TBC Sunday Service stories 10/4/2026 Angie Maher

Good morning, everyone. It's so great to be back with you all. I've missed you all so much. Which is pretty special. I don't know. I talked to a lot of people who feel, so like I'll be obliged to attend church, or faith communities, and it's refreshing. That is such a joy to, like, be with your community. To my name is Haley, Warner, my pronouns, are she her? And there are some new faces in the room. So I can't wait to meet you all. Welcome to the blonde Collective. I'm not going to chat too long, this morning. I just wanted to introduce our speaker, and our series, and share a bit more. I did want to begin with a story this morning. So, yesterday, I went to the Messiah alumni, queer inclusive, meet up, which I think, was the first time anything has happened like this, and which is very exciting. It was really good and very hard as you could expect, as people have been through a lot of trauma. And our healing and deconstructing reconstructing, but it was really special and I was chatting with the organizer, and I was just like, how, how did you come up with this idea? And kind of get the ball rolling and she shared with me that she has just been feeling so overwhelmed with everything going on in the world in our country. And she felt a little helpless with it all. So she was like, where can I influence healing and she's like, well you know what? I went to Messiah and I didn't have a safe space and safe adults so I can create something within my sphere of influence and I know we chatted about that a few series ago where we were like, when you are feeling so overwhelmed by the cruelty and the Injustice is in the world, what can we do? And it's really those small acts of kindness one-on-one difference. Meeting and our spheres of influence. So it gave me a lot of encouragement. And I wanted to share this morning. So where might we, when we feel overwhelmed to be able to make the change and the other thing I wanted to share? I did want to just say, thank you, thank you. Thank you to Charlie and Dinah and so many other people who looked after our community. While I was away they say that you can kind of Georgia healthiness of a community. When is the leadership, you know goes away if everything still functions as is and I was very grateful to get a lot of positive text when I was in the UK just saying you know the two Sundays ago when you guys chatted about Mutual Aid and mutual care and welcomed in the tool library and that was beautiful. And then the the potluck breakfast and there's a lot of need in our community as well. And when Jeff was singing leading us, I was really like, my heart was really heavy for those who are breaking at the scene. In our community. There's been a lot of grief and loss just trials, and I'm grateful that we look after each other is a community. Thank you for being open so we can support you. But just know, we're holding you close. If you feel heavy extra-heavy today, So we've been chatting about the seat, the series for October, for some time because I told you all that quite a few people in our community had reached out to me about this book, the CEO of golden CEO of golden by Allen Levi and we're going to learn more about this book through the month, but it's really a book of the power of stories and shared humanity. And so as you can see I'm very excited. I don't know about you but I come from church spaces where you hear from the same voice every week often for elongated periods of time and I was excited to come to the blonde Collective and say, actually every voice here has something to bring to the table every life and when I said two different people like hey if you read this book or if you have something to share and people came forward. So just so you know, that's always open and we will be starting to do TVs. He lives again. So, if at any point you are open to sharing more about your own life with our community, Just let me know. We'll get you on the schedule. That leads me to before I invite Angie up today, which we are so excited to have my did want to share with everyone about the CW International friendsgiving meal is going to be the fourth Sunday October 25th and please note. It's at 11 a.m. If you come at 10 a.m. will probably be here is that enough but you'll have to hang out with us all morning. So this will be our second annual friendsgiving for those of you who don't know, CWS Church World Service Harrisburg and nationally. They serve to help immigrants and refugees settle and Thrive. They have so many services and tragically, they were hit by tons of federal, funding cuts, and had to let go of a lot of people. So they depend on a lot of local church and organizational support. This is a way we can support our immigrant and Refugee neighbors, what happens is TPC, sponsor. Is the meal. So you are not expected to pay anything. You can just come and actually local, immigrant families, cook the meal. And I'll give you a little taste tester. This is going to be the new and it comes from all the each plate comes from different parts of the world and we will be learning about different cultures stories. And we will take a love offering so we will pay for the meals. TVC will sponsor that with your actually all paying for that because through your offering. That's how we can afford to do that. Thank you for will also take up a love offering to be able to give them on top of what we're paying for the meals. And so we are going to have a second annual International friendsgiving the fourth Sunday in October, on their website. You'll see, they have a different date where they do it for individual pick up. So ours is a different date because we're doing a group meal but please mark your calendars. It's a really special time to sell. Culture support our neighbors on a local level and with that pictures, take a picture invite your friends. I'll make sure we have more than enough food. This is the the plan for the month, and then, before she comes up, we are going to begin with this, that and she actually shared with me, just a bit of breath work. As we go into this October series. Listening is breathwork, I inhale your story.

I exhale compassion. If you want to read with me, we can breed together. I inhale your story.

I exhale compassion. I inhale your words.

I exhale understanding.

I inhale your suffering.

I exhale, gentleness.

Empathy is the deliberate Act of breathing for someone else, who can't find their own air, John wrote out with that. I'd like to invite Angie up. Who's going to be sharing with us today? Thanks so much. Angie.

I just like to say that each of us. Has a story worthy of telling and while I don't enjoy public speaking. Hence, the laptop, I feel compelled and called share my story with you.

Since I am not quite one year young here at TPC. I'll just start with a tiny bit of background. I was baptized into the Lutheran Church, Justin, as a baby, but my family moved around a lot of different Faith. Traditions we l attended and Evangelical, Congregational Church, and then I United Church of Christ. My family went to church through my high school years.

after earning a degree in English from Lebanon Valley College, I returned to my home in York County, And a bunch of my friends had done the same and they all went to the same United Methodist Church, so I started attending there as well. And after about a year, I became a youth leader. And I loved it so much that I applied to was an and was accepted at Princeton for Seminary. However, I never attended for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which was the cost.

In the year. Two thousand. I'm moved to Lancaster County for the first time and I loved it there and I met my future. And now ex-husband there. By 20, by 2010. I was living in the suburbs of Philadelphia and not many people seem to go to church there. Until I had kind of put God on the back burner for a bit. It's not that I didn't believe but I wasn't actively pursuing a relationship with Jesus. Fast forward to the middle of 2018 on the 1st of July. I had caught a stomach bug that had me down for the count for several days and then anxiety again. It's slow. But stealthy creep. It's my daily living by the end of October of 2018 anxiety. Had to come my constant yet Uninvited companion. I mean, 24/7, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, couldn't think, couldn't recall or remember? Anything new that, I was learning at work or anywhere else and this one on for the next three years, I could barely function or hold an intelligent conversation at least by my standards. Sorry,

I went through a series of misdiagnoses over the next two years including Lyme disease, which involve four months of taking four different antibiotics all at once. Involved, herbal herbal tinctures, vitamins supplements, cutting out all sugar, carbs. Gluten and more, I was basically on a diet of organic ice cubes, And then there was a diagnosis of Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mono, but I had never had Mono. Then I was told that all of this was about menopause and that I could just try a newer antipsychotic, but showed some promise it help my anxiety a tiny bit but not nearly enough. All of the specialty docs who made these diagnosis. We're not covered by Insurance, of course, and they cost me $10,000 out of pocket to no avail. Until September 17th. 2021 the day that changed my life forever. I was standing in the kitchen of my apartment that I shared with my partner of eight years and had stepped out to go to the Post Office for 15 minutes. And I decided to make a quick pumpkin dip on my lunch, hour for my outdoor pickleball. Picnic the next day, the fastest way to make the dip with, by using a hand mixer. The next thing I remember, I was waking up on my sofa. I said, open the door, to the apartment. I had a pathway turning partially to look at him. It was then that I saw that, my t-shirt was covered in pumpkin, cream, cheese, and powdered sugar. I made a mess was all I could manage to stay and look to his, right, and surveyed, the path of Destruction that I had left in the kitchen. He let out an expletive and then went into crisis cleaning mode for the next hour or so, he cleaned every crevice of our kitchen. I apparently went in and out of coherence when I finally got up off the sofa, I realized my tongue hurt, so I stuck it out to show him.

Yeah you bet your tongue that might need a stitch. We're going to urgent care. He said reluctantly I got myself changed and ready to go. When we arrived they took me pretty quickly and asked added me a few questions and rather decisively determined that I needed to go to the ER, stat that I had. Most likely had a seizure, we're going to call ahead but you can be seen immediately. The doctor told us less than give me warm fuzzies. Luckily, the nearest hospital was one mile from our place and two miles from the urgent care after I completed my paperwork.

They took me about 10 minutes later a CAT scan was ordered and Ed and I said our goodbyes and he headed home because this was still in the time of covid. After my cat scan, I was put in a holding room for about 30 minutes or so until someone could read the scan my phone was blowing up word had spread quickly and loved ones. And your friends were wondering how I was and attending physician came in saying. I'm not quite sure how to say this but you have a mass on your brain. I shook my head saying, excuse me, I'm going to quiet a file. Might have escaped my lips but he totally granted me a pass on my language. I called Dad and told him the news he had the same reaction but perhaps with a bit more emphasis on the expletive, I totally thought you had low blood sugar and passed out he said, I know me too, we were wrong. I had to wait overnight to get an MRI. After that scam. I waited for a neurologist to come in and when he did, he said to magical words but nine and operable, I let out a huge sigh of relief and so, did the people who had found out what was going on with me, people who loved me people whom I loved and people whom I've had never met and still haven't met to this day friends of Family Church killing people as colleagues and clients in the pharmaceutical World. God's ears were on fire that weekend, and it worked. The following week I met with a top-notch neurosurgeon at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In downtown, Philly, not too far from our place outside of Northtown. The surgeon was new to pain but not to brain surgery. His father had passed away from brain cancer. So his work was highly personal to him and he was whip smart. Adele graduate with an incredible knack for putting a slightly terrified woman at he's listening. Angie doctor, I'm uncle or known affectionately as Doctor. A said, this is routine surgery who knew that there was such a thing as routine brain surgery. Melinda, Gomez are the most common type of brain tumor. You are going to be just fine and you're going to be anxiety-free after this tumor comes out. And because I had worked for a dementia organization, a few years prior. I had asked him about the placement of my tumor is the tumor is pressing on my temporal lobe, why is it causing me anxiety? I mean if it were sitting on my amygdala which is where the fight and flight comes from that would make sense to me. Doctor egg quickly replied that the brain is a strange thing and we still only understand so little about it. Hey, grab your phone. He said if you have any questions about the surgery or anything else, here's my cell number Doctor. I continued my eyes must have bugged out of my head. Like a cartoon character. Are you kidding me? I thought to myself. What doctor let alone a renowned neurosurgeon Offers his cell phone number to someone who is not yet agreed for him to do surgery or at all. Hey one question, doctor a I began if you do the surgery on a Friday, will you be around over the weekend? And he says, Angie, I'm not going anywhere until you go home. I thanked him and said, I'd be in touch 2 hours later. I went to Thomas Jefferson Hospital to meet with another dock. The next surgeons, that a lot of what doctor I had said it was routine. Brain surgery, So I asked him the same question. Will you be here over the weekend to check with me? I'll be here if I'm on call he said otherwise another Position will be here. Wrong answer. I thought to myself and when I left I texted doctor, I attend telling him I'd like to schedule the surgery for two weeks from then. He responded in 1 hour saying he was so glad and couldn't wait for me to be to Murphree. That made two of us talked, and I felt a crazy piece about the whole thing. And as a lifelong worrier, feeling a crazy piece about this was indeed crazy. Some of this piece came from my writing, I began a Blog about my journey beginning with seizure die and that help me process everything that was going on. I know that the prayers and well wishes and good vibes from people all over the country also helped and the support of my family ad and friends brought me. Peace as well. The day before surgery is at my mom and dad down at the dining room table to go over to handwritten sheets of bank account information. 401ks, email account logins and I shared a copy of my will and my do not resuscitate directive. I shared how everything would be divided between my mom, sister and Ed, should things go south during surgery? They were both the touch uncomfortable as you might imagine. And my mom said I see you are your usual organized self, Angie and this is all well and good, but we aren't going to need the stuff. You're going to be just fine. I understand Mom, but just in case, it's important to me that you guys have this. I had to ask for prayers and good thoughts on Facebook, the night before my surgery, and once again, God's ears were a flame. I got the best night of sleep that I could remember in years, The hospital called on Friday morning, October 8th 2021 asking me to come now to come 3 hours early because Dr. A had had a cancellation. Okay, let's do this. Thankfully I had packed everything the night before so I was ready to roll. When we got to the hospital, I gave my mom, my sister Stacy who had flown up from Houston for the surgery and Ed each a note. I had written for them as well as personalized. Spotify playlist with songs for each of them to listen to. While I was in surgery, I hated the thought of them sitting there, worrying wondering, and being in the negative space. So the playlist would keep them occupied and maybe bring some smiles and memories to their minds. And soon, I was off in la-la land. Several hours later. My people were all given the thumbs-up and we're told the surgery was successful doctor, egg had removed the entire tumor and I was recovering and I see you my mom, sister and Edge finally visited visited me before going home for the evening. Although I don't remember any of that. As I was still under heavy sedation doctor, they went home, mom and Stacy went back to their hotel in Center City and Edwin back to our apartment. And as he pulled into our parking lot, a doctor who was out of breath and seems to be running down the hallway called Ed and said, the team watching Angie in the ICU. Notice some bad stuff going on in her pupils she's being rushed into emergency surgery, she has a bleed on the brain.

Once again, Edwin into crisis mode, and called my sister and his parents and then tried to get his head around things doctor hightailed it back to the hospital and was a rockstar. He opens back up, put me back on the table, stop the bleed and save my life. He put the piece of skull back in and stitched me up. He decided to stay at the hospital just in case anything else popped up. 2 hours later around 1 a.m. or so. Another bleed broke through and eroded artery artery wall against which my two tumor had resided for a bunch of years. Saturday went back into superhero mode, put me back on the table and save my life a second time but he left out the piece of skull this time stitching me up without it. Later that morning. He told my people I think I'm going to operate on her until she dies until she bleeds out. My sister has been calling on prayer warriors all night long, on Facebook, and on text threats. And now, it was crucial. What's a doctor? A surprise. I had no more bleeds. It became clear that I was going to survive. But then he told my loved ones that I might never use the left side of my body again. They were more calls for prayers and there were bedside chat. I'll be at one-sided from Ed and Stacy. My mom was too upset and worked up to visit. My sister sang songs to me and eventually she asked me if I could move my toes on my left foot and slowly I did over and over again. So she texted doctor egg and said that I could move my left side and he asked if she was sure it was my left side. And I can see my sister rolling, her eyes taking. I know my left from my right. Yes, she said emphatically, I'm sure it's her left. He couldn't believe what he had heard. I spent about a week in the regular hospital and another week in rehab and around a 4 or so, I was playing ping-pong and doing it better than all of my opponents, but In fairness, they were not very good.

On December 10th about two months. After my initial surgery, I went back to pain to get a composite piece of skull attached to the rest of my skull with titanium screws, doctor, a assured us all that this surgery would be so much easier that it would be a 20 to 30 minute procedure. I told my mom and sister not to fly up from Houston. I thought process was that if I didn't make a big deal out of this, it wouldn't be a big deal. So Ed took me in for the second. Technically fourth surgery, We'd have both been lying. If we said, we weren't a little gun-shy after the first go-round, but I had faith in doctor. A, and this time all went as planned, I came home the next morning since the rules, or, was that any had surgeries required, an overnight stay regardless of how minor as it turns out, surviving brain surgery, and to post up brain bleeds, where the easy part of my story, I had been working part-time at my job in a group home organization that served individuals with developmental disabilities. Since mid-november, when I went back to work full time on January 3rd. 3 days later I was called into a meeting where my newly-promoted boss. A new director told me that my position was being eliminated in favor of other marketing needs. I was unemotional and quiet. Through all of it. And I was even praised for being so mature about what was a difficult thing for everyone?

He did keep me on payroll through February 2nd so that I can maintain another month of healthcare. My best friend of 10 years and partner of eight handled the nude with news with Grace and said, we'd be fine financially. But the next week he decided that we should live apart. Whenever I found a new job, the decision came after four years of a progressively declining relationship between his then eighteen-year-old son and me, it was the perfect storm that blew in at the worst time possible for me, And so, while I was collecting still collecting a W-2 income, I secured an apartment in the land that I had loved and thought of as home since the year 2000. When I've lived there, the first time Lancaster County and on February 16th 2022. I moved into my apartment. It took me 16 months from that time, 16 months of hustling of juggling part-time gigs all at. Once of struggling to pay the bills until I found my current job in fundraising at Mennonite Central Committee. But this is what happened in the meantime, I began to rekindle friendships from long ago. And two of the first friends asked me to do a few charcuterie boards for a party they were hosting. And I happily agreed. As I just had started a charcuterie business and they were my first customers at this party. I made a new friend while cleaning up Ryan and I began chatting and he mentions his church in Lancaster City and he invited me to attend. So the next morning I went and we became fast friends. Then Ryan found out. I was a writer and he introduced me to his lovely mom. Jenny A Gifted writer and spiritual director and we to have to come good friends. I'm slowly but surely I found my way back to this faith. That was instilled in me from birth. I learned that when the spirit takes hold of your heart, she doesn't let go so easily. Even if you run or walk away for a time, she sits patiently in your waiting room as you go off and do your own thing. but when you finally decide, finally realize finally recognized where you belong Who you are, who you are. The spirit, welcomes, you back home, kind of like Motel 6. She's left the light on for you.

I miss the life that had been burned down to the ground in three different fires in four months time, one medical one vocational, and one relational. I had no choice but to pick up a scarred, a charred and a new version of myself out of the ashes, all around me. And try to move forward. Try to make the best of a bunch of bad situations. Try to rise above everything. In many ways, I felt like a phoenix who had burned in the flame but was doing her best to rise out of the Ashes to have a new life. If you've never identified with or as a phoenix in your life, one day, you might, if that day comes, don't be scared. But know, your former self will have to die. We'll have to burn a little or a lot. But you will rise From the Ashes. I am very. We're well aware of how lucky I am doctor. I told me. So he said the brain bleeds were a 1 and 10000 event chance. He also called me his miracle, baby. That struck me, as I don't know that I've ever heard any other Medical, Professional speak of Miracles before. Miracle is not a label that I was entirely comfortable with. I mean, who am I to deserve to be spared twice from an untimely death? I think it's somewhat common for currents. A Believers to think of Miracles as Wonders that happened when Jesus walked the Earth but not so much since that time. And yet sometimes there seems little else to explains her real-life events is also a miracle that despite the aftermath of my surgery doctor. I was correct I no longer have any anxiety.

and this is the difficult part of speaking these words, because as lucky as I am, I know that there are likely some in this room whose loved ones did not receive the Miracles that were prayed for and none of us knows, why And there will be a day when tomorrow does not come for each of us. Living in the now is something that I've tried to embrace and practice shortly after recovering from surgery. I'm very much aware that my tomorrow is not promised that my body is vulnerable and that life is fragile. One of the downsides of surviving a traumatic brain injury, is it? Sometimes it causes personality ships in my case, I'm a bit more outgoing and I'm also tolerate a lot less crap.

I like to say that my neurosurgeon removed a brain tumor, but he gave me a backbone. And because I no longer accept certain behaviors, I am basically a strange for my immediate family, especially my dad who couldn't be bothered to drive two and a half hours to visit me before or after my surgery, but that's an entire story unto itself. And my circle of close friends is very, very small. Some days, I wear that like a badge of honor. Plenty of days. I feel like I'm hard to love.

I only truly belong to God. Into the rivers of God, my dog.

Nationally at 4 different addresses last year cuz I was forced to leave Lancaster due to Rising rental prices and an unsafe living situation with a pseudo landlord. And that's how I ended up in Camp Hill and here with you at the blonde Collective. And now, you know, part of my story. There are other details, including those that are not safe for church. so, if you'd like to know more, I will put two copies. Of my Memoir that I published three years ago. On the bookshelf, it is called the water Bearer who refused to drown. I wrote Under a pen name for my own protection. Each of our stories intersects with the stories of others, and sometimes they aren't the most flattering, but like in Lamont says, if people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.

I wrote my Memoir, not because I thought I had something more interesting or a more difficult story than anyone else. But because I knew I wanted to be a writer since the fourth grade. And I finally felt like I had something worth sharing that I had something that might just help others get through their own hard times. Because if we live long enough life will happen to each of us at some point, if not multiple points, and while the stories of others won't fix our own struggles, they will give us some hope to carry on. And so today almost five years to the day of surviving to angry brain bleeds, I share a bit of my story while we walk each other home. Let's share our stories of Hope and healing and let's be gentle with each other. There will surely be more hard days ahead for each of us. But that is exactly when we should remember what we have been through, what our friends have been through. And what we have learned from the stories of others and our scars, those are the visual reminders. That what tried to kill us failed? Wear them with pride.

I'm looking forward to hearing more stories from the TPC family. Thank you for listening.