Life-threatening trial
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Last summer, Jeremy Moremen lamented that he didn’t have a dramatic testimony like others he heard at church. He didn’t have a wicked past or a dramatic
conversion. He never had been on a mission trip or grappled with disobedience or doubt.
That was before being diagnosed with life-threatening cancer.
The 27-year-old has a dramatic testimony now—not because everything is OK, but because of the remarkable way God is leading him through the journey.
Life changed in a moment.
Last June, Jeremy was on his way to work with the Geek Squad when his right side suddenly went numb.
To the 6-foot-4, strapping athlete who loves a challenge, it seemed like a crazy, random, it’s-not-happening moment. When the numbness didn’t go away, Jeremy
called his older brother, Jacob, a physician in Macon, Ga. His instructions were clear and simple. Go home. Get Meagan. Take Jackson (their 1-year-old son) to
his parents, Pat and Dick Moremen. Get to a doctor.
It began a whirlwind journey down a road Jeremy and Meagan never wanted to travel. The doctor sent them to the hospital where tests found a golf ball-sized
astrocytoma brain tumor in Jeremy’s frontal lobe, along with two more tumors doctors called “fruit.”
From the hospital, they went to specialists.
The tumors are inoperable.
Through June, Meagan said she cried more than she slept. Elders came to pray for Jeremy. One specifically prayed that Meagan would have more courage than
ever before.
Life looked so dark after the diagnosis that Jacob drove from Georgia to see Jeremy and Meagan face to face.
“That was a turning point,” Meagan said. “He said we were acting defeated, which is so unlike us. Our family is strong-willed and stubborn, with Jeremy leading
the pack. Jacob expected to find us full of energy to fight and praying for a miracle. From then on, I stopped crying. God has already done a miracle by giving me
peace to care for my family.”
In a consultation at the University of Kentucky, Meagan heard a new phrase regarding Jeremy’s treatment regimen: “If it comes back in five to seven years …”
“I didn’t hear anything after that,” she said. “It was the most hopeful thing we heard from a doctor all summer.”
Jeremy started a Caring Bridge blog (www.caringbridge.org/visit/jeremymoremen) to enlist prayer warriors and keep people informed about what was happening
through treatment. He printed up business cards with the site address. Those became an evangelical tool as he gave them out in hospitals and doctor’s offices.
Through the summer and fall, Jeremy had chemotherapy five days a week and specialized radiation therapy that zeroed in on the tumors without damaging
surrounding tissue. Jeremy called himself “the man in the plastic mask” because he had to wear a custom mask during the treatments.
When his hair fell out during chemotherapy, Jeremy said, “Think of the money I’ll save on haircuts!”
Jeremy said God continues to hold him up through good days, but especially on difficult ones.
“I knew from the beginning that someone would have to carry me through this,” Jeremy said. “God has done that for me. It has been a blessing. I have come to
the realization that even with an inoperable brain tumor, I am blessed beyond measure.”
Jeremy has a tattoo on his arm with a cross and the reference Ephesians 6:13 (“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you
may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand”). On his shoulder, he has a compass with “Jesus” in the middle and the words,
“Never Lost.”
“It truly reminds me that God chose me to be one of his warriors and that part of this is a spiritual battle, not just a physical one for me,” he said.
The family gains strength from Jeremy.
They hold onto verses such as, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4,6-7).
Jeremy’s mother, Pat, said the one constant since Jeremy’s diagnosis is God’s faithfulness.
Tests showed the tumor has shrunk slightly through radiation. Pat said the uncertainty of the future makes them “learn to live one day at a time in total
dependence on God.”
“We learn to stop fretting about what we do not know,” she said.
Tim Hester, chairman-elect of the Board of Elders at Southeast, said he has been amazed at this family’s faith.
“At this point, they hold onto the fact that God is God. He’s sovereign. What He wants, they want,” Hester said. “Through this, Jeremy laughs at his situation
—whether it’s something at work or at home. He makes you feel OK with what’s going on. Jeremy could shake his fist at God. He doesn’t do that. When I get to
the end of my life and list the people who have inspired me, the Moremen family will be on that list.”
This Thanksgiving as Jeremy gathers with his family at his parents’ house, he has a long gratitude list.
First of all, he’s grateful to be with Meagan and Jackson. There was a time in June when they weren’t sure he’d be alive at Christmas.
“I have been given so much,” he said. “You don’t know who your friends are until something horrible happens. There has been such an outpouring of giving to us
that we can’t help but be grateful. People have brought meals. My parents have watched Jackson so Meagan can teach school. People have helped with bills and
in all kinds of other ways.”
Pat said they continue to pray for a miracle.
“We pray for that miracle, but we trust God no matter what,” she said. “As a result of Jeremy’s growing faith, the rest of us close to him have been able to give this
to God.”
Jeremy will continue to have intense chemotherapy and MRIs every three months for life.
He’s willing to take that.
If you would like to read more about Jeremy’s journey, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/jeremymoremen.