The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Sickness can be a war on many fronts. From the common cold to a major disease, it affects us in a wide variety of situations that cause us to go to war for ourselves. Sometimes it is a battle of one and sometimes you must devise a plan filled with many faces to assist you on your germ war.

Right now in our community and around the globe, viruses and genetic mutations and bacteria and major diseases have crept in during the darkness and infected us, our family and our neighbors. But there is a hope and the fight has begun.

Not too long ago (you all are probably tired of hearing about this, but it was a major landmark on my timeline), I got sick. A word I have never heard before but have perfected saying, Pityriasis rubra pilaris, (try saying that three times fast) was a dormant gene of a debilitating disease that was somehow awakened in my body. It consumed me and almost killed me. It worked fast and was not easily defeated. To be honest, the gene is still in my body, lurking, but we are holding it at bay. A miracle of science, not quite, but a miracle, nonetheless. It was a fight, and I am here now. Were there casualties? Yes. Are we going to be OK? Yes again.

There are fights going on all over the place with a different enemy. That enemy is cancer. This seasoned war veteran has found its way into friends, family and strangers. Their fight has begun; in some it continues. It has taken many, but some could draw a line in the sand and say at the top of their lungs, “Wait a minute, I am not done fighting.” (Take a pause here, for them.)

What got me through my fight and many others I know is a simple four-letter word followed by a five-letter one that go hand in hand. “Pray” is the first word and “faith” is the second. I could leave it right there and not type a single letter after that, but I want to go a little deeper.

I would be stupid if I did not add this. I know that great men and women, full of prayer and faith, have succumbed to their afflictions. After a long and grueling fight, they still lost. Or did they? Go back to that Pray and Faith statement. (Pause again for a moment of thought.)

But I also know those who received healing. Yes, this is great news. Some astounded doctors. Left the experts of this world baffled. Unexplainable? But if you ask any of those who received these, they most likely will tell you exactly where their miracle cure came from and raise their eyes ever so slightly upward.

Yes, I prayed when I was sick and I know many others did too. I have also prayed many times (although not nearly enough) for those around me who have gotten sick, and I will continue to do so. This is a war. A spiritual battle. Sickness cannot take the soul of our loved ones, and we must get into our war rooms and fight with words and scripture and faith. Yes, we may lose their bodies, but their souls belong to someone greater. Always have, always will.

We must fight for ourselves and our beloved. The best weapon for that is love, prayer and faith. I am praying for you right now.