Leslie Main spent most of her life doing all the right things — good schools, good career, good person — but it wasn’t until age 64 that a simple question from a friend changed everything: “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?” In this testimony, Leslie shares how coming to faith later in life, walking through stage four metastatic breast cancer, and choosing joy every single day has proven that knowing Christ is the only thing that truly matters.
Well, I'm so glad to be able to share my story. Whenever I have the opportunity to share my faith journey, I feel blessed because I didn't come to Christ until much later in life, 64, and I had a very good childhood, easy, almost idyllic, wonderful family, church going, went all the way through Grandview Heights schools here in Columbus, Ohio State University, it was kind of just expected. That's where you go after you graduate from high school.
My junior year in college, I met a freshman young man who was in law school at Ohio State. We dated for about a year, and then we got married. It was an interesting marriage.
I taught school because I had already graduated, and he was in law school, and his personality was such that he had to be first in everything. He had to work hard enough to make the most money and be very powerful in Columbus. I can remember him saying that many times.
He wanted to be a very powerful lawyer in Columbus, Ohio, and I think I jumped right on that, and I loved it. He graduated from law school, got several invitations to big law firms, accepted one, and we lived for about four years, what I would call the high life. Country clubs and the right social groups, and as I said, I became a part of that.
Then we were married for 11 years, and after about six years, our two sons came along. They're 13 months apart, and he was a great father. Even though he was very busy, he was really a good father.
They loved him, and he loved them. We didn't have the greatest relationship, but we got along okay. I think I was beginning to think there's more to life than this, and it was kind of bothering me.
After about eight years, he was diagnosed with bipolar paranoid schizophrenia, and it was very sad because he was very successful, and I watched him. I might even start crying here. I watched him fall apart, and it was hard on the boys.
It was hard on John. He hated it, but it was a disease, and he had no control, and he refused to take medication because it made him, he said lazy. It made him feel unproductive, so I stayed there with him for about three years trying to help him and change him and do more for him, and what was I doing wrong and all of that, but it was affecting the boys.
When they were about six and seven, I took the boys, and we left. I moved back to Grandview Heights, rented a little house. A couple years later, John died, and the boys and I were, I was a single mom for about 12 years.
We had a wonderful relationship. They went all through Grandview High School just like me, and they were gifts to me. They were they were great kids all through high school.
Then they went to college, Ohio State, and after they were about freshman and sophomore, and I met my current husband whose name is Tom, and it was a challenge, I think, for Tom to deal with two college boys, and they were unsure. You know, we'd had this 12 years together, and they were kind of thinking, hmm, what's happening here? But we dated a year, and then we got married, and when you blend his five children and my two children, there were challenges, but for the most part, we had fun, and today, 30 years later, Tom is their dad, and I'm really grateful. Anyway, so I've been involved in many Bible studies, and in one Bible study, the woman that kind of led it, her name is Linda Foster, and she, at some point in one of our Bible studies, we went on a retreat at her cottage, and I don't know whether she just felt, and she asked me, did I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? I had no idea how to answer that question.
I mean, I went to church most of my life, but we talked about it, and there were about six of us, and you know, I said, Linda, I think I do, and we prayed a prayer, and I think she just made up as we were there about, you know, understanding what Jesus did for me, died for me, and forgives all my crazy sins. So I said yes, and honestly, it changed me. I mean, I was a good person.
I was a school teacher. I mean, I did all the right things. I was a nice person, but my life changed.
I started memorizing Scripture. This is my prayer spot right here. I started memorizing Scripture.
I read the Bible every day. I spend at least an hour or two just meditating, listening for God, talking to God. I'm involved in some kind of a Bible study or a mentor, mentee kind of relationship, discipling every day, and you know, I came to realize that faith is not an hour on Sunday.
It's a wonderful lifestyle, and it took my husband a year after I accepted Christ, he's a physician, so he's that scientist brain that had to do research, and finally, after about nine months, he started going on medical missions with Jim Leffel and different people to Haiti, and when he came back the last mission, he said, that's what the Holy Spirit is, and he said, I finally get it. So in 2013, I was baptized in a dunk tank in the parking lot of 4th Street, and then Linda baptized me, and then I baptized him. It was sweet, and then two years later, I was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer, and by the time they found it, it had already metastasized to my spine.
I have three tumors in my thoracic spine. For eight years, I took one pill a day, lived a great life. I was a runner, and I still ran, and I had, I was very active.
It was like I never even had cancer, but then as with cancer, the drug stopped working. It moved into, cancer metastasized into my abdomen, and I have now carcinomatosis in my abdomen. I mean, some days, I'm so uncomfortable.
Some days, I have no energy. Some days, like today, I feel really good, and I'm sure it's sharing my faith, because any day that I have a Bible study or a meeting with somebody, I feel terrific, so it all has to do with the joy I have in Christ, and as we Christians like to like to say, this whole thing is, it's in God's plan, and it's a win-win. I'm not afraid.
I love to share what I'm going through, but especially, I like to be joyful, especially when I'm in the hospital a lot, so when I'm there, I like to be joyful. I'm not always what you'd call exuberantly happy, but I'm always joyful. I mean, there is joy, and every day, I can find it in the hospital too, and you know, different nurses and doctors have commented on it.
You know, hi, Leslie. They all know me now when I get there, and that's a blessing. That's a blessing for me to be able to go through this and still share this joy that I have in Christ, so I've had ups and downs in my life, but I am blessed with what I have.
I'm so blessed to have this Stephanie Spielman Center in 15 minutes. It's just a blessing to get the care that I have. I have no idea how long this struggle will work, but for right now, I'm focusing on it working and sharing my faith, and I know that's what Christ wants me to do, so I'm just so grateful, and I'm so grateful to be able to share.
Thanks.