Just one more smile, one more opportunity to see the sunrise and sunset, one more time to play with his brother. Just one more day to spend with his mom and dad, one more opportunity to learn of God's grace and love, one more day to play and ride his bike, one more day to run through the grass, one more day of school, one more chance to see God at work. Please, Lord, just one more day.

One more day is what I am asking God for in regards to Ismeal. Ismeal has acute lymphocytic leukemia. He was diagnosed about a year ago, had tolerated his chemotherapy well, and seemed to be in remission. He was back in school, riding his bike, playing with his brother, enjoying the life of a 5 year old. That all changed recently.

Now his cancer is back in full force. I have no medicine that can cure him at this point. So the options are either we don't try to fight the cancer and let him die, or we try to give him just one more day … week … month.

I wasn't prepared to have this discussion with Ismeal’s mom as I was walking to work this morning. I wasn't prepared not to fight, not to try, or to let him go. I have cared for Ismeal for a year now and have grown to love the little guy. He went from looking like the Michelin Man after taking so much prednisone, to being a skinny little kid who broke his leg when he fell off his bike a few months ago.

Ismael was sitting up when I saw him this morning. He didn't look like he was ready to die today; there is still some life in him. I told his mom the cancer had come back and she just looked at me in disbelief. I told her the medicine we have been using isn't working and that eventually Ismael’s cancer is going to kill him, but I don't know when.

She didn't say anything for a while and neither did I, as I was looking at Ismeal and praying for one more day. I told her I can try the IV chemo again, and she quickly agreed. She, too, isn't ready to say goodbye and hopes for one more day.

The reality of the situation—knowing I have nothing to cure him—isn't easy to swallow. This isn't true only for Ismeal, but for Nason, Buldung, Nathaniel, Simon, Cathy, and others. I’m going to lose the fight against cancer in most of these cases, but I am definitely not ready for it, as I was crying today while discussing it with Dr. Bill McCoy.

I don't have the answers to all the “whys” going through my head, but I do know that God is watching out for each of us and we can trust Him. I recently read in Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God has a plan that I often don't understand, but I still need to trust Him.

Pray for Ismeal to enjoy each day and opportunity God gives him. Pray for his family during this time. Pray for this doctor to have wisdom in caring for him, to have courage to face the hard times, and to trust God with his life and the lives of all her patients.

Dr. Erin Meier, a graduate of the World Medical Mission Post-Residency Program, now serves as a career medical missionary at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea.

Samaritan's Purse , Papua New Guinea , World Medical Mission , Just One More Day