God is Everywhere!!

Yesterday my friend (also a cancer patient) and I went to Mass at St. Mary's in downtown Austin during lunch. Although my friend is Catholic, I am not. No matter. We are both welcome. We scheduled an anointing of the sick ritual after noon Mass.

First, can I just say that this older church is absolutely beautiful. One day I will come in a bit early, look around, and take pictures. I love the big heavy doors, the beautiful altars, the ornate ceiling. Gorgeous!

Okay, back to the story. After Mass, we weren't sure where to go, so we headed to the church office to ask. We were instructed to go back to the sanctuary and sit in the first row. The Father will be with us shortly. So we did.

The anointing of the sick was relatively short. The Father said a few prayers for us, a read and response portion, and then anointed us on the forehead and hands with holy water. He ended the ritual by placing his hand on our foreheads and whispering a prayer I couldn't really hear. No matter, I felt instance peace … and empowerment!

After the ceremony, we walked out of the sanctuary. Sitting in the last row was a young man. He got up as we passed, put a hand on my shoulder and told me he would pray for me. I thanked him, then told him my friend needed prayers as well. He smiled, shook my friends hand, and said he would pray for him as well.

We left the sanctuary. Before leaving the church we both decided to dip our fingers in the holy water bowls that were everywhere (exaggeration, but there were a lot of them) and put the holy water on our tumors. Just another piece of armor against this nasty disease, right?

Out into the cold, back to the car, and prepare to head back to the office. After navigating out of my parking spot, we are heading out of the garage. And then we witnessed a miracle ….

I heard a song playing about God having my back "(I got your back, I got your back"), I look down and see that my car radio is on a Christian station. My car was NOT on a Christian station when we parked. In fact, it was on classic rock or oldies station (60-70s) when I parked. I don't remember the exact song that was playing, but I know it was a pop or classic rock song.

I looked at my friend and said "my radio was NOT on a Christian music station when we parked". He agreed. Then I said "did you hear the lyrics?". He did. Then he smiled and said "I told you God is everywhere"!

I've gotten validation in my life that God is listening, but nothing as big as this. It was like a whack in the head. Like God was saying "Pay attention!! I'm here!". If that isn't validation, I don't know what is!

One of the most amazing and empowering experiences in my life!  We got this!! How can we not?