Read This--It Could Change Someone Else's Life

I wanted to post this as soon as I could, so I'm over here at the Tremblays, mooching their Internet. I wanted to remember all the details of a conversation I just had, but unfortunately the details are already starting to escape me. Nevertheless, here's what I want you to know:

There's this family on the Springvalley bus route that I've known for years. In fact, the kid in the family is long out of Back Country and has basically moved on from Evangel. But we've kept contact over the years. A couple of years ago, the step-dad had complications healthwise and ended up severely internally bleeding. He was rushed to the hospital on the verge of death. From the hospital, the mom called me because she didn't know who else to turn to. She wanted to pray but didn't know how, she said.

I was scared. I didn't know what I'd have to do if I went to the hospital. I'd never gone to see a dying person before. I thought maybe I'd have to share the gospel with him and maybe lead him through the "sinner's prayer". The only problem was, I didn't think I could do that. I've always had fears about knowing what to say and how to say it, when trying to share my faith. I called Pastor Kevin for advice. He tried to encourage me but let me tell you, I was still scared.

But I knew I had to go. There was no way I was going to duck out on people I cared about and who were desperate for support. So I went. Again, I'm having trouble with order and details, but during the period of the first day and then night the stepdad went through an incredible FORTY-SEVEN units of blood and his heart stopped twice, once for ONE AND A HALF MINUTES. In the midst of that, I arrived. I don't remember exactly how the time went, but I know that all I ended up doing was briefly talking with the stepdad and then praying a simple prayer. Nothing particularly significant happened from my perspective.

If I haven't been able to convey the seriousness of his condition to you, think about this: the stepdad wasn't expected to last the night and the death certificate was already out on the desk, waiting for the time of passing to be filled in. Over the course of this ordeal I spent a fair amount of time at the hospital, mostly just being with the family in their time of distress, and then visiting the stepdad during his lightning-quick recovery. Yes, miraculously, he survived. And he was home before even a week had passed.

Since then I've often been told by the family how special it was that I was there with them. The mom has said I've become like one of the family and the stepdad said that it meant a lot to him that I would come see him. Sometimes he's joked that I'm his pastor. I always thought what happened was that they were encouraged by my presence and support--which is true--but it turns out that something way beyond my understanding took place.

The stepdad has wanted to get together with me, so tonight I went for coffee with the him. We talked about life and then we got to talking about that time in the hospital. He shared with me that the most important moment in his life occured when I prayed with him! In the moment that I was praying something happened to him that he still can't explain. And now I can't explain it either. There was no flash of light, no booming voice from the clouds, but in that moment everything changed for him. He said that everything just seemed clearer. He had a peace. And things haven't been the same since.

He has had brushes with Christianity in the past but there hasn't been a full-hearted commitment. He's read the Bible and has a high regard for Jesus. He believes that prayer is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. And now he's thinking that it might really be time to explore what it all means to him and how his experience in that hospital room fits into the picture.

Hopefully I haven't lost you yet. I wanted you to read this so that you could understand something. See, I was even a little afraid about meeting the stepdad tonight. I thought maybe I'd be expected to have some kind of super-spiritual insight into some problem he was having. But I went. And in a few weeks I'm going to go again, because I opened my big mouth and said we should do coffee again. And though I'm afraid I won't have answers to questions he might have, I'll keep going, because that's all I really need to do.

And that's the point. All we need to do is go. Anyone can do that--right? When I went to the hospital, I didn't have some special deathbed training. I had zero experience. I didn't even want to be there. And yet God showed up--to an extent far beyond what I could perceive. And now hopefully you can see that it could have just as easily been you in that hospital room, unwittingly leaving the door open for God to show up.