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For over five and a half years now, the yarn cross dangles from the mirror in my husband’s GMC truck - right about eye level! It’s not his only cross, but special. We’ve talked many times about why the bottom of the cross looks so worn – it’s easily reached from the driver seat. It was the giver and timing of receiving this cross that leaves us both marveling over the encounter. God is always on the move! With Doug’s permission, I share the moment because of the reminder that grace always finds us in our time of need. 1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing and spiritually dead, but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Doug was returning home after one of his physician ordered counseling sessions to help him recover after he survived a subarachnoid hemorrhage – simpler terms…brain bleed. Doug struggled with PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Any symptoms of pain in his neck area triggered extreme anxiety and a fear that sometimes led to full blown panic attacks. You see…the last thing Doug remembered prior to a 21- day stint in the intensive care unit in Harborview Medical Center was the excruciating pain he experienced in his neck prior to becoming violently ill in January of 2012. He still to this day has no memory of anything after that pain. It wasn’t until after he returned home from the hospital that he began to hear us tell him the stories and the miracle of his healing. No memory at all – which for him, I believe was God's grace in those LONG, scary days, but he feared it would happen again whenever the pain started.
When I interviewed Doug again about that late day in spring when he received the hand- made cross, he took a deep breath, sat back in his seat, and began to recount the incident. I watched the excitement well up in him and he began by saying, “I had just stopped half way home at Rock Island to get a drink at the truck stop. I go in… grab a drink and go to check out and I hear this voice that was calling out… Kennedy, hey, Kennedy.” He went on to explain to me as he kind of moved his hands to indicate the position of the guy in the store area. “I recognized him…a guy from High School… it was Rolando. Remember him?”, he asked.
I shook my head yes as I responded, “I didn’t know him… but I kind of remember what he looked like.” Oddly, I could almost make out the scene in my head. I’m sure Doug wouldn’t have been expecting to run into anyone he knew in the Rock Island truck stop market – oh, those who cross our paths!
“So how did he end up in your truck?” I asked.
“He just asked me if I was headed back to Quincy…. he needed a ride,” Doug answered.
When they got into Doug’s truck the conversation began… first, with Rolando informing my husband that he had just hitched a ride to Rock Island because he had just gotten out of jail.
“What for,” I asked – not like I needed to know, but was curious. Doug couldn’t even remember, but did mention to me that from what he knew from past incidents reported in our local newspaper, that this guy had made some other bad choices as well. I knew that Doug was meeting the need that Rolando had -a ride home! But back to the cross…
A wife always wants a few details, right?! Out of curiosity, I asked “What all did you talk about in the truck?” I knew they had a span of about 25 miles to either talk or ride in silence.
Doug resumed the story … Immediately after Rolando revealed that he had just been released from jail, he shifted the conversation to asking my husband what he had been doing in Wenatchee. Doug shared his story about the miracle of surviving his brain bleed which then led to the journey he was on to still recover and fight his way through the struggle with the aftermath of the trauma.
“And what did Rolando say about all that honey?” I asked, trying to pull more details of that day.
Doug looked over at me. I noticed his blue eyes light up and seem to dance as he explained the rest of the story – listen friends, this is the good part! Doug, still amazed, explained, “That’s when Rolando reached into this small, brown paper bag that he had … I hadn’t even noticed it when he got into my truck… he pulls out this cross and hands it to me. He just simply told me that from what I told him, that it sounded like I needed it. He didn’t have anything else with him other than that bag. He mentioned to me that he made a lot of them to pass his time in jail…even said that he gave them out to other inmates as well. I dropped him off at his house shortly after that and I haven’t seen him around since.”
Interesting to me is that as I prepared to draft this, Doug spotted Rolando’s name in the police reports again. Of course, we wonder about him and pray for him. Hmm…. could he still be making crosses?! We don’t know Rolando’s story, but we know God used him to help meet Doug’s need. Doug was reminded by looking at the cross that GOD IS WITH HIM ALWAYS! He can cry out to the Lord always and believe HE WILL give him strength, peace, and comfort.
I don’t know whom you will meet on the road home, but I believe God will meet your needs as well. Look to the cross! Believe and receive! Tell the stories that matter!
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