This has been a week of personal joy, and world wide sorrow. My friends and family are dancing in the streets over a miracle, and in Haiti the streets are full of mourners. It is hard to reconcile the two. Why do some people never face intense adversity, and others get hit with so much? It is a question that has been asked for all of time, and one we may never have a true answer for. This is where faith kicks in.
This morning I was reading an article about how the people of Haiti have had great religious differences, and how this horrific disaster has united them.
At night, voices rise in the street. Sweet, joyful, musical voices in lyric Creole. A symphony of hope in a landscape of despair.
Haiti is known as a society of devout Christians -- Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, evangelicals -- and followers of voodoo. Faith has long played a powerful role in this impoverished nation, giving hope to the poor and fulfilling social functions that the government is incapable of handling
But in the days since the earth pitched and rolled here, pulverizing shanties and mansions alike, the religious differences that sometimes separated Haitians have come crashing down.
The women singing together in Jeremy Square might never have worshiped side by side before the disaster, but now their voices harmonize and soar well past 2 in the morning. Lionelle Masse, a stringy woman with a deep, sad voice, lost a child in the quake. She sings next to Rosena Roche, a fiery-eyed Catholic whose husband is buried under tons of rubble.
"I still have faith in God," Roche says. "I want to give glory to God."
"Catholics and Protestants and other religions are praying together now," Father Alexander says, as two tearful women slump over his thick, broad shoulders. "We are saying, 'We love Jesus; we don't care about religions. We just care about the Lord.' " He has tried to teach his followers this lesson for years but did not always succeed in changing the minds of parishioners who thought their religion was better or truer than others. The quake, he says, has done much to convince those he could not.
By Manuel Roig-Franzia - Washington Post
I love the part where the people are quoted as saying, "We just care about the Lord." Isn't that amazing? We should not care at all about "religion", we should just care about our personal relationship with the Lord!
As I pray for the people of Haiti, I wonder, do my prayers count when the problem seems so big? I think we all got an answer this week in many ways. Miracles of people being found alive are amazing. Nations being united by tragedy. The compassion of people from all over the world. We can make a difference! God answers prayers!
I am grateful that God can multitask in mind boggling ways. While He has much to do all over the world, for billions of people, he has shown me this week that He holds me up there as someone of great interest and love. Wow! Wow! Wow! I keep saying that over and over! I wake up thanking my Lord, and I go to sleep with wonder at what He has done! It has been a surreal week, and we have heard "whoops of joy" from all over.
Pastor Adam Donner and I sat together on Wednesday taking in the joy of the Lord. We talked about the time that a group of us gathered in the prayer room for healing prayer. It was an amazing hour of prayers, and a fulfillment of scripture that we should ask and pray and lay on hands with elders of the church. Adam said he had a hard time, and was very heavy hearted. I struggled afterwards with the fact that God did not act immediately and that test showed that I needed to go down the path of chemo.
This week I have thought a lot about that healing prayer, and I wonder, were the tumors malignant and the prayers turned them benign? I may never know the answer, but I do know that God has been working in a powerful way through the journey of chemo. When I finally put Jesus back in the driver's seat, he started pointing out all of the beautiful scenery. I started singing and rejoicing again, and He filled me with joy and hope despite my circumstance. I have had been delighted with the people God put in my path to be with me on chemo day. It has been a two way street of my needs and the needs of others.
A friend said this week, "Sandy, when those lesion showed up, we were reminded to get back to praying." I hope that you feel like you were a part of this miracle, wherever you are. Prayers have lit up the switchboard in heaven, and your prayers really counted! In have sent several e-mails to my Oncologist asking questions and waiting for the "other shoe to drop." I thought she would say, "Let's not get too excited", or have some type of medical explanation. Her last e-mail said this:
"you have a wonderful perspective and I hope that your journey continues to inspire this wonderment in all of us!"
My wonderment has always come for my Lord and Savior. He has been faithful in dark times, and light. He has given me peace and joy in the midst of pain. He has upheld my family and given us hope. He has conquered cancer by His message of love. He has united people in prayer. We are all privaleged to be a witness to His amazing grace.
"His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22,23
Thank you for your continued prayers for healing of Metastatic Breast Cancer. While the cancer is still attacking my bones, we now know that anything is possible! At the same time, we should all be deep in prayer for the people of Haiti. For their faith, for miracles, for patience and compassion and strength for the rescue workers, and that God's power will be evident in the midst of devastation.
Loving My God,
Sandy
