testimony for 7/20/11

HE ESTABLISHES OUR STEPS

Two months after I moved back to Midcoast Maine, two old friends of mine, one from church and one from work, were discussing the hurricanes besieging Florida and Cuba while volunteering at a food pantry. “I wonder how B.J. is enduring this hurricane in Cuba?” Linda asked Ric, a close friend of mine. “She’s back from Cuba. In fact she’s back on the coast,” Ric informed Linda. Stunned, Linda gave Ric her e-mail address and asked him to pass it on to me.
Before I knew it Linda and I were making plans to meet for brunch in Rockland. ‘I’m not familiar with the local restaurants and cafe’s anymore so you pick out a place for us to meet,’ I wrote in my e-mail. ‘Why don’ t we meet at Second-Read Book Store?’ ‘Sounds good’.
The following week Linda and I met and hugged one another in sheer delight as neither of us had thought we would ever see each other again when I moved away 10 years earlier. As soon as we occupied a table and chairs, I spotted someone whom I had known 15 years prior. “Excuse me for just a minute, Linda.” Sauntering over to the nearby table, I threw my arms around my old friend’s neck hollering all sorts of happy expressions. “Hi Joey. How are you? My gosh it’s been so long.” Joey was my friend Pat’s son. He lived in a group home and was sort of a mascot to the whole town riding his bike everywhere.
Everyone loved Joey. I had spent many holidays with his family in previous years. He had been very special to me. He had a shy, little boy look on his face as I lavished bundles of love on him, holding back nothing in my public display. Seeing him enlarged my heart.
The following month, Joey was hospitalized with Pneumonia and other complications. In early December he passed away leaving many broken hearts behind. He called his mother ‘mummy’ until he took his last breath. The whole town turned out at his memorial service. Every person there was proud to have known him.
I will always be grateful to God who establishes our steps, and indeed, orchestrated where Linda and I were supposed to eat on the day that we got together, placing me just inches away from my old friend. God graciously allowed me to meet Joey at the cafe, to watch him bask in our joyous spontaneity, and to spend those precious moments with him. They proved to be our last.