Encouragement

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Tear drop

While at work on June 21st, 2000, I received an instant message from a friend who had adopted me into her family. She needed to reach out to someone in the real world, as events in her life at that moment were very unreal.

She told me that my dear friend and sister, Tina, was fighting to breathe in her bedroom. That all the family was there and they were surrounding her. She needed to let me know what was happening and she knew I would be online, even at work.

She told me of how much Tina loved and appreciated me. In Oleta’s deepest time of sorrow, she was concerned how I was doing and wanted to comfort me. I asked her to go to Tina and whisper in her ear that I loved her and that it was okay to let go and go home.

Oleta left the keyboard and did just that. As she was gone, I prayed silently that God would take Tina and not let her struggle or be in pain any longer. She had suffered enough. Cancer had ravaged her body. She deteriorated steadily after the cancer had metastasized. She could no longer walk and was confined to a wheel chair or her bed.

Oleta came back several minutes later and told me that she knew Tina had heard the words I asked her to whisper to her. Tina’s face had become more relaxed as she labored to breathe.

As the minutes passed, a message came across my screen that ripped through my heart like a bolt of lightning. Tina had taken her last breath and had gone home to the Lord. Oleta logged off at that point, telling me she didn’t know how she would be able to handle losing a child. Not giving me a chance to respond, she told me she loved me and she logged off.

I dropped to my knees in my cubicle and cried out to God to protect her. I cried out for her family and for me. I knew my office mates were wondering what was going on, but they let me have my privacy.

As I drove home from work that day, I thought of all the times we had shared recently. Even though we were physically far apart (I live in NY and her in Texas) we had still spent time together. We talked on the phone, in e-mail, and in person. I had taken a week long trip in March of 2000 to see her, pray with her, and listen to the yearnings and longings of her heart.

She wanted desperately for her children to grow up knowing the Lord. She shared her deepest concerns with me. We laughed, we cried, we held each other. She shared Scripture with me that brought her great comfort. Her faith was strong. She knew where she was going.

All those memories were joyful as I remembered them. I thanked God that she was out of pain and that she was in the arms of our beloved Jesus. I prayed for blessings on her two small children and that He would wrap His loving arms around them, around her husband, around her Mom and siblings.

Arriving home, the daily tasks still needed to be performed. Dutifully, I took our dogs outside to do their business. As I was standing there and looked up to the sky, I asked God if she was okay and I instantly knew that she was. I felt a peace in my heart.

God also gave me a physical sign. Out of the clear blue sky, a single droplet graced my cheek. Whether a tear of joy or a tear of sorrow; God let me know all was okay. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

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