Emily Parker spoke with author Kate Nicholas about her healing from inoperable advanced breast cancer, the supernatural peace she was given and why she has written her new book Sea Changed.

Now I have been very blessed to have been healed and I think one of the things I've really struggled with is why some are healed and some are not. As I talk about in the book, I don't pretend to understand why it is that some are healed and some are not. But I think what I did come to understand, is that healing is much bigger than the cure. That actually, I think the most profound form of healing was this inexplicable peace that I experienced. There were times when I came so close to God and I felt His presence so close that it was almost incandescent. For a while it was as if I had stood on the border between the natural and the supernatural. It was extraordinary.

Emily: For those who are walking a cancer journey at the moment, what advice do you have for them?

Kate: The one thing I would say is don't spend a long time on the internet. Very early on in my cancer journey, I went online and I found a report by a very reputable cancer journal that said that 85% of the people who had been diagnosed with the form of cancer I had, that had spread around the heart, were dead within a year. After that I didn't go online a great deal. I really focused on God's word. I really focused on what the Bible said about healing. I discovered, for example, that one of the names of God is Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. In fact, the first time He actually talks about Himself, He says, "I am Jehovah Rapha," in Exodus.

I discovered that the Greek word for 'to save' is 'sozo.' It's a word that is absolutely vast in its meaning. It encompasses not only deliverance, but also physical healing; healing of mental pain and healing of sorrows. And of course there are all the accounts of Christ's healings. There are 31 accounts of Christ healing individuals in the New Testament. There are 20 more accounts of mass healing in the New Testament. So I would say, stay really focused on what God has to say about healing.

I also think it's very important to surround yourself with those who hope; those who can hope with you and those who can pray with you and not to focus too much on the symptoms, but focus on God's promise.

Emily: Why did you choose the title Sea Changed for your book?

Kate: The title is from a poem by my father.

My father was a brilliant, if somewhat intense poet. I was brought up as a Baptist by my mother, but was very influenced by my father. These days he would be described as bi-polar. He suffered from manic depression. When I was a teenager growing up I was terrified that he would take his own life. I really struggled to understand how God could love my father yet allow him to suffer such despair, but no-one could give me a satisfactory answer. God seemed very distant and lacking in empathy, so in anger I turned my back and I walked away, but God wasn't willing to let me go.

Sea Changed is the story of my journey back to Him and it was a long and winding journey. It began in the fields and woodlands of rural England where I sensed a God I didn't really understand. It took me through the Celtic traditions of Wales and the temples of Asia where I studied and rejected Buddhism. It took me to some of the toughest places in the world where I really sensed Christ walking with the poor.

The book talks about this, but I chose the title because it is the title of a poem written by my father. It's a poem that he wrote towards the end of his life and it's a poem called Sea Change, about discovering God as you cross the storm. It's about the promise that while we may be tempest tossed, we will not be overcome and as we pass through the waters He will be with us.

Emily: How can we get hold of a copy of your book and find out more about your journey?

Kate: The book is available online and in your nearest Christian bookshop and also in Waterstones. If you want to find out more about me and about my writing and journey, then please go to katenicholas.co.uk.