"Triumphal Entry!"

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 41 -

My dear friend, Hank, made a triumphal entry through the pearly gates of Heaven this morning!  I haven't known Hank very long.  I've only seen him on 5 occasions.  It bewilders, even me, how such a bond of friendship could truly exist in such a short period of time.  But when the LORD decides to love someone through you -- well, His love is like super-glue, it's forever binding!  It goes beyond the laws of our world.

Divine Partnership manifests itself in countless ways.  In 1983, I walked into an exercise studio to take an aerobics class.  I was an athlete.  I had been faithfully studying Uechi Ryu karate for almost a decade and had achieved my 3rd degree black belt.  It was time to take a break (no pun intended)  and I found myself looking for a good workout.

That's when I met Cindy.  Man -- she was tough!  She would work out her class like nobody's business!  I loved that!  I loved a good workout and I wasn't expecting to find that -- in a women's exercise salon -- of all places.  There was something else I wasn't expecting to find there...

JESUS.

There was something about Cindy that I couldn't quite put my finger on.  Yeah... she gave you a great workout.  Yeah... her song choices were fabulous.  But that wasn't it.  It was that thing in her eyes -- that glow -- that smile.  I just wanted to be around her.  I wanted to get to know her.  Like a magnet, I was drawn to her.

Oh, I tried on several occasions to get her to go out for coffee or a movie or something, but we could never quite seem to make it happen.  In the few brief conversations I had with her, I found her to be quite unusual.  She talked about Jesus like He was a real person.  I found that very strange, but I still wanted to be her friend, nonetheless.  One time she even gave me a little, pocket-sized New Testament and encouraged me to read it.  Okay...  I actually did read a couple chapters of the Book of Matthew.

It was years before I realized what that magnetic draw was.  It wasn't Cindy at all.   It was Jesus.   I was drawn to the Jesus in her.   Because I didn't know anything about Jesus -- I didn't recognize Him. -- I thought it was her.

She was merely "the carrier" 

 of what my soul was yearning for!

The Father was drawing me to His Son.  It was my time.  His love was grabbing ahold of my heart and pulling me in --  pulling me close.  I was about to get saved!

In John 6:44, Jesus says...

"No one can come to me unless the 

Father who sent me draws them 

and I will raise them up at the last day."

Such it was, with Hank.  One day as I was driving home, the Spirit of God told me to turn right, instead of left.  He wanted me to visit my friends, Jim and Carolyn.  That was the first time I met Jim's brother, Hank.  He had just recently said the prayer of salvation with his brother.  In the half hour I was with him, we talked about Jesus and had a word of prayer together for healing.  I knew right then and there, God was at work.  I could feel the intensity of God's love for him.  It wasn't my love, it was God's love.  I could feel it pouring out of me, and I sensed Hank gathering it up.

A few months went by, and I got a text that Hank wanted me to visit him in the hospital.  How odd.  Of all the people he could ask to visit him, he wanted me?  I knew it was Jesus he wanted -- whether he realized it or not.  Truth be told, he didn't know anything about me -- only Jesus!

I didn't know much about him either.  How strange it would be to walk into a hospital room, at such a personal time, to visit and talk with someone you don't know.  

Yet, it wasn't strange or odd at all. 

 It was as if we'd been friends for years!

God asked me to talk to Hank about "Forgiveness"  that night.  We did just that and then we sealed it with a prayer.  Right after we took care of that Divine Business, his family arrived.  God accomplished all that He wanted to in that time together.  I had no doubts,  from that point on,  that Hank knew his salvation was secure.

Just days later, I came to the ICU per Hank's request.  I held his hand and prayed.  His condition had taken such a turn for the worst.  I remember saying to him, "Good thing we had that talk the other day." and he responded, "I know!"

I visited my friend two more times -- neither of which he was able to communicate with me.  The last time was in hospice.  I had the privilege of praying him into Heaven with his brother and sister-in-law.  He passed the next morning.  It's a wonderful thing when God loves someone through you like that.  I wish it were always that easy. 

I know all too well that, in and of myself,

 I am incapable of doing such a thing. 

 It's a  "God-thing!"  

My spiritual mama says that it is possible to be used like that more frequently and even consistently.
We ought to pray for it!    I shall do just that!

I will miss my friend, Hank, but I know I will see Him again one day -- right at those pearly gates!  Yes... it's still a time of grieving -- my thoughts and prayers are for his family -- but it's also a time to celebrate his homecoming.  On that note, I  sense the Holy Spirit dancing in my heart.  Hank has received the ultimate healing!  No more pain. -- No more suffering. -- Living fully in the presence of Our LORD.

Meanwhile, I hope God continues to have me partner with Him in loving people into the Kingdom.
It's a wonderful thing!

In RED shoes, 

Gail