Tangibly Blessing Others: Updated!

UPDATED: 1) We might still have room to bless a few others, so please contact me and pass this to others.

                    2) For another upcoming project, I'm collected stories of testimonies and answered prayers. Basically any cool times the Lord has moved that you'd be willing to share the story of. I'd love to get a ton of them, so if you'd send them to me, or just an intro to them and I'll give more info of what I need at that point it would be great. Again, please ask people you know who might want to share to contact me, and follow along for updates. I really don't spam people or anything!

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During my Bible study at Bible Study Fellowship, we were asked, "how can you make way for the Lord's return?". I immediately thought of all the "influencers" (regular people who make it big on internet platforms like YouTube and suddenly are revered for their opinions on a variety of matters) who are spreading secular news that people respond to. I think John the Baptist would have been the equivalent of a present-day influencer. We need more to spread the message that the Lord will be returning, and we do not know the day or hour. 

I don't personally have the influence like those described above, but do think every word spoken or written can make a difference toward spreading this message. But after praying about all this I'm going to make a more deliberate effort to do some of this, and ask that you all would join me. Maybe together we can spread some good news!

The Lord put some cool ideas on my heart, and they're all intimidating, so I've been putting off this post for awhile now. But I can do all things through Him, so by His strength and courage we'll get to see Him do cool things. Since February will be the 10-year anniversary of my own healing, what better way to celebrate by blessing other people? We're going to select 10 people or families in desperate situations and try to bless them.

I'm hoping there will be some surprises involved, so I don't want to post every detail yet. But everyone who reads this (or listens to the podcast I'm starting to work on, stay tuned!!) can take part. This isn't about me in any way, it's about Him and blessing His children.

The plan: 

    1. I'll select 10 people or families and decided on the goals of how to bless them. I'd really like to hear from representatives of those people who can help with the details, so if you know of someone this could help, please contact me asap with info (they could be sick or suffering in any other way). We will work on blessing people with tangible needs or just special gifts like going to Disney.

    2. Pray: We will pray regularly for all these people and work on collecting what we need to bless them, and we'll post all the praises from what He's doing in their lives in the meantime.

    3. Collect: Hopefully the Lord will put it on other people's hearts to help collect what is needed for these blessings, then they can be blessed by seeing the fruit of all this.

So, any of this resonates with you, you will please pray for this endeavor, and elect anyone who can think of who could use such a blessing? You can contact me through the blog or email me at epetscher@gmail.com.

Hebrews 13:16, "Don't forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices."

Praying for Ella

 My friend, Ella has already checked in this morning for brain surgery in Texas. I'm so impressed by the faith of her and her family. She had breast cancer before me and was very encouraging and faithful when I needed my own support back then. She really believed the Lord would heal me. Skipping ahead to this season, she developed a brain tumor and kept it quiet because her daughter Karla was getting married. She didn't want her own issues to take away from that special day.

Today is Ella's special day! The surgeons are preparing for a long surgery to remove this scary, dangerous-looking tumor. But our great physician is the only One in true control. He has plans for her, and to show Himself to those unreachable souls who think they hold life in their hands. We ask that He would remind us all of who He is. The same God who made the earth, the sun and skies made every cell in her body. Please, pray that He would heal every one of those cells now. That He would not only remove the unhealthy ones, but that He would restore them all to function better than ever. May they regenerate as pure, unadulterated cells that live and create more life.

"I shall not die, but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done"--Psalm 117:18.

Let it be. 

Almost TEN Years!

I heard a podcaster the other day say that the problem with blogging is that it's never finished...in my case, it has felt "done" for quite awhile. For a bit I tried to change websites, but finally let that one lapse for lack of use. 

However, I finally have something important enough to share with the world! Contrary to what some others expected, it's not that the cancer is back or anything. It's that it's been almost 10 YEARS since I was healed! We make such a point to remember and celebrate other big things in our lives, I just can't help but make a big deal out of this.

As a quick recap of my story, about 10 years ago I was nursing our daughter, Naomi, who couldn't even crawl yet. Our oldest, Abigail, was only 3. I had noticed a lump that wouldn't go away, and it took a long time to finally learn that it was breast cancer. And the worst news of all was that it had already spread throughout my body. It was incurable, stage 4--no medical treatments could remove it all. The best any drugs or procedures could do would be to slow the spread and aim for as many comfortable days as possible before I died.

My husband, Yaacov, started preparing to be a single dad. My own dad moved to Tallahassee to help with the kids while I went through chemo, double mastectomies, and radiation. I mourned and tried to be Super Mom while I could... And we prayed.

First we prayed that I'd live long enough to see the girls accept the Lord as their savior. I was so afraid they would turn from Him in their pain if I died first. Then I got braver and prayed for 10 more healthy years. I had heard of a woman who beat many, many odds to live that long with stage 4 breast cancer, and I thought maybe the Lord would bless me like he blessed her. That would have been when the kids were tween- and teen-aged, which is a terrible time to lose a parent. So, finally, we realized that if we were asking for a miracle in the first place, we might as well go big with it.

In the end, we asked for prayer from others, and it spread like wildfire. People passed our story and requests out until we had people in all 50 states and 18 different countries praying that I would be miraculously healed. We prayed specifically that the doctors would be dumbfounded by the healing, so that only God would get the glory.

And He did. After just a few chemo treatments, my oncologist ran over and told me he'd never seen anything like my scan results. My cancer had disappeared! And it has never returned.

I still see him annually, and he talks about it every time. 

The Lord answers prayers. 

I'm living proof.

Status

 FYI, I had transferred my blog and posted a basic copy of my book but those aren't currently available. I'm working on updating all. Comment or message me if you are looking for anything or updates in the meantime!

Prayer Challenge

I transferred my blog to www.unceasinglove.com, but haven't posted much lately anyway. I started an unrelated 40-day prayer challenge on Facebook about a week ago, but keep feeling a prompt to mention it on here. So, maybe the Lord is asking one of you to get involved! It's simple, We post a daily prayer focus and see the Lord respond. It's all about Him being enough for us, And the truth that we are enough for Him, without barriers or impressive accomplishments. Anyway, join us at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/209255406217220/?ref=bookmarks

If the link doesn't work, go to Facebook and search for "ENOUGH: A 40-day prayer journey".

Whatever you are struggling with, He will help...not because you are righteous or innocent on your own, but because we pray in Jesus' name, and there is POWER in the name of Jesus!

Rest in Peace

I've been trying to encourage a friend who the Lord is unveiling as an intercessor, while living out the hard consequences of interceding for people. The truth about intercession is that it's really depressing. And lonely. Disappointment abounds as we look for God's hand at work and can't see it, day after day.

I have this general policy that I can only take on a few prayer "projects" at a time. So many people need prayer, and I can't stand rattling off an impersonal list of needs to God. So I limit it to the people He really puts on my heart. Because, I want to really love Him enough to wholeheartedly seek healing for His people. I want to love His people enough to lose sleep over their condition. To lose my breath when their own breathing is restricted. To lose my appetite when theirs fails. The Lord inspired so many strangers to loved me like that when I was sick. Isn't that the least I can do for others?

I guess praying passionately for other people is my version of loving outrageously, even though they may never feel the effects of it. Because no matter how passionate our pleas are, we don't always see answers. Lately it feels like I rarely receive responses.

I posted about Lyn a time or two on here. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a little less than a year ago. She had a nice life and a loving family, and a strong desire for the Lord to heal her. But she went to heaven today. I recently heard a pastor mention with disdain that some well-meaning people pray others "out of heaven", by praying that they'd have more time on earth. I don't want to do that, although considering how many of our prayers go unanswered, I'm not convinced God keeps people around who don't belong here just because faithful people ask Him to.

I'm really sad that Lyn passed away. I only met her a few times, but prayed for her (along with many others) with passion and zeal, and can feel the disappointment she had to carry as her hopes were dashed, along with juggling the feelings of loved ones. I absolutely trust the Lord though, and believe today was the day she met Him and began that part of eternity. She told me how special it was to her that the Lord had me praying, and I know that part of my role with her was to share some of His love.

So, how can we not see big, juicy fruit from all of our prayers, yet keep praying? How can we juggle the knowledge that God is sovereign and always right, with the disappointment from some of His choices? How can we encourage others to intercede with passion when we suspect He won't answer?

I don't know.

I guess we persevere because God tells us to. Because with Him we are able, and if He enables us He has a reason. Because "we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Cor 4:8-9). And because once in awhile His glory does fall on us, and we need to be ready for it. Make us ready, Lord!

Outrageous Love

The idea of "outrageous love" has followed me around for months now. It started when I heard a guy in a documentary mention that Christians are not known for their outrageous love. I was offended for a moment, before realizing he was right...

Given the timing of this post aligning with the recent Supreme Court ruling, I just have to clarify that I am not in any way talking about the world's definition of love. I wish that type had a different name so I could draw a better distinction. There are several types of love in the New Testament, but I'm reflecting on deep, heartfelt passion for God and for the people God created. That is not the same as giving people what they want to make them happy. If those things lead them to sin or there is a reason God wants to withhold those things from them, it's not at all loving to lead them astray in that way.

I think it's human nature to desire to be outrageously loved. Pretty much all the mainstream movies I can think of involve someone selflessly--courageously-- putting oneself at risk for the well-being of another. Yet I also remember the disillusionment I faced when I was younger, when I concluded that we all wish for others to take big risks for us, yet it's rare that we are willing to do it for others. In real life, we're afraid to fight for others, or sometimes don't love them enough to leave our comfort zones to do so.

We have a perfect example of one human who did love us outrageously. The work of the One we follow could be summed up with the term, "outrageous love". I daresay John 3:16 is one of the most famous truths from the Bible: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life". It's outrageous, but true. Maybe that's why it's so hard for some people to believe.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8.

So, if we were saved--delivered from the certainty of eternal damnation, and released from our chains of slavery--by an act of outrageous love, how could we consider not sharing that love in an outrageous way?

God plays the beautiful Veggie Tales version of "His Banner over Me is Love" through my mind frequently. The words are true, His banner over me IS love, and I have the precious memory of watching Abigail dance in her first recital to that song, right after I was healed. Everything about it casts the cares of this world away and reminds me of the truth of His outrageous love for me.

Some people go through life not experiencing or receiving the outrageous love of God or from His people, but it seems like time and time again God has called others to share His love for me in powerful ways. They aren't always huge gestures. Sometimes it's the little things, timed perfectly. And sometimes the experiences seem so minor that if we aren't paying attention we miss the magnitude. I usually am very general on here so I don't accidentally miss anyone and leave them feeling unappreciated. But, I will make an exception in this case. I have a friend who loved me really well through our journey with cancer, and I'm sad because she just moved away. So, I thought I'd give her the attention I should have given her while she lived in town.

As I type I recognize that these acts don't seem that significant, but they are and were very important to me. Something about this outrageous love is the personalized experience, knowing that God knows what we need and when we need it. It can also assure us that we don't need to sail around the world to love others well. Just stay close to the Lord and He will reveal the opportunities.

Shannon was the first non-relative to ever watch baby Naomi. She took her when I had surgical appointments two days in a row, and Naomi cried the whole time. Naomi was inconsolable (still hadn't taken a bottle or anything), but Shannon didn't act like it was any burden at all. She made it seem easy and I can't tell you the relief I felt with being able to leave her and not feel guilty about it. Better yet, while I was still in my "I won't let cancer break me!" phase, Shannon was the first person I saw shed a tear over it. I had known her less than a year and received her vulnerability as a precious gift that inspired me to embrace the broken heartedness I felt. It is okay to be sad, it's okay to care for others. In fact, Jesus wept for His friends, and that was the example Shannon followed. Lastly, when I started this blog I was literally terrified to be put to shame. Sharing my feelings in a public forum--literally inviting others to reject my innermost, hidden self--was indescribably frightening. Not only did she follow it immediately, but before I had even memorized the web address, she had shared it with everyone she saw. She followed the Holy Spirit to fight through outreach and prayer for my family and for me, and she does things like that for others every single day. Houston is so fortunate that she and her whole family are on their way to share God's love with them!