March 2020 – Creative Prayer Coach

Palm Springs Ghost Town — DOWNTOWN PALM SPRINGS DURING COVID-19 QUARANTINE
THE HEIGHT OF OUR TOURIST SEASON

“Social Distancing” and “Sheltering at Home” are phrases that have become our new normal. As tragic as this is, I know we will survive. For the eight weeks before these concepts became our collective norm – I had been sheltering in place and social distancing, while stuck in my house, recovering from cancer surgery. I’m keenly aware of the stir-crazy feeling many will experience during the COVID-19 crisis. The way I stayed sane was by keeping busy – having a purpose. I crocheted hats and scarves for the homeless. Those days when all I could do was sit, I often felt hopeless and helpless, even though I know that is not God’s plan for me.

I’m now supposed to go out walking to rebuild my strength. This past Sunday, as I was walking with my husband, God reminded me of my long-standing dream, that “Every Street – Every Home and Every Business” in my community would receive prayer. Over the years, I’ve seen The Church in the Coachella Valley come together to begin this process. However, God showed me that He has set up a perfect scenario for my dream to be completed!

The Executive Orders in many cities are now telling us we can only go out for “Essential Activities” if we maintain “Social Distancing Requirements.” For example, an excerpt from the March 17^th Executive Order from the City of Palm Springs states:

“Social Distancing Requirements”
For purposes of this order “Social Distancing Requirements” includes maintaining at least six-foot social distancing from other individuals, washing hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds as frequently as possible or using hand sanitizer, covering coughs or sneezes (into the sleeve or elbow, not hands), regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces, and not shaking hand, and such other standards or guidelines as may be promulgated from time to time by City, County, State and federal authorities.

“Essential Activities”
iii “To engage in outdoor activity, provided the individuals comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in this Section, such as, by way of example and without limitation, walking, hiking, or running.”

I want to challenge you to follow the “Essential Activity” order by putting prayer before walking, hiking, running, cycling, or while driving to and from essential activities. If every Christian takes advantage of these orders, we could make my dream come true: Every Street – Every Home and Every Business being prayed over while we face down the COVID-19 crisis.

I believe this simple task is a God-given purpose for this time – something that will change the world as we seek the Healer for our communities, while we stay active in mind and body. I use the following as a reminder as I B.L.E.S.S. my community through prayer walks/drives:

Body – Pray for health, protection, and safety.
Labor – Pray for work, income, and security.
Emotional – Pray for joy, peace, and health.
Social – Pray for love, marriages, families, and friends.
Spiritual – Pray for salvation, faith, and grace.

https://blesseveryhome.com/B.L.E.S.S_Acronym_Compilation.pdf

I’ve also turned my prayer walks/drives into picture scavenger hunts using the camera on my phone. These hunts remind me of my amazing neighbors (yard art), and God’s creativity (plants, flowers, clouds, landscapes). Each of these photo albums serve as a memorial marker of what I’m doing with God.

I’m praying you will join me in this adventure.

Andrea

Ultimate Upgrade

The past few months have been a wild ride. In the process, I’ve lost a lot of my fear of death. With the diagnoses of cancer, I went through all the typical thoughts:

Will surgery cure me?
Will I need chemo or radiation treatments?
How will the outcome affect the people around me?
Will I die from this?
How will we pay for this?
Then, how sick will I be from the surgery itself?

Then God did something amazing to show me how much He loves me.

On the scheduled day of surgery, I woke up with a blood clot in my leg. I reported to the pre-op, had IV’s hooked-up, met with my surgeon, had an ultrasound, and met the anesthesiologist for my surgery. After five hours of lying around, I was sent home with an appointment to visit a Vascular Specialist. The next couple of weeks were a wild ride, with more ultrasounds, as the clot moved up my leg. The medication to reduce the lump made me sick, and fear of the cancer spreading grew as we waited for the swelling to go down in my leg.

Finally, a month later, surgery was again scheduled. In the meantime, we adjusted our medical insurance, which reduced our out of pocket expenses significantly. I had Christmas at home. God worked all things for my good. I calmed down, and my fear lifted.

The weekend before my surgery, a friend said to me, “I see an angel in the OR watching out for you.” I laughed, thinking what a random comment, but the morning of the surgery, my OR nurse introduced herself – “I’m Angela, your OR nurse. Think of me as your angel watching out for you during the operation.” God’s sense of humor strikes again.

Then the anesthesiologist for my surgery came in, and it was clear that God is in the details. I fear anesthesia because my body reacts negatively to the drugs. To put this in perspective, I had shoulder surgery three years ago. It took six hours for me to wake-up (in the end, a recovery nurse stuck an alcohol swab under my nose, so I would wake-up enough to go home), and I spent two days nauseated. However, a year later, when my other shoulder needed surgery, the outcome was different. The anesthesiologist, standing in front of us, worked a miracle, getting me out of the hospital within two hours without nausea. God postponed the first cancer surgery so that I would have this doctor taking care of my anesthesia.

I came out of surgery with little to no nausea. Amazing, considering that there were six incisions in my stomach, one of which was extra swollen because they needed to cauterize a vein. After leaving the hospital, I never took narcotics for pain, and a week later, I found out that they got all the cancer with clear/clean margins.

I realized, that for me, having cancer is less fearful than surgery and that cancer treatment is scarier than death. I know without a doubt that God has the number of my days perfectly planned. In fact, I now see death as the ultimate upgrade – free of pain, rejoicing in heaven with Papa God, having finished the race that was set before me. Where are you in your journey? Are you ready for your ultimate upgrade?