"Heavenly Father, are you really there?"

In 2007 when Chase Burch was 10, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and accepted for treatment at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. As she wakened after emergency surgery, her dad, Jared Chase, was sitting by her bed singing A Child's Prayer from the Latter Day Saints hymnal. It's her favorite hymn, and she began to softly sing it with him, "Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child's prayer? Some say that heaven is far away, but I feel it close around me as I pray." Before long, a coincidence happened which helped convince Chase that God was really there and loved her. What was this sign from heaven?

                                                                   Chase Burch in 2012              Photo by KSL.com

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was on tour and performing in Memphis. Chase had begun chemotherapy so she was too ill to attend, but went to the hotel where they were staying, hoping to meet a few singers. The choir decided she deserved much more. When she and her family entered the hotel, the entire choir was waiting in the lobby and balconies to give her a surprise performance. Without knowing about her experience after surgery, one of the songs they sang was A Child's Prayer. "It gave us hope," said Chase's dad. And the final proof of God's love? Chase has been healthy since her treatment, and is now national spokesperson for the hospital, telling audiences how St. Judes loves children and parents. If a child's treatment uses up all of Mom or Dad's insurance coverage, additional care is free. Would you like to see and hear Chase as she listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the hotel lobby in 2007? Then find a tissue to dry your eyes and visit  www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW8TnskbQiU