What would happen if we, in the midst of every day struggles, paid close attention to where God shows up? Today Linda shares how God showed up for her in the midst of a cancer diagnosis and ministry.
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All music for this episode was performed by Dr. Jan Kraybill, and produced by Chad Godfrey.
NOTE: The series that make up the Project Zion Podcast explore the unique spiritual and theological gifts Community of Christ offers for today's world. Although Project Zion Podcast is a Ministry of Community of Christ. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those speaking and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Community of Christ.
Katie Langston:
You're listening to an extra shot episode on the Project Zion Podcast, a shorter episode that lets you get your projects Zion fix in between our full length episodes. It might be shorter time wise, but hopefully not in content, so regardless of the temperature at which you prefer your caffeine, sit back and enjoy this extra shot.
Linda Booth:
Welcome my friend to another Coffee Connect. My name is Linda Booth and I love to tell stories, true stories about how God connects with us and we connect with other people. Right now I'm going to tell you about God showing up and it is my belief that God is near all the time if we just pay attention. On April six, 2015 I received a call from the doctor as I was driving home from the office at the Temple in Independence, Missouri and he shared the following test results. He said,"I have good news and bad news" something you never want to hear from your doctor. The bad news was that I had endometrial cancer and the good news was that he thought we'd caught it early. I drove home in shock. My husband Doug was in the kitchen and I walked over to him and I took his hands in mind and for the first time I said the words, the dreaded words, I have cancer. Those words were surreal and terrifying. It was hard to say the word cancer. I shared the news only with immediate family and a few trusted colleagues. That was on a Monday afternoon. On Friday morning, I was scheduled to fly to Florida for a specially scheduled Mission Center Conference. I was to lead the conference set apart new ministers and mission center leaders. Preach, teach, ordaining four people to the high priesthood. I had trouble focusing and preparing for that weekend ministry. My thoughts wrestled with to terms with the diagnosis, thinking about the surgery and possible treatments and what having cancer might mean for my future and our family. My mind was in a tumultuous fog on that Friday morning at the Kansas City Airport. As I waited for my flight, a woman came up to me and said,"You don't know me, but you know my mother. She lives in Warrensburg, Missouri. Her cancer has returned. If I called her, will you pray for her?" I took a deep breath and I said, of course, and God showed up to provide the words of blessing for the woman on the phone. I had a connecting flight in Dallas to get to the gate, to make my flight I had to run. It's hard to put into words what occurred with the gate inside. I suddenly stopped running as I felt a warm bubble in casing my body. In that sacred moment, I knew that no matter what happened with the cancer, whether I lived or whether I died, God's grace was sufficient for me and my family. I also felt as if my healing had already begun my shock, fears and uncertainty of the future went away. No matter what God would be there for me and my family. From that moment forward, I was able to bring the ministry and leadership needed that weekend because God's grace was tangible and present. God was in the airport that day. God was at the Mission Center conference and during my surgery and recovery and following the May 12th surgery and test results, the doctors shared that I was cancer free. That sense of being encased in God's grace continues to bless me no matter what the future holds. My friends, life is not easy. God didn't promise that life would be all sunshine and roses. In fact, if we studied the life of Jesus, we know that his life was anything but that and yet God is near in the midst of our problems, our sadness, our challenges, and I discovered something else from a woman who worked at the auditorium in Independence, Missouri, that if we praise God and everything, it's more likely we'll be aware that God is near. Because when I stop what I'm doing long enough to look for God, God is always there and when people share those moments, when God shows up in their lives, I'm inspired to continue to pay attention to God all around me. Several years ago, a woman who worked in the auditorium, as I said, called me one morning to ask if I would provide the sacrament of laying on of hands for her over the lunch hour. I asked who she wanted to assist and she applied,"I don't care. Just ask someone." I said I would, but the morning got away from me. Too many phone calls, too many emails, too many meetings, and as the lunch hour came around, I hadn't called anyone I walked around the council of 12 apostles suite in the Temple. All my colleagues were on ministry trips or out for lunch. So I sat at my desk and I prayed for guidance on who to ask. A woman who worked in the First Presidency suite came to mind and I didn't know even if she was an elder, but I called her anyway and she was, and she agreed to meet us and participate as we prepared for this sacrament. I asked Connie about her needs and what she wanted me to focus on in the prayer. She told us that everything was going wrong in her life. She was the primary caregiver for her aging parents which was causing her a great deal of emotional stress. He had several major appliances, needed repairs, which was causing financial stress, and she told us the stress was so bad that she had developed a skin condition that made her feel like ants were biting her arms. The doctor had given her some cream, but it didn't seem to work. She said,"I'm desperate for relief." The woman who agreed to assist gave a tender prayer and then I prayed for our friend. The gentle spirit was there when their prayer was completed. Connie said, when my life gets back to normal, I'm going to praise God. The woman who I did not know well and who had assisted told us she needed to share a personal experience. She said that when she was a teenager, she sank into a deep, dark depression because her parents were afraid she would harm herself. They admitted her to a hospital psychiatric ward. She was angry with her parents, angry with God, angry with everyone. Early one morning in the hospital, she, she woke up because she thought she heard a voice saying, praise me for all things she told us I had nothing to praise God about, but that day and every day thereafter she found herself praising God for the smallest of things, for the sun shining through a hospital window, For the nurse who cared for her, for the food brought to her on the hospital tray. She said that as she praise God for each thing and everything, the darkness in her heart began to go away and slowly she was healed. She said to Connie, don't wait to praise God until everything is good in your life. Praise God now in the midst of your stress because you'll gradually become aware that God is with you. My dear friend, may you sense this day that God is near me. You look around you and praise God for the smallest things, the big things, and even those things that aren't exactly what you had hoped for because as we praise God, we become aware that God is in the midst of everything and God is near.
Speaker 4:
Thanks for listening to the Project Zion podcast. Subscribe to our podcast on apple podcast, stitcher, or whatever podcast streaming service you use. And while you're there, give us a five star rating. Project Zion Podcast is sponsored by Latter-day Seeker ministries of Community of Christ. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are of those speaking and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Latter-day Seeker ministries or Community of Christ. The music has been graciously provided by Dave Heinze,