Mostly because this is a hard prayer for me to pray.
Praying for strangers, praying for friends' marriages, jobs, finances, kids, even praying for myself- it requires a heart investment, but it doesn't require all that much... hope.
This prayer is a desperate prayer. A 'please don't let me down on this one' prayer. A 'how could you say anything other than yes' prayer. A 'remind me that you ARE, in fact, good' prayer. This is a life or death prayer- literally.
This is a prayer for my friend Stacie. Stacie is one of those people with a big presence. The kind of presence that cements itself in your heart. In fact, you might not even realize how big a place she occupies in your heart until the threat of that presence being removed stares you down.
Stacie is a leader at the church where I grew up. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women have been inspired and changed by her love for God and her candidness about the ups and downs of her life. And that's just the thing, her story already has so many ups and downs...
After watching her from afar for years, I finally got to know Stacie on a trip to Ukraine. When I watched her with her best friend Shelly, I couldn't help but think, "I bet this is what Laycee and I will be like in 15 years...or at least I hope so." They were ridiculous together; laughing and playing in the snow, with so many inside jokes and magically told stories of family and friendship. The way Stacie told these stories made you feel like that richness of life and relationship was open to you too- to anyone! I remember laughing so hard with Stacie passing out Bibles on the streets of Kiev, unable to ignore the tragically "valley girl" accent that marred our attempts at speaking Ukrainian. "It's a Podarunok!" we'd yell out, "A gift!" Only it came out more like "It's a pedaduck!" That may be my most vivid memory from that trip.
A month ago Stacie was diagnosed with a brain tumor- a terminal one. Even writing the words stirs a pit in my stomach. I know brain tumors. I know something of the spectrum of emotions involved with a diagnosis like this. It's been 4 years since I last needed a miracle like this, a miraculous healing of a brain tumor. But four years ago I didn't pray. I couldn't bring myself to pray, to hope. I was terrified of what it might do to my faith if He didn't meet my need- my need for her to live. Now I'm here again, and while Stacie and I are not as close, the need for that miracle feels just as heavy. But this time, I am praying. I'm on my knees, pleading. Pleading for Stacie, her husband, her kids, her friends, her church. In every way I know how, I'm asking God to do a miracle.
Will you pray with me? Will you spread Stacie's story? Will you ask for a miracle?
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