On Thursday, I had the pleasure of participating in a Breast Cancer Awareness Program held at the Chester Senior Center which is located in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  I was asked to provide an "inspirational segment" for the program.  After prayer and careful reflection, I selected poems from my poetry books and a song from my ep which I felt were both applicable to my talk and offered encouragement or spiritual insight to the attendees.

I began my talk by reminding the attendees that our bodies as women were an awesome "gift" from God because He had given us the privilege and responsibility of being able to carry, give birth, and nourish children. Psalms 139:14 states: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."

In the next section, I identified how traditionally and historically speaking, the primary "job" of women, had been to act as "nurturers" and "care-givers" for others, but mentioned that if we are to nurture or care for others, then we need to be healthy enough to do this. Psalms 31:23 states "O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. If you fly anywhere, you will always hear the flight attendant instruct passengers, before putting the oxygen mask on someone else to help them, put the oxygen mask on yourself first. Simply put, take care of yourself.  I reiterated that this could be done by: performing a regular monthly breast exam on oneself, knowing your family history, eating nutritiously and exercising regularly. First Corinthians 6:19 states that the Holy Spirit resides in our bodies ("What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?").

The final part of my talk had to do with maintaining a "spiritual connection" to your power source - that power source being God.  I discussed the importance of having faith and staying focused on God ("The Great Physician") instead of the disease breast cancer. The woman with the issue of blood was referenced to illustrate this point followed by a list of scriptures offered to assist in bolstering one's faith. 

• Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
• Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
• Mark 5:34 “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” 
• Luke 8:48 “And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”

I finished the segment by instructing the attendees to use faith to encourage both themselves and others (regardless of whether they or someone that they knew currently had, or had survived breast cancer) and rendered the song "Unconditional Love" from my ep "He Lives: The Gospel Ballads."

So as we come to the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I charge you to hold on to God's Love for you which He demonstrated by John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Blessings!