Under Heaven Podcast: Stacee Cassidy- Finding Peace in Pressure

Under Heaven Podcast host, Trish brings this inspiring episode with Stacee, whose life was forever altered when she suffered a brain aneurysm during a Zoom call with friends.  What followed were three brain surgeries, months of rehabilitation, and a journey filled with uncertainty, questions, and remarkable moments of God's faithfulness.

Stacee shares how she navigated fear, disappointment, and recovery while discovering a deeper trust in God. She openly discusses the emotional struggles that accompanied her healing and how God remained faithful through every step of the process.

Stacee also introduces her practical PRESS Process, a simple yet powerful framework based on Philippians 4:6–9 to help anyone facing anxiety, overwhelming circumstances, or life's unexpected challenges.

If you're facing a difficult season, searching for peace, or wondering how God can bring purpose from pain, this conversation will encourage your heart.

"God doesn't waste our pain. Sometimes He is preparing us for the very purpose He has planned all along."

Stacee: https://www.calendarpa.com/@stacee/the-press-process-discovery-call

Trish: patricia@lookingup24.org
          https://bit.ly/lookingup24

Brain Aneurysm, Faith, Healing, Hope, Resilience, Overcoming Adversity,
Anxiety, Peace, Philippians 4, Recovery, Brain Surgery, Inspiration

Under Heaven Podcast, Faith, Trish Hodges, Testimony, Christian Women, Encouragement, Testimony

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Under Heaven, the podcast where we glorify God and celebrate the beautiful stories of women whose lives have been transformed by his goodness and grace. I'm your host, Trish, and each week we share real conversations about faith, hope, and purpose. This is a place for encouragement and truth where every story matters and every listener is welcome. No matter where you are in your journey, let's grow together under heaven. Hello and welcome to Under Heaven Podcast. I'm your host, Trish, and we have an amazing woman with us today. She is a living miracle whose obedience is unlocked purpose for countless others as well as herself. She has called herself God's cheerleader, and don't we need more of that? Stacy is a faith-driven entrepreneur, a speaker, and a visionary. She's the founder of Stacy Inspires, which is a movement dedicated to helping individuals and businesses align purpose with strategy so they can create meaningful kingdom-centered impact. She's also going to talk a little bit, she's going to talk a little bit about her daughter. She's going to talk a little bit about herself. And she's going to tell us about something that she's doing called the press process. So let's welcome Stacey Cassidy. Welcome, Stacy.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Thank you, Trish. You are so amazing. It is such an honor to be here on your podcast. I listened to several of your interviews and the education you're giving. And it's so awesome how you're literally using people's life experiences to bring awareness of our kingdom responsibility. And, you know, I just I love how you the work that you're doing and how we have the opportunity. That's what I feel like. When God gave me this miraculous opportunity, I said, He's probably given me way more miracle-saving moments before that I did not glean as what they are. But after having suffered a brain aneurysm, followed by three brain surgeries in five months, that caught my attention on a whole nother level. So God is He's so gracious, um, and He's so kind. And so that so just to kind of high-level tell you what happened, it was literally Palm Sunday of 2022. So it was April 10th. I was on a Zoom call, and the ladies I was on a call with, I lived in Kansas City, Missouri. They were all on the East Coast, like the DC, Virginia, Maryland area. And I thought I felt fluid on each side of my shoulders coming up to the top of my head, and I was talking like you and I are now. And I thought, now that's weird. But I continued to give the compliment, and I thought, well, I'm gonna finish this compliment. So I'm giving the compliment, and these thoughts are going through my mind. That in of itself is amazing to me. Um, and but as soon as I finished giving the compliment, my body stiffened like a board and I fell to the ground and my floor is concrete. So I hit my head, I began to get sick. It made sit, it made sense to me that I was getting sick because I hit my head. But when I could not get up and walk, um, all of these things were going, but immediately I just kept saying, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Because I knew where my help came from, but I did not know, Trish, that I was knocking at death's door. I did not know that I had an aneurysm. I did not know, I didn't think I was sick in any kind of way. Um, so that so the ladies began calling 911 for me. We learned some lessons in that process, got a hold of my mom, got a hold of my daughter, um, and they're praying. And I'm calling on Jesus, and they're praying, and they're making phone calls. And so, long story short, I had to army crawl to put my pup up. He was a part of the miracle of my life. I had to army crawl to unlock the door, and now, mind you, I can't walk. So they said I pressed my body up against the wall and used my legs to get to the door to close it for couge and to unlock the door. But I remember the paramedics getting there and I was saying, Can you they were asking all these questions? And I was like, Can you just get me to the hospital? Um, and they, of course, have to ask certain questions so they can properly care for you along the way. So the ladies who were there, and mind you, the way they stayed with me is I was army crawling, pushing the iPad and staying connected to them. So that's how we remained connected. The whole thing is miraculous. Um, and so they answered the health questions for me. And then the paramedics got me on the you know stretcher and got me to the hospital. I only remember them pushing me down the hall and us getting on the elevator. And as soon as that hesitation on the elevator happened, it was like everything was black. But I went to one hospital first. I have no recollection of that. Now, Jada, that's my daughter, who I'm so super proud of. She is actually a women's tackle football player. I didn't even know there was tackle football for women until she started playing. But at that time, when we lived in Kansas City, she played for the Kansas City Glory. And she was gone on her way back on Sunday. They had played on Saturday and they were on their way back. So she gets the phone call while on the bus coming back from the game to then meet at the hospital. And her mom, who is never sick and is always around, suddenly everything shifts. And so, but like I said, I have no recollection of the first hospital. But Jada said when she arrived, I was talking like normal. Um, but again, I have no recollection. She said my mom called and talked to me, but while I was on the phone with my mom, I had a seizure and that freaked Jada out. And um then they transported me from that hospital to the hospital that I had my surgery done at. And so um, in the hospital that did my surgery is St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City. They were phenomenal. Um, of course, I have no recollection of going into the hospital, any of that aspect, but um I had my first surgery. After my first surgery, I was then transported to the inpatient rehab. Um, then I had to come right back on Mother's Day, which was May 8th of 2022, because a rare infection had broke out in my body and it had covered my skull. So they had to do emergency surgery so it did not get in my brain and kill me. And so had that second surgery, but Trish, by the grace of God, I did all of my rehab, inpatient and outpatient, while my brain was bleeding. After both of those surgeries, my brain was still bleeding. Then came the third, I had I had an appointment with the doctor in August. I didn't know that surgery was gonna be the solution. I just knew I that the problem was still there and it had to be solved. And the other doctors said, don't listen to our advice because we don't have, we're not the type of doctor that you need that will take care of this problem. But the odds are you won't have a third brain surgery, at least not right away, because you're not supposed to have more than one brain surgery in six months, and you've already had two. So at that point, um, I meet with that doctor and he says I have to have surgery, and I have to have it that month. So I had a third surgery on August 22nd of 22. Then after that began the recovery process, and Jada decided that she was gonna move to St. Louis because a lot of the players lived there and she wanted to move, so she asked if we could move to St. Louis, and I told her, you go forth and pick your life back up. Um, I will be fine, I will heal. So she moved to St. Louis, and that's where she's uh continuing her um women's tackle football career. She's Jada Humphrey, number 30 on the St. Louis Slam team.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

And yes, and they are I can tell you're a proud mama.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

I'm so proud. Um, they they ran they won six championships in a row, and um 2025 she was um honored in the pro football hall of fame in Canton, Ohio. So her jersey, number 30, is hanging up in the pro football hall of fame in Canton, Ohio. Isn't that amazing? Yes. And Trish, she did all of this while I was having multiple surgeries, while she did not know if I was gonna live. So when we talk about the press process, when we talk about believing God no matter what we see, no matter what is going on, and having to believe him while we're concerned about the outcome. Um, and so that's what that's what I've had the opportunity to do in my life, not willingly, I didn't sign up for this, right? You know, and I remember after the third brain surgery, um, thinking the worst was behind me. I thought, okay, now this is where we all celebrate all of the blessings. Um this is where everything gets better, um, this is where it gets easy, and it wasn't. Um and so I that that part is where I was upset with God. Like I was asking him, where is the break? Like, come on, I've been through enough. And Trishi told me, those three brain surgeries in five months, that was all me. You're gonna have to look back on that to do the even harder things that are coming. And so I did not like that answer, and I threw a temper tantrum with him, but God in his loving grace and mercy, he was not moved by my temper tantrums, he was not bothered, he didn't leave me, he loved me through, but the only way was through, so I was not gonna get away with the temper tantrum letting me escape. There were things that I now understand in 2025, there were things in me that could not come forward with me with the calling that he had on my life, and that's what I want to just encourage people when God gave me the press process, and it comes from Philippians chapter four, verses six through nine. And in verse six, it starts by saying, Don't be anxious for anything, and pre-aneurism, I looked at that from a oh, you're not supposed to, like a do's and don'ts perspective. But the rest of the scripture gives you the instruction on how not to be anxious. He says, through prayer and petitioning him, make your request known to him and thank him for all that he's done. So he taught me that process in Philippians 4. That's what I love to share with people. That's where the press process came from. And can I share with the acronym um press dance for? Fantastic. So press P is pray and praise. So when panic comes, replace the panic with prayer and praise. That's how we invite God's presence into the situation. See, he doesn't say the situation goes away, he promises to be an ever-present help in the situation. And before the aneurysm, I wanted God to make everything bad go away. And then I had to learn how to press. And then the R is renew your mind. You're replacing fear with the truth of his word, and that's how you can use the scripture to renew your mind. And then the E is entrust God. That's where we release what is not in our control into his hands. We literally learn to lay it at his feet, and we haven't learned that as a society. We right, like we're taught to take care of everything, pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, all of these lies that are not wisdom that we have to unlearn and relearn. And then the first S in press is stand in faith. That's where we take an obedient step even before we know the outcome. And then the last S is stay the course, wait well, persevere, keep trusting God, and watch His purpose unfold, not our thoughts or our opinions or our plan. So that press process is what Jada and I have both have had to use to go forward and see what the end is gonna be according to God and to trust him that he is who he says he is.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Yes, and that is so true. And uh, you know, I have to admit, I just uh really, I believe, came to the fullness of the in trust just within the last year. Last year. So you know, it's I'm finally getting it in here and in here that God is there all the time, that he loves us with an unconditional love, and what he says he'll do. So yeah, and you know, I've been around for a while. Me too, and it's always taken me a while to get to that point. So that's wonderful. And you help women get to that point, correct? Yes, yeah, yes. Do you work with with men as well?

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Yes, everyone. Okay, everyone is God's child, and I want to help everyone receive what belongs to us.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Very good, awesome. Oh wow, I have just so enjoyed talking with you. I'm trying to see, and um, so you've talked about the press process and they can contact you for that. Right. Um, do you want to put in here where they would contact you at?

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yes, great point. I was just thinking about that. I was like, did I make a I have a booking link where they can um should I read it off that way?

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Um if you put it in the chat, I will copy it and put it in the notes. Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

That's what I will do.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Yeah. I'll do that.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Yes, and and it's just a 30-minute um connection call um where they can share what they are needing to press through, and I can share with them how I've applied this, and and they can have opportunities to get the breakthrough because it's already there for us all.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

It is, absolutely. I love it, and then you also have a program that you began. Um, and that was called, what was that called, dear? Uh Stacy Inspires. Oh, that should have been easy to remember. Can you tell us about Stacy Inspires?

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yes, so through Stacy Inspires, I just do life coaching. I look to inspire people to move beyond where they are to who God has created them to be. And Trish, before this aneurysm, I did not know that I wasn't operating in that. I thought I already was. Um, but God literally had to sit me down. Like that's I believe that's why He allowed three brain surgeries. The truth is everything that comes into our life has to first get God's permission. So prayerfully, other people are not as hard-headed as I was because literally, literally, yes, literally, right? Because I was still trying to go, go, go after the first two brain surgeries, only because I was excited to be alive and I wanted to heal and I wanted to be able to recover. But there's a time to rest also. And so, you know, just like he says in Ecclesiastes, there's a time for everything, but we don't know what that time is unless we're spending time before him. So through this um booking call, I can definitely, I'm putting the link there for you. They can then get to me. I can send them a different link if they um want to explore a discovery call for coaching, also.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Okay. And that is so exciting. We have kindred hearts because that's what I love to do. I work basically with women. Um, but that's what I love to do is just let them see there is more to life. God has a good plan, and let's let his plan prevail, because that's going to be the best one. Like you said, and you say you you were hard-headed, and I know I've I've in our prayer, my prayer time, I've heard myself called stubborn. So I think we're probably kind of cut from the same rug there. But you know, God is so faithful, He He is faithful to complete the work he begins in us, and that is that's what's so awesome. And I'm so so thankful to have met you and all that you have gone through and your perseverance and resilience, and you are such uh an example, and that's exactly who I love to speak with on Under Heaven podcast, because you know, God takes us and picks us up, dust us off, cleans us out, fills us up, and then he pours us out for others for that ripple effect that you talked about earlier. Awesome. Well, we will have um we will have Stacy back again because she has oh, so much more. She wants to talk to us about obedience and just other kinds of things than her wonderful daughter, which I don't blame her for being the proud mama she is. You you go, Jay. Um so tonight I'm just gonna say, you know, to those who are listening, this was such a powerful conversation. And Stacy's life is a reminder that miracles are not just for that time, but they're they're for a whole time. They're for a movement, as she says. They're for that ripple effect. And we just thank God that he has delivered her through that. And we thank God that her revelation about our minds, how we think, how we pray, how we come into the presence of God, you know, how all of that just works together. And we can walk in peace and freedom when we walk that way. And like I said, I'm just look beginning to learn to lay it all down. I and like she said, I thought I had before, but it's just been recently, you know, that I've learned to lay it down before him and trust him with it. So if Stacy's story touched you and you would like to speak with her, I will put the link in the comments so that you can get in touch with her and stay connected. You know, Stacy's helping, I'm helping. There are so many people out there to help. And you can be part of someone else's healing by sharing this testimony for today. So be sure to share with somebody. Well, I thank you, Stacy, again for joining us, and I thank my guests, and I just want to remind you to speak life, choose hope, and you are always loved. Bye-bye. Bye-bye, amen. Thank you for being with us today on Under Heaven. I trust this conversation encouraged your heart and reminded you of God's faithfulness. If today's episode blessed you, please click like, subscribe, and share the hope with others. Until next time, blessings.