I had a choice to make. A major decision, because I had to quit everything in my life, to care for mom. I had to suddenly quit my full time job, that I couldn’t afford to lose. Mom came to live with us and I cared for her. It was an honor to care for her. But it was also hard and emotional to be a full time caregiver. I had no idea what I was doing. I took care of her the last seven months of her life, as her memory declined and I watched her pass away right in front of me. I know she is with Jesus and that gives me peace. Yet another path on the road of life, our family had a relative that was wrongly convicted. She ended up serving seven years of a twelve year sentence while innocent. This was a major crossroad in our family. And would be the catalyst that would lead me into prison ministry. When I made the choice to be a volunteer in prison ministry and stop as a visitor, at first some family and friends didn’t understand. They thought I was crazy to want to minister to ‘those people’. But without Christ in our lives we are all ‘those people’. Our relative was released in 2005, and all these years later I am still going behind the wire. Lord knows maybe I am crazy. Because I sure do care about the women I serve. There has been so many twists and turns in my life, and I am sure there will be more in the remaining years of my life. I will just take it all in stride, yell “Plot Twist” and recalculate my direction as the Lord leads.
By the time I was able to get the proper medical care, I was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called Clear Cell Adeno Carcinoma. I saw an expert doctor at the hospital on a Friday, and he immediately admitted me into the hospital on the following Monday. I spent a full week having tests, and being turned every which way but loose. Then on October 23rd, 1981, I went into the operating room for a ten-hour-long surgery, that was actually four surgeries in one. I stayed another two weeks in the hospital with about a year and a half of recovery. You can read my cancer story, in my book, Celebrating Life Cancer Free available on Amazon. That day I was rolled into the operating room with cancer and ten hours later I rolled out cancer free!!! This was a major ordeal for me, but it was only a chapter in my life, not my whole life. It was a road in life that I never intended to take. Life changing and as a newlywed. Because we had gotten married during the months of medical exams and lab results with Planned Parenthood. Another twist it threw in my life was that I could not have children because I had a hysterectomy along with other procedures. I experienced a lot of feelings of guilt because now I could not give my new husband any children. I felt worse about that even more than having cancer. But there is good news in this journey, I have now been cancer free for forty-one years! Praise God. Won’t He do it!! I am sure you will understand when I say life is hard but it is also so beautiful. It is the hard things that teach us so much more about faith, and maturity and how to be kind to others, having compassion for those who also go through the things we have. So we can give comfort to others just as we have received it. Everyone can share stories of the chapters in their lives. We all have stories. The way we handle it all is unique to each of us. In 2007, another plot twist came when my sweet mother was diagnosed with dementia when she was in the hospital. The doctor told me she could not live alone anymore. That she would need around the clock care.
I would love to hear your story.
Linda O’Dell lindaprisonmentor@gmail.com
Linda O' Dell
Linda O’Dell describes herself as an “Okie” girl. She is married and has a passion for life. She loves Jesus who healed her of her cancer in 1981. She is extremely passionate about prison ministry. She is now a member with the GIFTS charities Inc. She would love to know what you are passionate about! Lindaprisonmentor@gmail.com Linda O' Dell describes herself as an "Okie" girl. She is married and has a passion for life. She loved Jesus who healed her of cancer in 1981. She is extremely passionate about prison ministry. She is now a member of the GIFTS Charities Inc. She would love to know
what you are passionate about! Lindaprisonmentor@gmail.com
44 | Hope Is Now Magazine
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