During my days of deepest grief, in all of my shock, sorrow and struggle, I sat at the feet of God. I literally spent hours each day reading God’s word, meditating on scripture and praying. I intentionally spent a significant amount of time being still before God.
RICK WARREN
AFTER THE SUCCESS of The Bible series on the History channel, Mark and I had the chance to do a follow-up series for NBC called A.D.: The Bible Continues. By this time, we had only one child left at home, Cameron, who was in his last year of high school. James and Reilly were both off at college in Boston. This kind of series can require a lot of travel and the need to be gone for long periods of time. Cameron, who had dreams of going to film school when he graduated, decided to take a semester off to come with us to Morocco and work on the crew. Mark and I were thrilled. We loved that we would be able to provide this incredible learning opportunity for Cameron, and we loved that we’d have him with us during the long months on location.
But just a few weeks into filming, Cameron got incredibly sick. At first we thought it was food poisoning, which can happen in foreign countries where the food and water are quite different from that in the States. Simultaneously, we were also filming a series in Malta called The Dovekeepers for CBS, so we took him with us to Malta, hoping that the change in diet might help. At first, much to our relief, he seemed to improve, but after a few days, it became clear that it was a much more serious issue than food poisoning, and he was admitted to the hospital.
Mark and I waited anxiously, holding each other close and praying, as the doctor examined him. We just wanted him to be okay. Cameron was very brave, and though we tried to appear strong in front of him, we were incredibly worried. After scans and tests and hushed conversations, the doctor finally pulled us aside to share his diagnosis.
Cameron had a brain tumor. Our hearts sank. But the doctor returned with what he promised was good news. The tumor was operable. He advised we get Cameron back to the States and have surgery performed as soon as possible.
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:6–7 (NRSV)
Mark immediately arranged a plane for a medical evacuation from the location, and an ambulance was waiting in Los Angeles to take Cameron straight to the hospital.
And thus began a time that truly felt like the darkest of days, where all that we had taken for granted was now held in the hands of God. Of course, it had all been in His hands before, but now we acutely felt the reality that we had no power over the situation.
It was a frightening time for all of us, and we found ourselves clinging to hope but ultimately having to surrender to God.
Here we were at the peak of our careers. The Bible series had been a huge success; our company, LightWorkers Media, had just merged with MGM; and we were filming two network shows at the same time. But this incident with our son brought us to our knees, literally. None of that success mattered; we would have traded it all just to have Cameron completely well again.
We were so grateful to have access to the very best care and a fantastic team of doctors at UCLA Medical Center. But Cameron’s issues were complicated, and we immediately called in prayers. We reached out to friends and family and our church community all across the country, knowing that we needed a miracle. We needed Cameron to be covered in prayer. We didn’t know what would happen, but we knew we needed God. Both for his healing and for strength for our family to withstand these days.
Mark and I are both producers. In our day-to-day lives, members of the cast or crew come to us with situations that need fixing, and we help to figure things out. We help solve problems. But the situation with Cameron was filled with unknowing and uncertainty. We felt powerless to solve this “problem.” There was nothing to be done except to call on God.
Mark was an absolute pillar of strength in this crisis. He is a natural leader, and he moved to make the smartest medical choices on behalf of Cameron. I can honestly say that if you were hanging off a cliff on the end of a rope, you would want Mark Burnett on the other end. He never gives up and he never lets go. He is completely loving and reliable and dependable. He stepped into this situation, taking whatever actions were needed, holding tightly to his boy, and he never let go. With no quick fix in sight, it became a waiting game, and we soon knew we would be at the hospital for some time. At the nurse’s suggestion, we decided to take shifts to give each other a break to get home to have a quick shower or grab a change of clothes. The hospital told us we were in this for the long haul, and we had to be smart or we would not endure.
There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.
CORRIE TEN BOOM
Before we left for Morocco, we had started some renovations at our home, thinking it was the perfect time, as we would be gone and out of the country for several months. Now we were unexpectedly back, and our house was in chaos. It was a shock to walk in and discover walls removed, plastic sheeting all over the place, and a coating of dust everywhere.
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
EXODUS 14:14 (NIV)
We have always called our home “the Sanctuary,” and if ever we needed a space of peace and calm, it was now. We needed a sanctuary, but with builders in the house, we certainly weren’t going to find it at home. We thought about checking into a hotel, but ultimately decided we still wanted the comfort and security that comes from being in your own home and being able to crawl into your own bed. We would deal with the chaos. The physical mess in our home was an outer reflection of what was going on in our emotional and spiritual lives.
Looking back, I see this time of our lives as a blur. We were all barely coping, in survival mode, and acting on pure instinct. Friends and family flew in from the UK to be of support. Of course Cameron’s mother and her family were there, and James and Reilly flew home from college on the East Coast as often as they could to be at the hospital as well. James was such a great big brother, sitting for hours at his brother’s bedside, holding his hand and refusing to leave even for a moment. It was a time of great worry for our little family, but looking back, I can see that it brought us all closer together, as we leaned on one another for support and strength.
I remember driving back and forth from the hospital, and those times alone in the car provided my most intimate moments with God. There were times I had to pull over on the side of the road and sit in the quiet of my car, weeping and listening for His still, small voice. There was no real peace at the hospital, where I tried to remain strong and be a good partner for Mark, and there was no stillness in our home with all the construction going on. Only in the privacy of my car could my soul allow itself to feel. God, please heal him. Please, Lord, please, please heal him. It was here, alone, where I could finally cry out to God and try to find the stillness within myself.
Prayer is a lifeline to God.
REV. BILLY GRAHAM
Days became weeks, and the worry was taking its toll. Mark, who stood watch over his son like a warrior angel morning, noon, and night, was just about worn out. Indeed, we all were exhausted. We were practically living at the hospital, and the uncertainty was frightening. When our dear friends Pastor Rick and Kay Warren came by and prayed with us and prayed over Cameron, it was not only a blessing to Cameron but it lifted our spirits as well.
Indeed, we were so grateful to all the friends who rallied around us—those who visited and those who reached out to us on email or on the phone, and we were particularly grateful to all those who reached out to us in prayer. We could feel the love that surrounded us, and we were uplifted and strengthened by it. The whole experience had brought us to our knees. For in the fear and uncertainty, there was nowhere else to go but to God.
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.
CORRIE TEN BOOM
We cried out in our darkness and despair, and, mercifully, the Lord heard us. Cameron began to slowly recover.
Once we knew he was out of the woods and we had all breathed a sigh of relief together and cried tears of gratitude, I went out to my car and was finally alone, about to drive home to the Sanctuary. I fell to my knees in the parking lot. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God.
I’m not sure if I said the words, but I know God felt my prayer of gratitude through the tears that were streaming down my face.
In the midst of the crisis, there was a moment when we did not know if Cameron would ever walk or talk again, and yet when he was released from the hospital in time for an incredible Thanksgiving feast, he practically ran through our front door with a giant smile on his face. Healed and restored, talking a mile a minute. There was no doubt what we were all thankful for that year. We held hands tightly around our table and prayed together, thanking God for healing Cameron, for giving him back his health, and for returning him to his loving family.
In many ways, the experience brought our little family closer together, which is an additional blessing. We no longer take each other or anything in our lives for granted. Our three wonderful children are all now young adults, making their way in the world, reaching for their dreams. We love them so much and are proud of each one of them. We are very close, and we try to gather as often as we can as a family, sharing laughter and love and food and conversation around the dining table. We always take time to give thanks and pray together before every meal, a practice we began with our children when they were very young. Our hearts are full of gratitude for all our blessings and each other.
You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.
DESMOND TUTU
Prayer can mean so many things. It is most definitely the crying out to God for help. In those dark days of uncertainty, all I could do was simply call out, Help him, God, heal him, God. I feel certain God welcomed those prayers. I believe He welcomes us anytime we come to him, even if we have no words.
But prayer is more than asking. It is a conversation with our Beloved. It is a quieting of the soul, so we can hear. It is a stilling of the chaos, so we can see how God is all around us, if we only take the time to notice.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.
RICHARD BACH
We are a nation of doers. Rather than human beings, we are human do-ings. We work and strive and talk and move and go, go, go.
But if we want to be at peace, we must stop.
Stop our working. Stop our talking. Stop even our praying.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Make space. Listen to the whispers of our hearts.
It is only in the quietness, in the stillness, that we can hear the voice of God.
Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life.
JONATHAN EDWARDS