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A Good Word

Blinding Snow Storm

by Patty Kennedy in Neosho, Missouri

Exactly two years ago today, Melissa and her husband, Curtis, attended church as usual with their seven children—six daughters and their only son, Isaac, whom Melissa had given birth to at home just 16 days prior.

That afternoon, Melissa complained of a fierce headache. Scarier still were her other symptoms: she had trouble standing, her speech was slurred and she wasn’t speaking intelligibly. Curtis took her to the emergency room at a nearby hospital in Joplin, where doctors ran a battery of tests. Three hours later a neurosurgeon handed down the grim diagnosis: Melissa had an inoperable brain tumor.

A biopsy performed two days later revealed the tumor had likely been there for as long as three years. When Melissa was told her head had to be shaved in preparation for the biopsy, Curtis volunteered for the job. He described cutting a little of her hair, then wrapping his arms around Melissa while they both wept, then cutting a little more.

After a two-week hospitalization, Melissa returned home just five days before Christmas. With her head shaved and a face bloated from steroid medications, her younger children barely recognized her. Eventually the steroids would pack an extra 80 pounds on Melissa’s small frame.

Melissa’s sister, Tanya, took a five-month leave of absence from her job in Ohio so she could care for Melissa and help with the children. When she left, Melissa’s parents came and stayed for six months. When Melissa could no longer nurse Isaac because of the meds she was taking, several nursing moms in the area pumped their own breast milk to nourish him. Melissa, a homeschooling mom, received encouragement and support from her homeschool network. A dear friend from that group organized daily meal delivery, involving several churches and individuals.

Family and friends rallied around the Snow family during 2006—a year in which Melissa suffered seizures, underwent chemotherapy radiation, and needed a wheelchair to get around. By the time 2007 rolled around, death seemed imminent. Melissa had gone 35 days without eating, and slept up to 23 hours a day due to massive doses of pain medication. Hospice was called in, indicating Melissa had less than six months to live.

“I had to pray the Gethsemane prayer and give her up,” Curtis recalls. “Though I didn’t want to raise seven kids by myself, I came to realize that God controls everything and that, if Melissa died, He would give me the grace to handle it.” Curtis shared a poignant time when then-six-year-old Anna asked what would happen to them if their momma died—and he simply assured her that he would take care of them, and they would all take care of each other—with God’s help.

Melissa, despite all the grim diagnoses and prognoses, has never wavered in believing God would heal her. She was not in denial, either—she firmly believes that since this whole ordeal started, God has assured her it was happening for a purpose, but that she would recover.

And, in fact, she has made remarkable progress. When Melissa didn’t die in the expected six-month period, hospice no longer was needed. Melissa’s appetite returned, and she slowly regained her strength. The seizures stopped, and Melissa began to wean herself off many of her medications.

Melissa, like Curtis, has learned to give her burdens to the Lord. Before being diagnosed with a brain tumor, she prided herself on running an organized household—planning homeschool lessons, making meals, and keeping the stone farmhouse clean. “The main lesson God taught me is to be still and be quiet,” Melissa says. “When I was sick and dying, organizing the household wasn’t a priority anymore.”

While Melissa teaches her younger daughters (Emily, 10; Anna, 8; and Molly, 4), 15-year-old Elizabeth has assumed responsibility for teaching Marilyn, 12, and Abigail, 11. Elizabeth also does most of the meal preparation, as Melissa still tires easily. Fatigue keeps her in bed some days, and she still experiences pain in her head, muscles and joints. But now she has enough stamina to travel with her family on weekends, when Curtis—director of Teen Challenge in Neosho—speaks in regional churches to raise support for the facility.

Assemblies of God churches all over southwest Missouri had heard of Melissa’s plight, thanks to prayer chains and e-mail. Now, as 2008 approaches, Melissa continues to make steady progress. She and Curtis are trusting that God will eventually remove the tumor entirely, enabling her to return to a normal life. Until then, the Snows are firmly convinced they are in God’s hands, and that He knows what is best.

PATTY KENNEDY is assistant web content editor for the national Women’s Ministries Department. She also writes book and music reviews for Pages and Tunes, a free e-newsletter provided by the national Women’s Ministries Department.

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