Showing up to Pray - Shannon Stiff

Early on a Thursday morning, I began to feel bad with a terrible headache, nausea and my  vision became blurred. I endured the symptoms for two days before deciding to go to urgent  care for some relief. The doctor there seemed perplexed and prescribed an antibiotic deciding  that it may be an inner ear infection. He advised me to see my primary care doctor on Monday.  On Monday, my doctor sent me to an ophthalmologist to determine the cause of my blurred  vision. The eye doctor told me the dreaded words that I never thought I would hear. He said I  had a stroke. The peripheral vision on my left side was severely impaired. He sent me straight  to the hospital where I would spend the next four days. It was the scariest time of my life. My  roommate was no help in my recovering. She would scream loudly through the night. When  she wasn’t screaming, she was watching true crime documentaries dealing with all sorts of  dark topics. The floor was busy and noisy both day and night. It was very difficult to rest and  recover. On top of that, my husband was not allowed to stay through the night with me. I  never felt so afraid and alone. The days were better since my husband as well as other family  and friends were able to come and visit with me. It was a time in my life where I had to depend  upon the Lord more than I ever had before. It was a relief to hear from people who were  praying for me from all over the country. Any time my husband heard of a church or person  who was praying for me, he would let me know. The prayers of my friends were a great  comfort. I also began to receive many sweet cards and letters in the mail from those wanting  to express their love and concern for me. Thankfully, the brain heals quickly and my eye sight  has been adjusting and healing. I am able to see much better now. It still isn’t perfect, but it has  come a long way. The Lord was so gracious in that I didn’t have a lot of the side effects that  many people get from strokes. My stroke just affected my eyesight and nothing more. I have  learned so much through the last five months. First of all that I really needed people to pray for  me, and that I should really increase my prayer life for others too. People have been so good  to me and I never knew how much I needed it. I want to be there for others in the same way  through prayer and showing up for people when they need it. There are so many people who  are going through so many tough times and they desperately need someone to be there for  them through prayer and encouragement. Everything I have been through in my life has given  me so much empathy for people. I want to pray for everyone because I know how much  prayer works. My eyes aren’t completely back to where they were before the stroke, but  they’re so much better because of loving people who spent their time to pray for me. Thank  you for praying for me. It made a difference in my life. I still need more prayer and I will pray  for you if you let me know what I can pray for. I hope you have a great day! 1 Thessalonians  5:16-18.