treatment. And so that's what we did. And so the night before, Amy recommended that we spend some time praying about the next day and the treatment. Now, she had done this before even the first appointment and just full disclosure. I didn't feel like doing it. I didn't, I don't know, I was backslidden that day maybe. I just, I didn't want to pray about it. You know, I was having a bad day that day.

And so I. It was, if I can say, we had been praying plenty, but I wanted us to pray, spend time praying together in the spirit specifically about starting the tree, about that treatment. Yes, thank you. You're right, because we had obviously been praying. and standing on God's word. But that night, praying together about the treatment, I just didn't feel like it. And so when she brought it up the second time,

honestly, the reason I did it is because I knew she wasn't going to let it go. And I didn't. Good girl. I didn't want to hear her say anything else about it. So I said, yes, we'll pray. And I said, Lord, I'm supposed to start this treatment tomorrow. But if there's anything you have to say about it, I want to hear it.

And then I spent some time praying in the spirit. And after about 10 minutes or so, I just felt like there was this download of information that the Lord showed me. I didn't hear a voice. There was nothing spectacular. The best way I can explain it is when I'm on my computer sometimes and there's this folder, this yellow folder, and I double click on the folder and it opens up

and you see all the stuff that's inside it, It's almost like the Lord double-clicked them in here in my spirit, and I just had this paragraph of information that he said to me. And the Lord said to me, again, I didn't hear anything, but I could start the treatment tomorrow, and everything would be fine, but I didn't have to. And then he reminded me, or he said, I was seeing, so I was seeing a decrease in the tumor.

the radiologist said, we don't know that it's not becoming systemic. This change that you're seeing could be just going throughout your body. So she, rightfully so, as a doctor, said, let's go ahead and do this. And I thank God for her and for that counsel. But the Lord said, I was seeing in my body the very thing that the radiation treatment was designed to do. And he reminded me that the radiologist had said, when we start the radiation treatment, it would take maybe a week or so before I started seeing a change in the tumor.

And then once we finished for six weeks, after six weeks of treatment, I would still see the tumor decrease in change after the treatment was finished. And so the Lord just said, I was seeing in the tumor, the very thing the radiation treatment was designed to do. And I could start the treatment tomorrow.

Everything would be fine. But his highest and best for me in that situation was for me to let him finish to work. He said, I'd have a better testimony. And then he started talking my language. Pastor, I work in finance. And he said, it's not going to cost you the amount of money it's going to cost you because of your health insurance and it's going to save you a lot of time. You're not going to have to go get, I mean, all this stuff I just kind of knew in a moment. And so at that moment, I decided I wasn't going to do the radiation treatment. Wow. And that didn't go over well with

the radiologist, nor did it go over well with the oncologist, and I understand that. Right. I think that's, it's worth taking a moment with that, because when you go to the doctor, they're accountable to medical standards and legal standards and have peer reviews amongst the medical community and attorneys looking over their shoulders. And when we walk in with something that's outside the box, they don't have a place on that form. They have to fill out for the insurance companies and says miraculous. That's right. You know, if somebody comes to you as a financial planner and they said, you know, I'm not going to save any money, I'm going to trust God. Right. You don't want to discourage them from trusting God, but you would encourage them to save money.

That's right. Absolutely. And so the doctors are often put in that place, even the ones that I know that have faith and believe in the Lord and pray over their patience. Yes, sir. And so I think your story puts us right in the midst of the crosshairs of that. Right. And, and, and, and, and, I thank God for doctors. Like, there's no way doctors are from the devil. The devil's not trying to heal people and help people. Doctors are from God. And so I thank God for doctors.

And also know, I didn't make that up. Like, I would never have thought to tell myself, I could do the treatment, but I didn't have to. It was up. The Lord essentially said it was up to me, that I could choose to do the treatment and everything would be fine, but I didn't have to. And so now, I did also call my pastor to share with him what I felt like the Lord had told me.

And Amy actually has a pretty cool confirmation story because we were praying together and how the Lord prepared her to hear what I felt like he told me. You want to share that? Sure, yeah. In that time of praying together. we actually went to different, like different rooms initially. So while he was in one room receiving all this from the, from the Lord, in my prayer time, the Lord very clearly spoke to me in a way. It was the only time I've ever heard the audible voice of the Lord. And it was,

it was so, so clear and so distinct, letting me know that he was going to affect the cure in his body. And so then when our time of prayer ended, and Rod was telling me what the Lord had shared with him, I was able to immediately be okay with that. I didn't have to question anything because it was just that confirmation. So it was just, it was so special the way that he did that for both of us so that I could immediately be on board with him because that's a big deal to say, we're not going to do the treatment. Right, right. Absolutely. You know, trusting the Lord isn't about foolishness or presumption. That's right. I mean, it's based on his word, but it's also based on his word in the moment.

in the moment. And you need both of those? That's right. Yes, sir. Okay, so you've told the doctor you're going to step out, you're not going to go forward with treatment. Right. They're not really launching a fan club for your decision.

That's right. In fact, I got a letter in the mail, and I've got a copy of it here that essentially gave a chronological order of the events that happened. You were diagnosed on this day. This is what we recommended for the treatment. You've decided not to do the treatment. It says clearly here in the letter, you could die of this. And the radiologist ended it saying, you know, if you're not comfortable getting the treatment

here, please find some place where you are comfortable. And so I appreciated that. Also notice she copied the oncologist and copied my primary care physician. And so that everybody would know, hey, we've recommended this. this and he's choosing to not do the treatment. I will say this also. Remember I mentioned that after the youth camp, I went back and saw to her there was a decrease in the tumor. It looked like to me, she did not agree that there was a decrease in the tumor. However, in the letter that was sent to me at the end of it, it said, we're only talking about 12 to 15 treatments.

Now, initially, I was told five days a week for six weeks straight. That's 30 treatments. Well, in the letter, it said 12 to 15 treatments. So that told me, ah, she did see a decrease in the tumor, I think. And so I didn't, I decided not to do the treatment. And we set a date for me to go back to my oncologist right after that because he wanted to talk to me as well. And I remember asking him, you know, listen, the tumors, it's clearly smaller. Is it unreasonable that I want to wait just on the treatment?

I'm not saying I'll never do it. I want to wait on the treatment. And he said, how about this? Let's set a date for September 14th. He did a masterful job of avoiding the question and said, let's set a date for September 14th. This is 2007. Now, I was diagnosed May 8th. He said, if it's not all gone, promise me you'll start the treatment.

And I said, okay, if it's not all gone, I promise you all start the treatment. September 14th, I'm sitting in his office waiting. He opens the door and all he says is, is it gone? And I said, it's all gone. He said, this is amazing. Sit up here. So I had to sit on the doctor chair, you know, and he's looking at my head and filling it. And he said, my favorite line, he said, I am perplexed.

Malignancies like this just don't disappear. And then he said, you know, we recommended a certain course of action. You guys were diligent to get all of the information that you needed. And you've taken an unconventional approach. But it turns out you made the right decision. That's what he said. And so I asked him, I said, you know, doctor and I called his name. I said, what are you going to put in my medical file?

And then he said a bunch of stuff, but all I remember is two words, spontaneous resolutions. So that's what I hang on two spots. And that's in my, well, in my records, it says spontaneous remission with no treatment. But that day he said spontaneous resolution. So I'm so thankful. I'm going to start praying for more spontaneous remission. Amen, that's right. I like the language.

Yes, sir, yes, sir. And that's been more than a day or two. Yes, sir. Man, it's been 18 years. 18 years. I'm so thankful. God is so faithful. 18 years, God is faithful. And His word is true. Yes.

I'm so thankful to be on the other side, but we walk through it. And the Lord helped us. And I can, Pastor, I can look back at that time and just see how so many situations, how God helped me to continue to stand on His Word. I remember, if it's okay, I remember one morning watching one of the morning news shows. And so we would be getting ready and sometimes have a news show on. And there was a boy on the show who had a tumor in the side of his face. And it was growing and his face was deformed because of the growth of the tumor.

And I remember watching that and thinking, that's how you're going to look. This is the thought that came. That's what's going to happen to you. That's how you're going to look. And I'm listening to the story and just in here, the Lord reminded me, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the woman with the issue of blood. And here's what he said. He said in Mark 5, when she heard of Jesus,

she came in the press behind and said, if I can just touch his garment, I'll be made whole. And then the Holy Spirit said, she hadn't been hearing about Jesus all her life like you have. Oh gosh, it was, it was so real how God helped me in that moment, you know, with those thoughts. And the Holy Spirit encouraged me that, no, I've been hearing the Word. And His Word is true. And Jesus said, her faith made her whole. And if her faith will make her whole, my faith will make me whole. I said that with my father recently did a podcast.

He told the story how he came to faith, how God transformed our family. They started a home Bible study all the way up to the beginning of this church that I've served now for decades. As I listened, the heart of it was the work of the Holy Spirit in his life and through his life. I ask him to do a book around the topic, and we have it so that you can invite the Spirit of God

to be the dynamic presence of the power of God to bring change in life and hope, no matter what the circumstances. You'll enjoy the book. Experience the Holy Spirit in a deeper way with this new book by Pastor Allen's dad, The Eternal Breath of Life. Request your copy when you donate any amount today, and when you give $50 or more, you can also request unleashing the power of the Holy Spirit.

It's a collection of Pastor Allen's sermons that will help you understand the Holy Spirit in new ways. Request yours today at allanjaxon.com. You know, I know you know, and I'm sure some of our listeners do, but different but similar. When I was seven, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and told she had six months to live. And we went to church every week, but we weren't Christians. In fact, the pastor came to visit, and he didn't believe in heaven or hell. And my parents were flying to Mayo Clinic for some pretty dramatic surgery for my mom. She had breast cancer.

And she said a prayer that if there was a God, because she said she didn't know even if there was, that he would let her know the truth before she died so she could tell my brothers and whatever that was, be Baptist or Jewish or Catholic or. And after they were going to the Mayo Clinic and after the workup and all the exam, the doctor came in and said, you had cancer. We had pictures of it. There's no question, but we can't find it. Go home and raise your babies.

Wow. Another spontaneous remission. Yes, right. That's right. And it was a few weeks after that that the Lord revealed himself to her. And my parents became Christians and our family changed. But a few years later, those, like, We were in Tennessee, so it was, I don't know,

five or six years later, the lumps came back. And my mom was so frightened, she wouldn't even go to the doctor at that point. And a woman came to visit us, a godly woman. And she said to my mother, that's just foolish. You go see the doctor. Jesus took care of you once. He'll take care of you this time.

Amen. And the lady actually took care of my brothers and I when my mom went and had lumpectomy. She had the lumps removed. and they were benign, but they were back in six weeks. Wow. And that time, you know, the Lord said, now, you, you trusted me once. And so, and she only lived to be 88.

So whatever those prayers were, the Lord seemed to honor them. You know, in my takeaway is we don't dictate to God how it's not a formula. You know, Jesus healed some people with mud. put on their eyes and other times with a word. Yes, sir. And I mean, there's a whole variety of ways. He prayed for somebody and the healing was incomplete and he prayed again and they got finished up.

You know, I want a formula where you say these three words and you hold your left foot in the air and you wave your right hand in a circle and everybody gets well. But the sovereignty of God, we don't intrude upon. But the redemptive work of Jesus gives us hope for the forgiveness of our sins and the healing of our bodies

and the transformation of our old carnal natures. and the defeat of Satan is complete and entire. That's right. It is. And yet we're left to live that out. That's right. And for me, that takes all I've got. Yes, sir. But it is always such tremendous encouragement to be reminded that God is moving in our midst every day.

Amen, yes, sir. You and I've been friends a while. It's not the first time we've had this conversation. That's right, right. Can I speak? Could I share just something that I've had the opportunity just at a different time to share my testimony in different situations? There's a part that for many years I couldn't share, and it'll make sense as to why. But you were talking about how with your mom, the lumps came back.

You know, sometimes I wonder and think the enemy may try to bring some things back to us to see if we'll accept it or to see. we have to stand our ground. And so I don't remember, it was 2021 maybe or 2020. 2020, something like that. A friend of mine asked me to come and share my testimony on, she has a podcast. And I had agreed, actually this was, yes, some type of media platform. And I agreed to do it.

2021, so 2007, the tumor's gone, never showed up again. 2021 and the same spot, it came back. Not the same size, but clearly. And it burned me up. I was so mad. And I'd already, actually, my friend asked me to come and share my testimony after this had come back. and I told her, she left the voicemail, and I remember thinking,

man, I don't know that I'm going to be able to go and share my testimony and just in the middle of thinking about that, it burned me up because the Lord healed me. And I believed I was healed that day. And the fact that I was even thinking about not going, it just made me mad. And so I decided I don't care. I'm going to share my testimony. I don't care what this looks like.

I don't care if it's there or not. The Lord healed me and I'm going to share my testimony. And the Lord helped me. And for me, he shared with, he basically showed me I just ignore it. Don't think about this. And you continue to thank me that you're already healed. And before I had to do that testimony and I knew they were going to be putting makeup on me and all of this stuff and have to be filling on my head. But before I got there, this was, you know, a week or so before I even had to do it, it was.

was all gone and hadn't shown back up again. God is so good. Amen. He is. Well, I want to scroll forward a few years. Yes, sir. And you do have a family. Yes. You had twins.

Yes. Jackson and Noel. Yes. And then Noel had some health challenges. Yes. By then, we were going to church together. Yes. Yes.

So I'm in the dialogue this time. That's right. Yes. Maybe Amy, you. Amy, you want to tell us a little bit about that? Sure. So at five years old, Noel had started having some symptoms that couldn't really be explained, some severe headaches.

And after a period of time of a few months, we started to notice it seemed like she had some challenges with balance and eye movement. And so our pediatrician sent us to get a CT scan. And- So I'm just good, but you took her to the doctor. You weren't avoiding doctors. Correct.

Oh, go. We were seeing our pediatrician over a period of months. So the, she was having episodes of headache, but like from November, starting in November, when she was five, just one day a month. And then December it happened twice a month. And so we were regularly seeing our pediatrician. She was doing blood work, checking for different things.

We were contemplating if it was migraines, which is very uncommon for a child that age. So there were different things being looked at and then got to the point to where she said she just wanted to do a CT scan and see. Insurance denied it at first because they said there wasn't enough supporting evidence for that.

So we had to fight through that. But the morning that I took her and had the CT scan done and so she didn't really understand what was going on, of course, didn't tell her too much. But after that scan was done, I had stopped at a store with her

on the way home, so we had only been gone from the place about 10 minutes. And my cell phone rang, and it was our pediatrician calling me from her cell phone. And so I knew that I was about to get some news. And when I answered the phone with her, she said, I've got to talk to you about something scary. And she said that there was a mass there on her brain, and there was hydrocephalus there. They weren't exactly sure what all was going on. There need to be some further diagnostic testing, but we needed to get Noel and the head of pediatric neurosurgeon was expecting us at Vanderbilt. So I called Rod and went home and just started gathering our things, made arrangements for the other two kids to go stay with the grandparents.

It just set a whole series of things in motion. And driving, with Noelle to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. And I remember looking in the rearview mirror with her sitting in the back in her seat and she was just singing and just had no idea what was coming. And so we got checked in, started going through the process of diagnostic testing and the pediatric neurosurgeon let us know

that it was a brain tumor there and it was actually blocking her spinal column, blocking fluid from draining as it should. And so it was something, that needed to be dealt with immediately. And the very next day, which was Valentine's Day, so now we're in February. So just periodic symptoms from November,

and then February 13th, we get that diagnosis. And then February 14th, our five-year-old is getting taken back for major brain surgery. And we are being told all kinds of scary things. Obviously, it's a big deal to operate on the brain. a lot of uncertainty as to what her abilities will be after that is done. Yeah. What the side effects, the surgery, major surgery will do.

The tumor was on the cerebellum, and so they were preparing us for a good number of things that were expected to be impact, but gross motor skills, fine motor skills, her ability to control eye movements, her speech and speech processing. there was a long, long list of we don't knows that came along with that. So we were absolutely thrown into a place to where we very quickly had to get in a position where we were trusting the Lord with this.

I remember as we were getting ready to leave the house, Rod was working that day. So there wasn't a lot of conversation that could happen before we got the point to where we were going to the hospital. And there was one moment in the middle of all the rushing where he just looked at me, He's like, and said, are you okay?

And I said, I am. We're just going to walk through this. And just having that confidence of knowing that we didn't have to go through this alone. We were not trusting on just what doctors could do at Vanderbilt. We were so thankful to be so close to a place that had not just care providers that could treat her, but extraordinarily gifted care providers who could treat her. We were so thankful for that. but more thankful that we knew

we ultimately were trusting the Lord with this. That's right, and we've been here before. Right. You know, I'm sorry to cut you off. No, no, this is a team effort. We need everybody's voice on this one. When there's stress in a family like that, you know, everybody has a different perspective.

I learned that in our little family. You know, when my mom was sick, then he healed her. I'm sure for my mom, it was a miracle. Yeah. She got to see your children. grow up. And for my dad, he got to keep his wife. You know, as far as I got a miracle. I got to grow up with my birth mom. That's right. And in a family situation, we have different vantage

points, but we're all trusting the Lord, or at least it's better if we can all trust the Lord together. Yes, sir. I interrupted. I'm sorry. No, that's okay. Y'all are circling the wagons to trust the Lord and headed to Vanderbilt for major surgery with Noel. And it all happened pretty quickly. we were given a lot of potential things that could happen and a lot of uncertainties about what she might be like after that surgery. And I remember when they were preparing to take her back to surgery. There were different points, different stops along the way,

and we got to the final place to where we were going to tell her, goodbye, we'll see you later. And they had her on the bed. They had explained everything. and they were taking her back through these big double doors. And we were both standing there. And I remember standing there, like, thinking as her mom, like, there's not anything I can do here. You know, this is my child who I'm used to taking care of.

Like, this is beyond anything I can do. And so as they were open the doors to take her back in that moment, I just, I let her go. I didn't let her go in the sense that I thought she might die or whatever happens is okay. But I let her go from my care as her parent and let her go completely into the care of the father because ultimately she belongs to the Lord. That's right. And I knew that our hope, our complete hope, within him taking care of her during that time. And I watched the doors close.

And I closed the door on fear. And in that moment, when we went back to the waiting room, I just didn't worry about what was going to happen to her. And I can tell you that that was the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit. Because there's no way I could have gotten there on my own. It was the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit. And then he took care of her. And it was seven hours later.

Yeah, seven-hour surgery. When the pediatric neurosurgeon came out to meet with us after the surgery. And I remember us being a little bit surprised after all that waiting. When he came out to meet with us, he was sweaty. He looked like he was worn out. Yeah. And he told us in that meeting that the tumor was about the size of an egg, about the size of a robin's egg,

and that he went as far as he felt comfortable going, that it looked like it had merged into the back of her brainstem, and that he couldn't say that he got it all out because he just had to stop with concern of causing any more damage to her. And so we left that meeting, feeling a little unsettled about that and let people know where we stood

and then or where things stood at that time and just continue to. to pray and believe God for a supernatural result there. And the next day, when they did the imaging, that very next morning, the imaging came back, and you can clearly, I still have pictures of it on my phone. You can, the imaging came back the next day, and you can clearly see where the tumor was,

and then there was absolutely nothing left inside of it, not a bit of it. So we were so grateful and saw, so thankful for what that neurosurgeon did, and then beyond what wasn't able to be reached, the Lord took care of that supernaturally for her. That's right. And that was still just the beginning of all the awesome stuff

God did for us and for our family during that. Right, because she had to kind of walk back from that. She did. You know, it wasn't the next morning that she was just up and playing. Right, right. So with her waking up the next day, we were watching We were watching for some things.

We were listening to see if she could use her voice. There was a period of evaluations over a couple of days to see what her abilities were at that time. And it was significant. The whole right side of her body was significantly weaker than the left side of her body. Her speech processing was affected. She was not able to, well, to say she wasn't able to watch.

She wasn't even able to hold a spoon and feed herself. So they started with some very basic things like relearning how to hold her head up again. So that really was the beginning of the hardest part to the whole process. So after being in Vanderbilt for almost two weeks, then she got transferred to Atlanta to rehabilitate Children's Rehabilitation Hospital there.

So we all relocated to Atlanta for a bit. And there's so many places where the Lord worked things out for us in this and helped us in this situation. And there are several, just even with that story, we have very close friends who live in Atlanta, have a home large enough that Rod and Nadia and Jackson could move in and stay there as long as they needed to. I went to college there. And so my best friend and his family live there. You mean like the Lord had a plan?

The Lord had a plan. You know? Yes. We were already a homeschooling family. so the kids were able to go with us. We didn't have to be concerned about school permissions and that type of thing. Rod's able to work remotely.

My business, I was able to control my own time. But I think there's a lot of emotion there. You have this day where you have to have surgery. And when you've been through an illness and you didn't have to have surgery, there's some disappointment that you've got to grapple with, that you've got to face this with your child. And then you get the great report.

that the tumor has been addressed, and then the next morning, you've got the reality of recuperation. Yeah. I mean, that's a lot. I mean, you're on a roller coaster. You know, walking with God, trusting God, living out your faith in my life,

that's not simple most days. And I think what you're sharing with us is the reality of that. Right. There's no lack of faith. There's no lack of trust. God is walking with you. Yeah.

You know, and he chooses different plans and different paths. And you see him working. You know, there's a place to stay in friends and a comforting environment and you've already prepared to homeschool and you're doing rehab. Yes. I'm sorry, I interrupted, but so what are you going to do with rehab? I know she holds your head up now, so I know she learned that lesson. Real quick, I'll just, you know, there's some things that the Lord helped both of us

really understand on a different level walking through that, you know, and the Bible talks about how we have to fight the good fight of faith. Man, I understand that a whole lot more after walking through that because it, it's a fight to stay in faith and stay on God's word when you are seeing things that make you want to cry. And, and you know you got a long road ahead and you have to decide to not focus on those things, you have to deal with them. But my hope is in God. And I know his word is true. And we've been here before in a different way, but we've seen God be faithful to us. And no matter what it looks like, he's going to be faithful to us in this situation. And through my tears, I could look up and just say, Lord, I thank you. You're faithful to me. No matter what it looks like.

through our tears, we were thankful that he was faithful to us and going to continue to be. And we have to walk this out too. Yes, yes. You know? It was very much a fix your eyes walk, you know, just keep looking at Jesus for sure. And so with moving on to rehab, she had a whole various disciplines of therapies to undergo physical, occupational speech. And there were a number of weeks that she did that all day.

long throughout the weeks. So it was a lot to walk through. It was very difficult for her. But the thing we kept hearing over and over was just how impressed and how surprised the physicians were at how quickly she was making progress. And by the time we came home after that stay and in Atlanta, I remember when we brought her home, she still wasn't walking. She was in a wheelchair. She not only wasn't walking, she couldn't even, she wasn't even able to crawl. So we were picking her up and moving her from one room to another at home. And so we were doing outpatient therapy at Vanderbilt. But less than two months later from the time we came home, she was standing on a stage dancing at her dance recital.

And that is only the supernatural healing power of God. that can cause that to happen. And we continue to have things to walk through, and we still are walking, we're six years later, and still have a little bit that we're walking through with her. But we've never backed down from believing that that place of full restoration,

which we've prayed for, believed from the beginning, is possible for her. It's been a different walk with the cancer diagnosis and what Rod went through, his results were supernatural, and they were also spectacular. Happened very, you know, in a spectacular way. And then with our situation with Noel, it hasn't been as spectacular,

but it's been no less supernatural in that we are arriving at an outcome that medical experts could never have expected possible for her. And that's who we see when we look at her today. Most people who meet her today would have no idea that she has ever had to overcome challenges like she has. That's right. She's a beautiful young lady. Thank you. Yeah, she is.

And all your children know how to trust the Lord. Yes. Amen. You know, I mean, they're still living their own stories. That's right. It's a beautiful family. Thank you. You know, I'm often, people ask me if I believe in prayer or doctor,

or medicine or faith. And I'm like, yes. Yes, that's right. You know, what do you mean? All of them. We have all these incredible people who spend years of their life training to help us. You know, God designed our bodies to heal. Yes. Yes. I mean, my father was a veterinarian. And so I watched this on all sorts of different kind of living things that if you cut your finger or you break something, your body's designed to heal. My phone's not designed to do that. My car isn't designed to do that. And when we pray for healing, we're just asking God to let our bodies do what he designed them to do. Amen, that's right. And the medical community have all this training and expertise to help

that. It's not a competition, but there's a doc, there's a God and it's not a doctor. And it's just we have to learn to trust the Lord and walk through all of that. Yeah, that's right. Yes, sir. And I think your lives and your family, I'm fond, I frequently say to the congregation that our faith to begin at the kitchen table, that we have to live it out in the midst of our families. And that's the hardest place in the world. Yes, sir. And I'm honored to say you're friends.

And so I knew your story before we got to this table. But you know, you had the spectacular involvement of God in your life. I love the way you said it. And no less spectacular in Noel's life. Absolutely. And yet it was more incremental. And God chose a different plan.

Yes. We don't override God's sovereignty. That's right. You know, we know all the biblical narratives, but I mean, you know, David has a victory over Goliath in an afternoon, but it takes him more than a decade to overcome Saul and his hatred. I'm sure the afternoon formula was preferred. Yes.

Right. You know, and I like quick answers. Amen. But at the end of the day, I want to be faithful, and I trust the faithfulness of God. Yes, sir. That's right. Amen. You all are such a blessing.

You serve in the church in many ways. Thank you. With students and college students, and it's an honor to stand with you and serve the Lord. I don't know what people do. They don't live in a community of faith. I don't know either. And I'm so thankful I don't have to know.

Yes. That might sound weird, but I'm just thankful. Thankful that I was raised in a home where I saw parents live for God. And I know there's so much heartache that I didn't have to experience. growing up because of that. And it helped me and prepared us for things that we've had to walk through.

Absolutely. We're not done yet. We're not done yet. That's right. You know, I think everything that the Lord has walked us through to this point is to prepare us for what's ahead. Yes, sir. Whether it's in our lives or to help other people. Amen.

That's right. I'm sure there's some people listening that have people they care about and love that are facing some real serious physical challenges. Yes, sir. Would you all pray for them? be glad to. And I want you both to pray. I know you've got different perspectives.

Sure. You've done it for yourself. You've done it as parents. You've done it as a husband and a mom, father and a mom. I mean, and I'm sure there are people listening from all of those positions.

Yes. So let's agree with them. You know, we're asking God to do what he designed us to do. Yes, sir. Amen. And what Jesus made possible through his death on the cross

and his resurrection. Praise God, yes, sir. Now how he does that, we'll leave to him. We're going to trust him to do that, right? and he will do it. All right. You pray?

I'll start, sure. Well, Father, we come to you and we thank you first. You are our very own father and we are your children. And we thank you for your love. We thank you for the master, the Lord Jesus, whom you sent to die for us. And Father, in that salvation, you've also provided healing for our bodies. So Father, we join our faith with those of our brothers and sisters out there who are trusting you who are looking to you in whatever situation they're dealing with. Thank you, Lord.

Your word is true. Yes. Thank you, Lord Jesus. You are the healer. And so, Father, we ask you in Jesus name to show yourself strong in their lives, in the bodies that need healing. Let your Holy Spirit comfort them and help them to continue to trust you and look to you. Give them. Give them. Give them answers where they need answers and direction where they need direction, hope, peace in their hearts, knowing that you love them and you're working things out for them, even if they can't see it with their physical eyes, you're helping them, you're working on their behalf. Thank you, Lord, for bringing them into all that you have for them, into the healing that you have. have for them. And I thank you, Father. I ask you to help them to see the other side where they

will be able to share their testimony of how faithful you were and are to them. And now they will be a blessing to others talking about your goodness. Yes. Amen. And Father, I thank you as we stand here believing with those who need healing in their bodies or healing for those who, others who they love. I thank you that your word says, you are the father of compassion and the God of all comfort. So I ask you to stand in that place with them

of comfort as they endure. I thank you that you give us the ability to endure as long as we need to in any circumstance. And I pray that they all remember that the joy of the Lord is their source of strength. and you tell us that when we spend time in your presence,

we're filled with that joy. So I pray for those who are standing in for themselves and for other people for healing, that they are encouraged to spend time in your presence and get filled with your joy, which gives them all the strength they need to endure throughout this time in their lives. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Amen and amen. Thank you for taking a few minutes. Thank you for taking a few minutes with us today. Yes, sir. Thank you for having us. You know, I appreciate the two of you, but I love your kids. You've got a beautiful family with all kinds of talent and energy.

They are a blessing. Amen. Thank you. Well, thank you for praying with us today. And we'll trust the Lord for what he's going to continue to do. Yes, sir. You come back and give us an update. Okay.

I'm glad to you. Thank you, sir. Hey, thanks for joining me today. Before you go, please like the podcast and leave a comment. so more people can hear about this topic too. If you haven't yet, be sure to subscribe to Alan Jackson Ministries YouTube channel

and follow the Culture and Christianity podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Together, let's learn how to lead with our faith and change our culture. I'll see you next time.