JANIE"S DREAM
My niece who I helped raise and was more like a daughter passed away January 10, 2012 at the age of 29. You may-be thinking what does this have to do with Conjure? It has everything to do with it, not only that but this is MY website and I want to tell this story because I think folks need to hear it. I’m a story teller at heart so I have to set the foundation for this tale of courage, strength, struggle, faith in the power of God, and determination! This is truly old school Conjure. For a long time I have been the head of my family, it’s not something I wanted; it just happened. When things go wrong they call, when they are hurting they call, when they need help they call. Things always seem to get fixed except this time there was no fixing it.
I talk to folks all day long either through e-mail or over the phone who are in need of help but feel like they just can’t make it, they have lost faith. I’m telling this story for you, so you can see anything is possible. My Mama always said Janie should have been my child because she acted more like me than my own children. Janie’s dream was to become a nurse; she made that dream come true. When this girl made her mind up she followed through. We had a get together at my house one Saturday and I was sitting in my office when she came in. I knew something was on her mind, so we just chatted and I let her work her way around to it. Finally she said “Nani I want to go to nursing school! I said that was wonderful and that she could do anything, she put her mind to do. Then she said, Nani you don’t understand the program is hard to get into and they only have room for a few; then came the hem hawing around until she asked me to help her.”I told her I’d help her get in but the rest was up to her; of course that wasn’t exactly the truth. I kept a vigil going for her success.
She got into collage and things were going well until she started feeling bad. She was working part time, going to school and being a wife to her husband {who is just wonderful} and a momma to her 4 year old daughter. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with cancer. She had her surgery, she went through chemo and she kept her grades up. I think the hardest part for her was losing her hair. She didn’t say anything to me about it but my daughter called me and told me what was going on. I called her; she was just ah crying about her hair. I told “it ain’t nothing but a thing and I would go cut all mine off too if it would make her feel better”. As far as I know the whole time she was ill that is the only time she felt sorry for herself.
Through the whole battle with this first bought of cancer she went to school and kept her grades up. She graduated in the top of her class and was placed on the Presidents List. She never lost faith and she never gave up! I can’t imagine what she went through, but her faith in God and his power never wavered. She didn’t go through this alone her husband who is truly the perfect man if there is one was there by her side every step of the way. He nursed her and took care of her.
It seemed like she had beaten it, she planned on going on and getting her RN. She so looked forward to life. Then one day in June the pain was back; this time she didn’t wait to go to the doctor. The news wasn’t good; the cancer was back. The thing is that she never told any of us just how bad it was. Sick as she was she still tried to protect her family. The type of cancer she had is incurable. The news may have shaken her faith when she heard it but it didn’t last long. No one knew until about a week before she passed that she had stage 4 cancer; not even her husband. She was raised by a Grandma and a Nani who believe anything can be yours if you claim it and have faith. This stuck with her. She prayed the prayer below twice a day up until the last day she was on this earth. She prayed it once by herself, then again with her husband and daughter.
Janie’s Prayer
Heavenly Father, I call on You right now in a special way. It is through Your Power that I was created. Every breath I take, every morning I wake and every moment of every hour, I live under Your Power.
Father, I ask You now to touch me with that same power. For if You created me from nothing, You can certainly recreate me. Fill me with the healing power of Your Spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in me. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells. Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damage areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection.
Let the warmth of Your healing love pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way you created it to function. And Father, restore me to full health in mind and body so that I may serve You the rest of my life.
I ask this in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen
Written by: Larry J. Hess
I named this prayer {Janie’s Prayer}. Until the very end she had faith, she refused to be defeated. She got up every day and sat in the living room with her family. Her last day at home she was getting up when she had a seizure and that was it, they brought her to the hospital and she passed after mid-night. I had told her months before that I loved her but I refused to go to the hospital or to see her suffer. She said “it’s ok Nani I know you love me and I don’t want you to worry”. Well that was a crock, the girl was gifted and 2 days before she passed I could feel her pulling at me. I ended up going to the hospital that night, and I told her that she had made a liar out of her Nani; that she had pulled me to that damn hospital after I said I wasn’t going. She squeezed my hand; here she is dying and she is comforting me.
We left the hospital around 9; we got home an hour later. I laid down at around 11, I dreamed of her the whole time I slept. At 11:44 pm I woke up out of a dead sleep. I knew she was gone, but the phone hadn’t rang so I went back to sleep. At 12:10 my daughter called me, she had passed at 11:45. Even with her last breath she let me know how important I was to her. That is will power and determination. Her spirit is strong with me; I believe that she can be petitioned for healing because she told me so in the dream I had of her. She has a faith about her that not even death could destroy. She touched so many; I believe she is one of Gods angels.