Fire Drill A Plan to Get Out of Crisis Quickly and Effectively a report by Marilynn Vanderstaay inspirational speaker/trainer/writer community investment specialist cancer overcomer Crisis comes to all of us whether we are Believers or not, whether we live well or not, whatever our financial situation or class, whatever continent we live in. The key to getting out of crisis quickly and effectively is HOW we respond to it. Just as we practiced fire drills in school, Fire Drill is an effective tool to help you prepare for or get through a crisis, be it a physical diagnosis, a financial challenge, a breakdown in a relationship, or any other difficult situation that presents itself, that you must find your way through. Here are the nine steps I have personally used to overcome five life threatening cancers and subsequent brain trauma, other physical challenges, extreme financial challenges and even emotional challenges brought on by the death of a loved one, a family situation, the break down or end of a relationship, or the loss of a job I really enjoyed. 1. Don t panic! The most natural thing, and the worst thing, to do when a crisis hits is to panic. Panic is an emotional response based on fear. At this time it is most important not to let fear get a foothold in the situation. Take control of your emotions. Shut down the fear, and you take control of the situation. Lives have literally been saved when just one person in the situation did not panic. Be that person. 2. Identify the real problem. Is the cause of the crisis the real issue or is it a symptom of a larger problem. When I was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer I had the presence of mind not to panic. But I didn t have access then to the information or the knowledge to what was the problem or if there was another root cause or causes. In pre Internet days, I started looking and searching and slowly found my way through 1
my healing journey I found what I needed to know. As I found answers and solutions I put them in practice and eventually I did get out of the crisis victoriously, one step at a time. The key was I never stopped searching. While thankfully there were inspirational books to encourage me, information about how someone got through cancer, nutrition, complementary and alternative medicines and divine healing was still just on the cusp. Initially I focused on the crisis the circumstance and the treatments and I missed the detour to what the real issue was and the solution the first time it was shown to me. It would be two metastases later before I started to even learn about possible causes and another one before I made the drastic and healthy changes in my lifestyle including diet, stress, and even relationships, to overcome once and for all the enemy cancer that was trying to take me out. Once I determined what the real problem was, my lifestyle, I started to heal. 3. Find out what God has to say about the situation. If you are a Believer this is the most crucial step for you because it will give you the weapons in the spirit realm we are spirit soul and body beings to fight the crisis. and a benchmark to go back to if you get discouraged and are tempted to give up. Find the Scriptures from His Word that hold the solutions and the promises for what you are facing and apply them like a healing salve into the plan for your solution. More importantly put those Scriptures to work in your life they are the living Word and as you speak them in your life and into the situation they will change your situation. 4. Write a contract. Then you can go one step farther and write a binding contract or petition with God based on those Scriptures. Write out the Scripture promises you are believing Him for, and what you will do as your part of the contract. I did that before I went into the initial treatment, a radical surgery. I wrote a contract with God and had it witnessed by a nurse. Immediately it put me in a contractual relationship with God that, according to His Word, He would honour. In months and years to come it gave me a bench mark or a plumb line to go back to, to remind me what my covenant was and is. What my hope, my urgent expectation, in the situation was and is. 2
For more information see Divine Healing 101 on www.insidethehealingjourney.com and download the contract with God. Or order the workbook Fire Drill: An Escape Plan to Get Out of Crisis Quickly and Effectively. 5. Research everything you can about the cause and possible solutions for the problem. I dealt with the cancers and subsequent brain trauma in pre Internet days. There weren t any books in the bookstores or in Christian ministries that taught about how to get healed. There are books written by those who have gone through, but not how. So I became a pioneer, a courier du bois if you will, of both divine healing and alternative and complimentary medicines that were just starting to be deciphered. I listened to faith preachers tell me how to put healing scriptures to work, how to put on the armour of God and how to use the power in the name of Jesus. I stood in healing lines and watched God move in dramatic ways. And I watched as He brought me into complementary and alternative medicine one step at a time. I started hacking through the uncharted forest in the healing journey and had to rough out the solutions myself with information picked up here, from a new acquaintance there, until finally when dealing with the last metastasis I found the balance of nutrition and Scripture to get through. 6. Make a plan. Armed with all you have learned about the situation, the crisis, take action. Make a detailed plan of escape, of what you are going to do to get through the crisis. I know that as Believers we are taught through the Scriptures to cast our burdens on the Lord. And we do that at the time of the onset of the crisis if we haven t already done so. That puts Him in charge of the situation as Commander in Chief. Then we have to prayerfully find out what our role is in working His plan. And that will be our plan of action. 7. Work the plan. This is the tough one. It is encouraging and exciting to write the contract and the plan. And the Bible tells us that God blesses everything we put our hands to. But the key is the tough part we have to put our hands to something. The hard part is doing the plan. Determine in your heart you will do the plan, no matter what. That is where step nine comes in. 3
8. Write a life plan, a strategic plan for your future I suggest in addition to doing what you have to do to get through the crisis you write a strategic life plan. What is your plan for your life once you are over the crisis? Making plans for a future beyond the crisis is hope and faith in action. Keep it in your face. Put sticky notes on the walls and mirrors around your house. Read the contract and the plan out loud in the morning and in the evening. Take communion in your private sanctuary be it your prayer room, your dinner table or in bed. Make your plan part of your inner fibre who you are. 9. Surround yourself with a positive support team Whether we see it or not, the attitudes of the people we allow into the inner sanctums of our lives are strong influences in how we think, what we believe and even how we feel and talk and ultimately what we do... whether we work our plans or not. When you are walking through the healing journey you must surround yourself with those who are going to walk through the healing journey with you in faith and hope. Don t allow naysayers to undermine your faith and your resolve or rob you of your dreams and plans. Stay focused. Work the plan. Even if it means putting some relationships on hold or ending them. 10. Rehearse your victory. After you have done all the steps, and while you are doing them, this may be the most important step to getting through and then staying completely out of the crisis. Rehearse your victory. In Psalm 107 verse 22 the psalmist writes And let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving and rehearse His deeds with shouts of joy and singing. Amplified version. This is a very crucial and powerful key. Who takes the time and the energy to rehearse a role in a play, a speech or a song if they do not believe or intend to actually perform it? As we give thanks in faith before we see the manifestation of what we are believing for, we are freeing God s hand to make it happen. We are sending the angels out to bring it to pass. We rehearse our victory as if it has already happened. That what we are rehearsing is coming to pass. Rehearsing my victory has kept my mind set on the solution and not the problem through many crises. It also focuses thanksgiving and praise on the Most High God, your Healer, your Provider, your Solution. 4
It is through personal control that you obtain reassurance and stability. Peter J Daniels International business man, author and corporate speaker I encourage you to prepare yourself for crisis physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am not suggesting to worry about crisis I am suggesting you make a plan of escape just as you have in your home in case of fire. If you want assistance with that you can Order the workbook Fire Drill: An Escape Plan to Get Out of Crisis Quickly and Effectively; To help you put the steps of Fire Drill: an Escape Plan into action in your life, I have written a personal workbook that goes into each step with more detail, and has space where you can fill in how you are going to do, and are doing each step. To help you write a contract or petition order You can order online with paypal from the boutique at.www.insidethehealingjourney.com 5
This report is copyrighted by Regards, Marilynn marilynnvanderstaay marilynn@insidethehealingjourney.com www.insidethehealingjourney.com 6