I certainly have experienced what it feels like to be “surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” (see Hebrews 12:1). Last night during strike from “Pirates of Penzance” I fell down the steps at stage-left. I’m always a little nervous when I’m on my perch in the back, that I’ll make a mis-step in the dark and tumble off my perch, but walking down a few steps doesn’t usually concern me in the least. However, last night, while carrying some things off stage, I came around the curtain, began my decent and didn’t have enough time to notice and compensate for the gap between the stage extension and the steps and I took quite the tumble.

Turning my left ankle completely over, bearing all my weight, scraping my right shin down the edge of the stage extension, and smacking my head on the metal rail turned this fall into another trifecta. Wow! That was scary! The pain from multiple fronts took a while to subside. And in the midst of all that, I was surrounded  . . . by such a great cloud of witnesses. Triage and prayer were begun immediately and I was enveloped and overwhelmed by the moving of the hands and feet of Christ through His body and the working of the Holy Spirit in the midst. The way the pain was eased, the way my ankle looked and felt after prayer is something I cannot adequately articulate, and I won’t even try. I’ll just say, I walked out of the building, slowly and in some pain, but I walked out. I genuinely didn’t think that was going to happen.

My ACT One family is such a true gift. These amazing prayer warriors have blessed me immeasurably. From young to old(er), their gift of hands-on, unabashed claims of healing and comfort proclaim the power of prayer and have humbled and blessed me beyond description. I will never be able to express my appreciation and love for them adequately.

As I sit here writing this, Petra’s song “No Weapon Formed Against Us Shall Prosper” has come to mind. Singing it in my head, I giggled as I sang “all those who rise up against us shall fall.” I envisioned the enemy beginning to rise up against us as we worked on strike from a fantastic show filled with the glory of the Lord and I was used to squash him by falling on him. Much tall ladder work was going to be done by stronger and braver individuals than I. After the prayer that went on in that little stairwell, no enemy was going to cross there!

Was this a part of an unseen spiritual battle? I have no idea. Was this part of the work the Lord is doing through the ministry of ACT One? Yes, I believe it is. We have an over-abundance of fun. We put on a great production of what ever play for its season. We grow and work as a unit and a family. But of all that this “family” does, with all the various denominations represented, we worship and grow in the Lord and minister to one another – and THAT is the best part of ACT One.

Now, in the day after, the goose egg on my head has given way to a very tender sore spot; the scrape down my shin is still numb and sore (but healing); and my ankle is swollen and popping. But, I woke up from my restless sleep and I can walk around. Things could’ve ended so differently. I don’t take that lightly. I’m so very thankful for all that happened and the gift of those around me. Tomorrow, I will take a trip to my doctor to see what’s what and take the next few days or weeks a little slower than I anticipated, but I’ll walk through them with the memory of a cloud of witnesses that surrounded me with love and care and prayer, and I’ll continue to be so very thankful.