I Want to Change “C” from “Cancer” to “Christ”

A TESTIMONY IN THREE PARTS – PART THREE

On March the 25th, 2019, I had an appointment at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida to start a new drug to see if my heart would function better. They admitted me so I could be monitored. Unfortunately, after a day and a half, they had to stop the drug. It was causing my heart to beat too fast. All the monitors in my hospital room were going off, signaling my heart was in distress. This was when I knew I had reconnected with Christ and made my relationship with Him stronger. Several nurses rushed into my room. During the chaos, one nurse looked at me and asked, “How are you so calm?” to which I responded, “I have Jesus in my life.”

After that incident I was informed that I would have to be hooked up on a machine that would pump my heart to keep me alive until I could receive a heart transplant. On May 2nd, I received a call from my transplant coordinator that they had a new heart for me. I was excited and scared at the same time. My new heart was put in on May 3rd at 5:00PM. Before they put me under for the transplant, I asked the doctor if I could have 15 seconds so I could say a prayer. That’s when I asked Jesus to do whatever/use me however He wanted to.

I woke up the following day. It seemed like I had only been out for a few hours, but I had been out for an entire day. And when I first woke up, It felt like a MAC truck had hit me. But now that I was awake, they immediately got me out of bed and sat me up in a chair. God had kept me alive!

Ten days after my transplant, my first grandson, Beaux, was born. I was still in the hospital when he was born; but I was so excited and longed for the moment when I would get to meet him and hold him for the first time. During the rest of my stay at Shands, my faith in Jesus was stronger than ever. I was on the road to recovery and thrived more as I healed.

6 years have since passed, bringing us to 2025. In January of this year, I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. They did an MRI and discovered that it had spread to my liver. I wound up with a double whammy this time. But even with this news, my faith and relationship with Jesus has never been stronger. I have such a wonderful family foundation and community of friends through my LifeGroup at my church. They are helping me keep my faith strong and steady. We call each other “fam” and there are roughly 50 of us in the supergroup (two life groups which grew from one). Then of course I have my personal family. But most importantly, I have God. 

 My spiritual gift is poetry, and I have many that I have written over the years. Here is one to share with you.

In closing, God bless you all. Have a beautiful day.  Jeff Moore

 FAMILY STRONG

As we start the day with our devotions

Do we pray with God or use our emotions,

I try and read each and every minute

To see how much of Jesus is really in it,

Sometimes I lose my train of thought

It’s my Savior Jesus, that I had forgot,

I find my way back to His Word

It must be the voice of Jesus I just heard,

He says to observe all with Me

You’ll be amazed at what you can see,

When you feel something is going wrong

Focus on Me and become Family Strong.

 [Editor’s note: We came as strangers to MidTown Fellowship in 2021, from out west to the east, and were welcomed in by this deep-rooted life group without hesitation. Jeff is one of those people with a huge smile and a big heart, making everyone feel at home. In spite of all he’s been through, he’s drawn near to God and been an incredible encouragement to everyone else in his difficult circumstances. Beloved Berta calls him Pastor Jeff, and we all appreciate the daily devotionals he posts for our group. He is suffering like a saint, and living for the Lord, as we are all gathered in agreement, asking God for yet another miracle.]