we immediately found it and as it turned out, the video had just been posted about an hour earlier. it was real. and it was scary. we tracked down paul and amy, we searched and discovered they live in louisiana and he is a senior pastor to a calvary affiliate. paul was just diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. he had a tumor in his nasal cavity. matt contacted paul, i contacted his wife and then we prayed and we waited. our hearts suddenly ached, though we knew nothing about them, and they knew nothing about us. we had jesus and a rare aggressive cancer in common. matt was a survivor, paul was just starting out. we knew God doesn't waste our pain, we know He doesn't walk us down a road without a reason. aren't we are called to comfort one another with the same comfort we've received? so we introduced ourselves, i told amy i wanted to first tell her a little about myself so she wouldn't think i'm crazy...famous last words? or perhaps famous first words?? time would tell.
matt posted the video asking people to pray. and our faithful friends committed to pray for this family.
in his message, matt offered to talk to paul, walk with him, and answer any questions he would have. you see with this rare cancer, there aren't blogs you can look up, there aren't message boards, i'm not even sure webmd has much to say. within a day or so, they each contacted us and thus began very real dialogue.
paul and matt spoke on the phone two days later, and amy and i messaged each other often. by thursday our hearts were burdened to go see them. matt and i talked and prayed but said nothing to anyone. within a few hours, someone generously approached matt and said he felt we should go and offered to send us. he said matt, you can offer hope, you are alive. you lived joyfully and lived out your faith. we knew that was confirmation so tickets were purchased, the car was rented and the hotel was secured. we'd leave in a week. we thought paul may be in the hospital for surgery. we could spend time there if they'd allow us. on monday, one week after hearing about paul's cancer, i spoke with amy for the first time, it was a hard day at a doctor appointment and we had the opportunity to talk and pray. my heart was anxious to be by her side. to tell her i understood.
every detail was being worked out. the doors opened so fast and so wide, we didn't doubt for a second that we should be going. matt and i went back and forth whether or not to tell them we were coming and after praying, we decided not to. we didn't want to add stress or any burden, we didn't want them to feel they had to entertain us at all. we wanted to just be there. we weren't sure how we were going meet up with them. we couldn't just show up at their house, that would be crazy. we couldn't call them and ask if they could meet us at starbucks... again, crazy. maybe join them on their morning run - super creepy crazy. then paul shared on his facebook that the church was having a prayer meeting each night from 6:30-7:30, and people could join them in prayer. since he wouldn't be in the hospital, we thought this would be perfect! we decided we'd go straight to the church, thinking this would be the less crazy of all the options. we sat on this plane with no idea what the Lord had for us, and we were on our way. about 30 minutes before we landed, i looked at matt and i said, we're crazy aren't we? he just smiled at me and said yes, indeed we were. but we rested in knowing God opened the doors and this was what we were going to do.
our plane landed, we grabbed our bags and car and we were on our way. it was 7pm. as we drove to the church, i got super nervous, literally shaking, having second thoughts nervous, but i held matt's hand and he parked the car. i texted a few girls at home that were praying and said we're walking in.
from the foyer we couldn't see inside the sanctuary until the doors opened. matt opened one door, we stepped in and staring right at us from a chair was paul. he looked at us, blinked a few times, looked again and stood up to walk over towards us. we smiled a "please don't be mad, i promise we're normal-ish" kind of smile. i went to amy, hugged her and heard a whisper, "sarah?" i said yes. paul hugged matt and just said wow, he sorta shook his head and smiled really big. we apologized for interrupting the prayer meeting and told them we wanted join them. it was a little funny on our part thinking they'd just continue on praying and worshiping, but we all did our best not to interrupt the remainder of the night. i'm sure they were baffled at the whole thing. it was an amazing night of worship - so intimate and we had total peace knowing we were exactly where God wanted us on the night of our 21st anniversary.
that night we went to dinner, and we saw them the next day. amy posted on her facebook that seeing us walk in was like seeing lazarus, such a shock and such a miracle. we got to meet people from their church and were able to spend time with paul and amy each day we were there - we took each opportunity as a gift. it was a little nuts for us to just show up, but they graciously allowed us in their lives. we met their kids, paul's parents, and their loving church body. seriously our hearts were so full. i can't even describe how amazing the weekend was. on sunday when it was almost time to leave, i cried. no matter how hard i tried, i couldn't stop the tears from falling, i wasn't ready to leave. my heart ached at the thought of leaving the next day. as we spent time with paul and amy, we talked about so many things, cancer, the Lord, how we're all from California, we run, we homeschool, our kids are the same age - exactly!, our faith, matt and paul's similar humor, we had so many things in common.
and then monday, we had one more opportunity to eat together and chat before we had to leave, if i could have frozen time, i would have. then sadly, it was time to catch our plane. it was so bittersweet. their church became our family. we were so loved and embraced, i didn't expect my heart to be so transformed in just a few days. those 5 days in lousiana were among the best i'd ever spent.
there are so many stories from the weekend, we saw God's hand in it from start to finish. i share this for a few reasons, not to draw attention to us at all, we're just people doing what we felt God calling us to do.
but what i learned is that sometimes the Lord calls us to crazy, He calls us out of our comfort zones, out of what feels normal. He calls us to walk in faith, we don't know the how's or the why's, we can't see His master plan. He told noah to build an ark, a big ark. noah didn't know what rain was. He told sarah she'd have a baby and sarah was old. he told ananias to talk to saul, saul who killed Christians. how many times in the old and new testament do we see God call people to do things that are a little crazy, perhaps they don't make sense? God didn't need any of these people. He didn't need us. He has plenty who are willing. but He allows us to be part of His plan. if matt and i would have said no, this is crazy, no one would have known any different. God would have provided someone else. and we could have missed out on this very special blessing that He allowed us. that thought broke my heart, i wonder how many other opportunities i've missed out on because i wasn't willing. what a sweet privilege it is when we get to be a little crazy for Him.
paul is heading into surgery this week and we know the power of prayer, we've seen it. his tumor is larger than matt's was. it's the size of a tennis ball. it's pressing against very dangerous parts of his head. surgery will no doubt be long, 8-10 hours. he'll have an extensive recovery time possibly followed up with treatment. i have no doubt that paul and amy will use every opportunity to glorify God in this. they'll find the joy, they'll seek Him, they trust Him.
please cover them in prayer. cover their kids and church family. pray for the surgeon on wednesday. pray for a quick recover. we trust our God to be big and mighty.
friends, meet our friends, paul and amy.
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