My Way Back
“Amara… you have cancer.” Little did I know that those words would change my life forever. I felt as if my stomach dropped to my feet. My heart was pounding harder than it ever had before, and my hand were hot and sweaty. This was the first time I had felt this feeling of great sadness.
I sat in the chair still in complete shock while my mom talked to the doctor about medicine and treatment options. I kept asking myself why me? I had already been super stressed with school and now this? I kept all my feelings inside though because I didn’t want to seem negative. Before I knew it I was sitting in the car on my way home.
My mom repetitively asked me if I was ok and I always replied, “ I’m fine.” She got me ice cream anyways. The next few weeks I tried to participate in more church activities and hung out with friends to try and get my mind off of it but it didn’t seem to work. I got more depressed and sick everyday to the point where hope and faith were non-existent words. Since my grades were dropping, my mom took me out of school.
I thought this would be a good thing but it turned out it was terrible, because two days later I woke up in a hospital. I had multiple tests ran every day. I felt so weak like I was dead, but everyone around me was living, maybe it was a side effect of medicine. I became thinner and my hair was starting to fall out. Every once in a while when I was having a “good day”, my best friend would come by and do my makeup or just tell me about what's been going on at school.
Even my youth group came by sometimes. They would have a Bible study in my room, so I could still be a part of it. It became the thing I looked forward to the most. Believe it or not, I was starting to get better! Or so we thought…
One day I woke up like it was just another normal day, but something extraordinary happened. I was sitting on my bed and I died... for a few minutes. Everything started getting really weird. At first, I didn’t know what was going on, but soon enough I figured it out. I was having a near death experience.
I was greeted at the gate of heaven by the souls of my grandparents. You couldn’t see them, but you knew that was who they were. It felt like I had a sixth sense. They were so elated that I was there though. I had never been more happy in my life; I was free!
Then I saw him... Jesus. He was so amazing. He had these beautiful green eyes and hair that fell perfectly. His voice sounded like a storm, strong and powerful.
He talked to me and he said, “It’s not your time to go yet. You have done a excellent job staying strong in this difficult time, but you have not yet completed your task.”
I said, “ What do you mean, what’s my task?”
He spoke joyfully and said, “Your task is to tell people about this trip and give them hope and faith in me.”
I was so happy to hear that I get to tell people about my experience, but that would mean I have to leave heaven.
When Jesus sent me back, I appeared to be ghostly. I was standing next to my body just looking at it; it was limp and weak. My parents were also there crying. I looked at the clock; I had only been gone about 7 minutes, but it seemed like a whole day. This is probably because in the bible it says,

“ But do not forget this one thing my friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”
                                             2 Peter 3:8.

I finally decided to go into my body. I took 3 steps toward it and it pulled me in. I woke up with a deep breath. I felt better than ever. My parents hugged me tighter than ever before.
They called the nurse in and I got a MRI almost immediately. I was 100% cancer free so I was released from the hospital. When I left the hospital an hour later, the first thing I did was to go to church and tell my youth group what had happened. The best part was that they believed me and didn’t think I was crazy.
Everyday from now on would be a journey. My life goal was to make as many people believe as possible.