SERIOUSLY SERIOUS

 

If you wonder why I write a blog, it is for several reasons:

1. I love to write.
2. It is my hope that even though I love to write that what I put out there has some meaning to someone besides myself.
3. Someone said recently to me that “those who can’t …  blog,” a catch-all phrase used for many other endeavors as well. Most times my blog gets behind because I’m writing something else, yet I feel a purpose in blogging to help in some small way to further unite the blind and sighted communities.
4. I do enjoy reading comments from other people, although most of what I write is merely my own experiences and most of my opinions play out in my life’s circumstances.

 

Now, the only reason I put all that up there is to preface my blog this week and to ask that well-meaning people and/or pastors refrain from sending me theological comradery or correction, although prayers are certainly always welcome and appreciated.

 

Now, here we go.

 

It was a few years ago when my friend, Winnie, was with me at the mall and we got off the elevator. Two young men walked up to us and asked ME if they could please pray for me. I said: “Sure.”  I was a little bit uneasy about how Winnie might feel, but went ahead with the plan. I was sweetly blessed by someone caring enough to want to do something. It blessed me even more when Winnie said: “That was really special.” I can’t say this has happened to me an extreme number of times, unless you think that at least fifty is extreme … people in malls, while walking my dog, in churches and meetings,in homes, and once on a bus. The most recent time was Saturday at the Cracker Barrel in Mebane, NC. My friend, Dorsey, and I had been to visit Mom and had just finished our meal when a child walked up to me with someone I presumed to be her dad. I did not know if it was a boy or girl, black or white, or how many people there were. The child first asked me if I knew Jesus, and we got into a very sweet Christian conversation, occasionally with her theme being prompted by the male, perhaps a pastor; I don’t know. One thing the man said was “I told her she could do it this time,” letting me know that the child was a little girl, I’m thinking maybe eight years old. She asked if I believed Jesus could heal my eyes and after I said “yes,” she proceeded to ask if she could pray for me. All I know is the little child’s sweet and innocent hands were laid on top of my head as she prayed from her heart and I forgot I was sitting at a table in public. All I know is that when her prayer was done and I blinked my eyes, still not able to see her, it made me very sad. For a long time I worried about her faith. Now, I already know mine sometimes isn’t even as big as that mustard seed Jesus talks about, but it bothered me for quite a while about hers being shaken because a dramatic healing didn’t take place right then and there at the Cracker Barrel. It almost made me very sad, as we started back toward Raleigh, but then a hail storm surrounded our car and other cars on the highway and seemed to follow us all the way to Raleigh, so I forgot all about the incident for a while.

 

 This week I have found myself thinking of those sweet little hands and that precious child’s believing heart. It’s so important  what we say to other people, especially children,  and all I can do is believe God had his own purpose in that meeting. For a hundred times I have thought:  “I should have said,” knowing that if I should have said anything God would have put the words in my head then, not several days later.

 

As a teenager and young wife when people asked if they could pray for me I usually answered:  “No, I’m fine.” Eventually I added a “thank you” to my response. I could see much better then, not perfect but certainly better. It’s interesting to me how through the years of life my heart has grown into a place of more tolerance of those kinds of events and my “thank you” has become more genuine. Who knows, one of these days I might even open my eyes and see that even a messy house is beautiful. My daddy’s mom who I called Mammaw had cataract surgery in her old age. It was funny when she began telling all of us how fat we were.

 

To me the most important thing is that I am content in my circumstance and if it should cause anyone to suddenly be thankful they can see maybe that’s someone I should be praying for. In the meantime, today is the first day of spring and it’s beauty is surely as real inside my heart as it is everywhere. Let’s all enjoy it together wherever we are and whatever the circumstance or task at hand might be around us.