A month ago I was given the challenge and privilege of heading up a prayer team to pray specifically for an outdoor picnic/fundraiser/praise time for my precious friend Tiffany. I've blogged about her before and shared that she is one of the most inspirational people I know.
This past spring she learned she would be fighting the battle of a lifetime against an aggressive metastatic type of breast cancer that had spread to her liver. After her initial diagnosis, several of us met to pray and ask our great God to intervene on her behalf-- and He has done so in amazing ways.
Yesterday, she was able to share her story with the people who attended the event and report that her latest scans showed NO cancer in her bones/body and the spots that were once prominent on her liver are almost completely gone!
When Tiffany asked me to pray about the event, her main emphasis to me was that she wanted it to be a time that glorifed God for all the ways He has blessed her through this trial. The organizers wanted that too, but they also wanted to raise some money to help Tiffany and her family. The costs associated with cancer treatment at Duke are only partially covered by insurance, so you can imagine that the weekly trips up there (especially as gas prices have escalated) have been enormous.
Excited to have the chance to organize the fundraiser's prayer effort, the team that was assembled communicated daily by email. We focused on a few main things, specifically asking each day that God would give us perfect weather for an outdoor event on November 8 in Gastonia. Wow!
Next, we prayed that the event would be one that would glorify God. Tiffany was able to share her story with many who had not heard about her journey and I'm confident that those in attendance were so inspired by her faith and the words she spoke that no person left unchallenged or unchanged. In addition, the praise through music was incredible.
Nichole was scheduled to sing but had been battling laryngitis for a couple of weeks--and even the night before when I heard her speak I didn't know if she'd be able to sing. Well...trust me when I say that not one person there would have known that she had no voice the day before...yet another answer to prayer!
The community came together for this event and I have to say that it looked a lot like I envision heaven. A men's group from an AME Zion church cooked fish and hotdogs that were sold at the event--FANTASTIC by the way--and there was delicious Kyle Fletcher's BBQ as well. Mt. Olive Pickles were everywhere (thanks Trish!) and Brewsters showed up with ice cream. There were lots of FUN items that were raffled, and sweet, sweet time for fellowship.
In summary, God answered every prayer that we prayed and I thank Him and praise Him for what He did and for allowing me to have a very small part of it!
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