Good morning…
I have been praying for her daughter for over three years now. Every Sunday, her daughter’s name is read aloud at church during our collective time of prayer, and, often throughout the week, the Spirit nudges me to pray for this young woman I have never met. Her daughter, who is battling cancer, is a forever friend of our pastor’s daughter, so he deeply loves this woman’s daughter, a young wife and mother herself, as if she were his own.
Though we are in the same church family, until two weeks ago, I had never met this down to earth mother of an adult child battling cancer. On Good Friday, I finally learned that this steadfast mother is the sister of my friend, a friend I have known for years, a friend who comes to my Friday morning Bible study, a friend I admire so. “How did I not know that this young woman I have been praying for, week after week, for several years now, is your niece?” It astounded me that this connection had never been revealed.
The Sunday after this niece-of-my-friend truth was discovered, our family was slipping in late for church, which is our ordinary custom. Sliding into open seats, I shimmied by a couple I had never met, a couple about our age. During the time of greeting, we introduced ourselves and when she said her name, all of these connections flooded the space between us. The sister of my friend. The mother of an oft prayed for daughter. Many of her close friends are amazing women I have enjoyed for years. We hugged happily and committed to get together. On Wednesday was the day she arrived in my living room.
I love meeting new people, especially people who know they need God to get through their day. I had never known her daughter’s full story, which she graciously shared with me, and we talked about a miracle she had seen with her very own eyes. When her daughter had flat lined in the hospital after a sudden cardiac arrest, doctors worked on her for forty five minutes, and God miraculously brought her back. “I just wanted five more minutes with to tell her that I love her, but so far we have received an incredible year and a half.”
People ask me, “How can you spend so much intimate time with people who are in pain?” I answer, “Because I love being in spaces where God is palpably present. In the midst of great sorrow, we uncover sweet joys.” If you would like to experience the joyful miracle given to my new friend, her daughter, and their family and friends, please give yourself the gift of watching her amazing story on video: https://youtu.be/k0i2JkdD3B0
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God…” Revelation 21:3 (NIV),
Sue
