We attended a local concert in 2014 where Christian artist Carman Licciardello was singing. Diagnosed with cancer in 2013, Carman was told to get his affairs in order and prepare to die. But a year after treatment and disease-free, he was touring again.
After one of his songs, he asked his audience to stand up and join him in singing it again with him. Neither Chris nor I could open our mouths; we were choked up after hearing words we felt were meant for us. Wrapping our arms around each other’s waist, tears streamed down our cheeks as everyone around us sang “Prayer.” The song was about how nothing is impossible for those who faithfully believe. With prayer, the Lord can move a mountain and create miracles over and over again.
During the concert, Carman referenced an unfamiliar Scripture verse in the book of Mark. I made a mental note to look it up when we got home.
He asked those who needed healing to stand up and those surrounding to lay hands on them and pray for healing. I placed my hand on Chris’s shoulder as Carman sang. I’m sure my makeup was all washed off after he finished singing “Jesus Heal Me.”
As we drove in our driveway after the concert, the headlights shone on something in front of the garage door.
“What’s that?” I asked.
It slithered across the entrance to the garage door.
As I totally freaked out, Chris ran around to the front door to get into the garage for a garden tool. He came back around to the driveway with a flashlight and a rake with hard steel tines. I courageously stood inside the truck with the door open and shined the flashlight on the snake while he beat it with the solid back side of the rake. It was one tough snake and kept slithering away. Chris corralled it with the rake tines and brought it back on the driveway where our flood lights gave extra visibility. He finally smashed its head, although the body kept twitching.
“It’s dead enough. It can’t bite anyone,” he said.
I opened the garage door and got a garbage bag. He picked up the snake with the rake and dropped it in. I felt brave enough the next day to open the trash bin to see if it had escaped. By the smell of things, I think it was truly dead enough.
Was this snake incident a coincidence? That was the first snake we had seen on our property in the sixteen years we had lived there. What are the odds that of all the places the snake could have been, it was in the only place we would have seen it that night?
Chemo is still working in 2015.
I got my reminder to look up that Scripture verse. And I sensed God was telling us the chemo would continue to heal Chris.
“They will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
—Mark 16:18