By Debbie Cole
Contributor
The Bible says, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”
Jane Alexander has taken what many would feel as a devastating dilemma and turned it into a most rewarding gift from the Lord.
The 67-year-old was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and told there was no cure.
For a woman who confesses she always felt a need to be in control, she found it amazing that she didn’t have the first question when handed the opinion.
For the past several months she has experienced God’s presence in a most comforting spiritual atmosphere. She said the feeling is so “awesome” she wanted to share it with others who may not know the Lord and his overwhelming power of Love.
Jane Alexander said her story is about God’s power in your weakness. Although she has attended church all her life and lived, for the most part within the eyes of the Lord, she truly feels the passion of God lives deeply within her today. She feels compelled to speak up about it and perhaps make a difference for someone else.
She was experiencing blurred vision and made an appointment with an eye doctor. Instead of a new pair of glasses, the registered nurse was told it was a more serious problem and referred to a specialist. Within a spinning 48 hours, the life of a woman who spent nearly 30 years serving the needs of others, began a transformation of her own body and soul.
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Jane Alexander is one of four children born to Ralph and Evelyn Galbreath, and attended Switzerland County primary schools and graduated from Patriot High School. While attending college she met her husband, Jim Alexander, and together they raised three daughters. The couple spent the biggest part of their 40 years of marriage in and around Switzerland County.
Sadly, Jim Alexander lost his life to a cancer disease, two years ago.
Jane served many years as school nurse for Switzerland County School system. She left there to perform duties as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at Dearborn County Hospital in Lawrenceburg.
As a child, she and her family attended the Quercus Grove United Methodist Church. In later years, she and her husband became members of the Rising Sun Church of Christ.
After the death of her husband, she went back to attending the little church she grew up in. She found it exciting to be a part of the growth the church was witnessing and initiated an approach to forming a community wide youth group. Although it has been slow getting off the ground, she still believes in the philosophy that youth need to be nourished with a spiritual attitude.
She said the days following her diagnosis; she felt the presence of the Lord as she thought of her situation and what the next step would be. She didn’t want a burden on her daughters and prayed for guidance.
“It was like He had his hand on my shoulder and said (Jane) you are no longer in control but I am.”
She shared her medical condition with her children and took the spirit of the Lord in the meeting with the doctors. “I know the Lord is with me and I haven’t had the first bit of anxiety.”
It has been four months since the diagnosis. Although there is not a curable treatment, Alexander did agree to radiation treatments. She knows the progression of her disorder and what to expect and said she will continue to trust God’s grace.
Her children, Sheri and her husband Kyle McMonigle; Laura and her husband Mike Stahl; Christy and her husband David Hewitt and her nine grandchildren are always nearby. As well as a host of friends and other family members.
She believes that her medical condition, which affects her speech, concentration and vision, is simply a part of who she is right now.
“I don’t feel I am special but He (the Lord) is the special one,” said Alexander. “I want people to know this feeling that I experience is for everyone. You don’t have to be sick to get it.”