September 7. Randy Moore. For more than 30 years, Randy has been a leading news anchorman in the Indiana-Kentucky-Illinois area. People say, “He’s … a comforting, stable, and trustworthy presence—perhaps the Walter Cronkite of this era … He is able to inject a sense of calm that counters unnerving news reports.” But Randy’s life off camera has been no easy thing.
Even in the hardest times, the peace of Christ is here for you.
Randy grew up in a Christian family. Church life was natural to him. His life was charmed—not a lot of sickness or hardship. And in fourty-eight years, Randy’s Christianity had never really been tested. He believed that is just the way Christian life is … until the challenge of his wife Ann’s cancer.
Ann’s nights were not sleepless because of anxiety or worry. She struggled night after night with excruciating pain throughout her body. The diagnosis was devastating—inoperable, incurable, terminal pancreatic cancer!
Like many men facing the challenge of watching a loved one suffer, Randy’s response was to man up—internalize the pain and the shock. He was doing it for his wife. His sole focus was taking care of Ann. He changed her dressings, emptied the containers draining infection, monitored her medicine, and brought her comfort through the pain.
But it became too much for Randy. His nights were full of fear and anxiety as he agonized over her pain and suffering. He came to the point where just the dread of knowing that Ann was going to die, probably very painfully and very quickly, was too much. The thought just knocked him for a loop.
He couldn’t eat; he couldn’t sleep. The tossing and turning every night took its toll. During the day Randy struggled just to function in his high-paced job as a highly respected TV news anchor. His mind was focused on Ann.
“My wife has terminal cancer, and I’m the one that’s incapacitated. I was acting my way through it on a human level. I didn’t know that I could truly trust God and trust Jesus to get me through it.”
Like many Christian men, he believed all the right things, but he hadn’t experienced his Christianity. Now, for the first time, he had to conduct himself as a Christian under very trying circumstances, and he didn’t know how.
It was different for Ann. Reading her Bible and praying, she spent many hours on the couch in quality time with God. Day after day she lived in constant pain but with a peace that God had given her. It was a peace she carried throughout her cancer journey. How did she get such peace? Randy was amazed by it.
Then, in the middle of his struggle, something remarkable happened.
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’” (John 7: 37–39 NIV).
In the course of caring for Ann, a peace and a joy overcame Randy, too, and it astonished him. He said, “ … it just startled me!”
That peace in the middle of horrible trouble showed Randy that this Christian life is not just a set of beliefs. It’s about a life, … the Christ life. It is the life Jesus led here on earth—a life of self-sacrifice and service. It is the life every Christian is called to.
He said, “We can live the Christ life because we have the life of Christ living in us; the life of peace.”
Randy lives the Christ life today not only as a news anchor but as pastor of Baker Chapel where he dedicates his life to serving others. He co-founded a cancer-support organization, has helped sick-and-injured children as host of the Children’s Miracle Network and helps kids with dyslexia learn to read.
Life is often filled with that which cannot satisfy. Longing for what you don’t have? Come to Jesus.
Moore, Randy. I Am Second. White Chair Film, 2011. https: //vimeo.com/387506050.
Riley, Jennifer. News Anchor: God Gave Peace Amid Wife’s Losing Cancer Battle. Christian Post, 2011. https: //www.christianpost.com/news/news-anchor-god-gave-peace-amid-wifes-losing-cancer-battle.html.
Story read by: Nathan Walker
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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