I've been learning and experiencing a lot lately. About a month ago after a conversation with my grandma several of the things I've been learning and experiencing were pieced together with a word: prayer.
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to go on a short term missions trip to Belize with a team from Village Creek Bible Camp. We joined TJ Hanken and his ministry Resourcing Now to distribute Christian literature throughout the country. During two of the days of this trip our team went into some remote villages that are often avoided simply because the road to the villages is in such poor condition. (Picture the game of popcorn. You know, the one where some sits rolled up like a ball on a trampoline while their friends jump around them trying to get the rolled up friend to sprawl out. The road felt like the one being jostled around.) As we went through these 5 villages we would load up our backpacks with Bibles, devotionals, kids literature, and so forth. With each house we would offer a Bible and devotionals and then conclude by praying for the family. The first village we visited was just awkward and uncomfortable. Neither my partner or I had ever done door to door ministry before and quite simply had no idea what to do or say once the family invited us in. By the second day I felt like I finally had a grip on what we were doing and was no longer uncomfortable. Each house I offered the opportunity to pray for them and no one turned me down. After this day we continued to visit more and more people in hospitals, homes for those with special needs, and a prison. However, at one particular home we were told to bring some rice and beans, a couple pairs of reading glasses, and literature with us as the elderly man in the home could not make it to our bus to get his rice and beans himself. I walked into the home and told the man that we had reading glasses for him to try on. I put the weaker pair on his face first. Held up a Bible for him to tell me if they helped. They didn't. I went to get the stronger pair and before I even put them on his face he revealed to us that he could not even make out the features our faces. All he could see was a blob of a being in front of him. It was then that we felt rather helpless. With him not able to see leaving a Bible didn't make any sense. We did leave rice and beans. But it was still a hard pill to swallow that up until now every home we went into was able to graciously accept a Bible and reading glasses. In the moment the Holy Spirit prompted me to ask if I could pray for him. He simply wanted his sight restored. So I prayed for his vision and that the Lord would restore his vision.
The reason all these moments to pray for people stands out to me is because I don't normally enjoy praying out loud. In fact, I've been notorious to just say I'll pray for people later and usually never do.
When I returned home from Belize I felt more confident in my ability to pray. Specifically out loud and as the Holy Spirit leads. I learned shortly after getting home that my grandma, Nanny, as we affectionately call her, had gone in for a colonoscopy. The doctor was unable to complete it because he had hit a mass. They did a biopsy and the results came back cancerous. Specifically ovarian cancer on the colon. Nanny has been in remission from ovarian cancer for 16 years. I was with her when she was told she had cancer. Expecting to see Nanny in tears I saw her confident and strong. She told me she felt really good and she prayed that the Lord would be her great physician. A week later she had a scan to see how big the mass was and how far spread the cancer is. The scan will help us figure out what the next best steps for Nanny are.
Last night I went to visit Nanny. The Vesper service at Windsor had just finished when I walked in. She turned the TV off and we talked about my church service that morning. We read her devotional for the day from Our Daily Bread together. We talked about the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer. I mentioned the new Bible study I started about the Armor of God and how this week we heard about how prayer is the weapon that activates the rest of our armor. We talked about how when we have nothing else to offer we can offer prayer. (At this moment I was reminded of the older man in Belize who couldn't see.)
Then we talked about Philippians 4: 4-7, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
We talked about how Nanny feels at peace right now. I noted a sermon from church not to long ago where I heard that we can't have the peace of God until we have peace with God. Nanny has peace with God. She then asked me to pray for her.
I wrote the above back in the end of January. A lot has happened since then. Nanny has received her first round of chemo and after a difficult week of side effects she has decided that she will no longer receive chemo and does not want to do any surgery. Over the month of February and start of March all of Nanny's kids, grandkids, and great grandkids have had to opportunity to make some lasting memories and many have had to say their earthly goodbye. None of us know how many days we have on this earth. Nanny is one woman who I admire and look up to. She has been a constant source of love and kindness. She is always pointing me towards Jesus and teaching me to walk in His ways.
Last week a few nurses were in her room trying to flush out her port. They were having some trouble flushing it out and she could tell the nurses were getting frustrated. She thought to herself, "Why am I not praying that this would work for them?" So she prayed and in the next few minutes the nurses were able to successfully flush out her port. Later that day a janitor came to clean her room. Being Nanny she struck up friendly conversation with him. She told him about the situation with her port and praying for the nurses to be able to flush it out. He proceeds to explain how he's not sure what he thinks about this whole Jesus thing. Nanny says, "Well you should give Jesus a try. He answered my prayer today for the nurses." As he was finishing up in the room he says, "Miss. Harsch I think I will give that Jesus thing another try."
Nanny has proved to me that our days should not be wasted. We never know when our last breath will be and we don't want to waste a moment to share the love of Jesus with those we are around. I'm so thankful that I have not only Jesus but I have Nanny who has been and still is an amazing example of loving others without question. Nanny has fought the good fight and I believe that Jesus will say, "well done good and faithful servant" when she enters into the gates of heaven. Until that moment I will continue to learn and glean from Nanny all that I can. The power of prayer is amazing. Nanny has made that clear to me with both the simple and the complex.
