LS ‘“Jesus, Help Me. I’m Breaking.” — A Mother’s Prayer in the Face of Childhood Cancer’ LS

“Jesus, help me. I’m breaking. I’m aching.”

That is how Brittney Roberts describes this season of her life — a season no parent is ever prepared for. A season marked by hospital rooms, test results, and the unbearable reality of watching her firstborn son fight a pain she cannot take away.

Will Roberts is 14 years old.
He should be worried about school, friends, sports, and the simple joys of being a teenager. Instead, he is fighting osteosarcoma — an aggressive bone cancer that has already taken his left leg and now threatens even more of his body… and his childhood.

To the outside world, Brittney’s family photos look like so many others: two children standing side by side, smiling, healthy at first glance. But only a mother knows the truth behind those smiles. Only she sees the scars hidden beneath clothing. The surgeries that changed everything. The fear that lingers even on the good days.

She knows which smiles are forced.
She knows when pain is being swallowed to spare her heart.
She knows when her child is fighting battles no one else can see.

Watching Will endure pain that has once again stolen his ability to walk has left Brittney paralyzed in her own way. A mother’s instinct is to protect, to fix, to carry the burden for her child — and yet this is one burden she cannot lift. She can only stand beside him, hold his hand, and pray that God meets them in the middle of the suffering.

And Brittney is tired.
Not the kind of tired sleep can fix — but a deep, spiritual exhaustion that settles into the bones. The kind that comes from months of hoping, fearing, believing, and bracing for the next blow. She reaches for faith with trembling hands, asking God to stay close. Asking Him to bring peace where there is fear. Asking — pleading — for a miracle.

This is the reality of childhood cancer.

It does not simply attack a child’s body.
It enters homes.
It settles into marriages, siblings, friendships, and prayers.
It tests every ounce of strength a family has — and then demands more.

There are moments when Brittney feels her faith waver. Moments when the weight of it all feels too heavy to carry. Moments when the only words she can muster are whispered through tears: Jesus, please help me.

And yet, even in the breaking, she continues to believe. Because when everything else is stripped away, faith becomes not a feeling — but a choice. A decision to trust God in the dark. A decision to believe that He is still near, even when the outcome is unknown.

Will’s courage has become a quiet testimony of its own. A 14-year-old boy who has already lost more than most will in a lifetime — yet still fights, still hopes, still shows a strength that humbles everyone around him. His resilience is both inspiring and heartbreaking, because no child should ever have to be this brave.

If you are reading this, know that your prayers matter.

Please take a moment to lift Will and his family up in prayer — for healing, for peace, for strength, and for a miracle only God can provide. And if you have words of encouragement, leave them here. Brittney could sure use them.

Because sometimes, when a mother is breaking, the kindness and prayers of others become the hands that help hold her up.