At this hour of the morning, while a snow storm is piling up beauty and nuisance outside our door, all is quiet as I think on two things that made today a blessing for me, and for others, and I thank God for the work He continues to do in the lives of those who love Him - as well as in the lives of those who don’t know how much He loves them.
The first thing was not initially a promising scenario: a friend of ours had had cancer surgery earlier this year, and all had seemed well. Later this fall, however, it seemed that the cancer might have returned, and in more than one place. A trip to the Mayo Clinic seemed to confirm the worst - cancer in the throat area - and surgery was once again scheduled. The last time, my wife and I sat with, and prayed with, our friends and the doctors before surgery. This time, my wife joined the family at the hospital as I had to head to work.
Before I left for work, though, I had to take a quick peek at my inbox - I’d sent off an email to a friend whom I’ve not seen for a few years, and was hoping for a reply. Sure enough, it was there, and reading it opened the floodgates of memory as well as putting a huge smile on my face. When I first met this young man, he was full of anger - at his parents, at himself, at God. He had cherished a dream of flying, but had been letting his grades in school slip; it kind of goes with being an addict - something has to slide, and for most of us, it is everything in life but the drugs.
We met at a meeting we were both attending, and he asked me to be his sponsor. For those with no frame of reference as regards the 12 Step fellowships, sponsoring someone is similar in many ways to discipling, but without use of the Bible (well, for some folks, perhaps). Early on, I made my faith stance pretty clear - I told him that I would say this one time, and one time only: I am a believer in Christ, and a follower of His. I would not force my beliefs down his throat, but I would challenge any spiritual inanities I heard - and I also told him to call me on it if he ever saw me living not in accordance with what I said I believed.
Years passed - they seem like mere days now - and I watched the anger be replaced with love, acceptance, and trust. From near the bottom of his potential to nearly the top of his class, he was off like a shot. He became a believer in our Lord, and went off to follow his dream of becoming a pilot and carrying the message of recovery. After graduation from Embry-Riddle, he took an assignment I never would have expected - to China - and, for a while, dropped off the face of the earth.
Today’s email? Now living in Shenzhen, married with a beautiful daughter and wife, flying Gulfstream jets for a private corporation, and still actively involved in helping to give away the gift he received. Color me as happy as if he were my own son.
Oh, and the cancer surgery? When he came out of the OR, the doc told my friend’s wife and mine that they couldn’t see any sign of cancer - including the stuff where the PET scan and Mayo had confirmed that it was there - and that, barring anything showing up in the tissue samples they froze for pathology to slice and examine, it looked like true healing had occurred.
You cannot tell me God isn’t good, that He isn’t active today, and that He doesn’t answer prayers - well, you can tell me, but the evidence in front of me from Sioux Falls to Shenzhen doesn’t support that view.
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