Never underestimate...

the power of a single conversation!! (I will try to make this short and concise...however there are many twists and turns to the story, so I hope that I as write it, you can understand what I am trying to convey!!) So last Wednesday night I was doing my Beth Moore Bible Study on Paul (To Live is Christ...It has been awesome, I am sad that it is coming to a close!) on that particular night I was reading in Acts 23:11 about how Paul was afraid (because of the the people that were wanting to kill him) however God stood near him and told Him, to "Take Courage" and "that he would also testify in Rome." (God given Paul insight by telling him that he would not be killed in Jerusalem, because he had yet to testify in Rome!) Beth remarks on this by saying, "Although exceptions may exist for reasons beyond our understanding, I believe that God allows His servants to live out their testimonies. The life of a committed servant which appears to have ended prematurely may have been fully completed to God" I immediately thought about my mom and how her life ended (in my standards) much earlier than I would have liked, however I believe that she truly lived out her testimony. I also thought about my Uncle Wayne and how his death was so abrupt, we were shocked...He had just finish seminary...we thought that his testimony was just beginning, however in the eyes of God, my uncle's testimony was fully completed! The next morning, I was at work and one of my favorite patients was on my schedule, Mrs. Evelyn. Every time that I have ever seen her, she has always been a light in this dark world, always speaking the truth, praising our God no matter what the circumstances. She is from a family full of preachers, including her husband, so she knows the truth, however sometimes its nice to be reminded. I could tell that she was a little subdued. We begin to talk (Yes, I can clean teeth AND allow my patients to talk...all at the same time :) and she tells me that she is worried about her sister who is very sick with sickle cell anemia, and how her sister has really struggled with her plot in life. I felt the need to tell her about the previous nights bible study and how we will be here until our testimony is complete. I told her about my uncle and the massive heart attack that suddenly took his life, but that he was exactly where he wanted to be..us, selfishly, well we want him back! I told her all about the study that I had been doing and told her that she needed to get it! She cried, we hugged, she left! Yesterday, while I was at work...I was reading through the paper and noticed in the obituaries (no, I don't make it a common practice to read the obituaries, but because I work at a practice that has a large amount of older patients, we do have to keep up with who has passes away...) and saw the name of Evelyn's husband, Tracey and he was only 45 years old! I was shocked and couldn't believe that I had just spoken with Evelyn about God allowing to live out our testimonies and when we have finished...God calls us home! I immediately pick up the phone to call and check on her! She picked up the phone and I told her who I was and she just started crying! She said, "Kim, do you realize that the conversation that we had just a week and a half ago, was preparing me for the unthinkable, Tracey passing away!" WOW! She said that since Sat. she had recalled our conversation many times, and it was what had gotten her through some of her hardest times! She kept talking about how amazing it was that God had orchestrated everything so that she might be able to handle all of this alittle better...Me losing my mom and my uncle (in my eyes, way too soon!) doing a bible study to understand that God allows us to live out our testimonies before we are taken from this earth, her having a scheduled appointment the very next day, me trying to convey what God had taught me, me reading the obituaries...It was all planned by the very hand of God! How amazing to truly see how God could use me...She continued by saying that her husband had to preach a funeral just one week before he passed away, and although she didn't know the woman that he was preaching for, she went to support her husband! She said that he spoke on "being absent from the body, means to be in the presence of the Lord!" and how he longed for the day the day that he would be able to sit at the feet of Jesus! Evelyn said that she sat in the pew and just cried her eyes out and felt somewhat silly for crying at the funeral of a woman whom she did not know! And now looking back, God allowed her husband to preach directly to her, by telling her that he was ready and there was no place he would rather be than his home...Heaven!! While I was talking to her, I asked if he had been sick and she said that he did have high blood pressure, but from what the doctors had told her, he went to the hospital because he wasn't feeling good and his heart just stopped...NO massive heart attack, no major pain, no suffering...one minute his heart worked, and was here on this earth...the very next minute his heart stopped and he was in the presence of the Lord! I still think about all that has happened and how clearly I can see God's hand in every single event! And to think that I was just trying to help her get to a place of peace about her sick sister, never in a million years did I know that I would be able to bring her to a place of peace about losing her husband, her soul mate, and her best friend! Being human, I am very sad for her, having to deal with such a sudden loss. I know that she is having a very hard time and I just ask if you have a minute please say a prayer for her...I know that she will be comforted by the fact that she is being lifted up in prayer! And never forget that any ordinary conversation can be orchestrated and used for the glory of God! Be sure to tell everybody today that you love them, for we never know when our testimonies will be complete!