Today I met a dying lady.

Not in the “we’re all gonna die some day” sense.

Not in the halls of a hospital or the home of a hospice patient.

I met her, literally, in the street.  On Main Street, to be exact.

I won’t share the details (it is her story to tell), but she is in her last days on earth.

Not that you’d know it if you passed her on that street.  She looks just like any other healthy person.

Except that she’s not.

She’s dying.

After meeting her this morning, I went to church with Mark.  We heard a wonderful sermon (great job, Jeremiah!) which was fantastic.  But the strangest thing happened in the middle of the service.  I suddenly developed a lump in my throat that accompanied the thought, “Does she know ME?”  Out of nowhere, yet right in the middle of my heart and mind, I could “hear” Jesus asking the question about the dying woman.  “You need to find out if she knows ME!”

The excitement I felt was soon followed by a sense of almost panic.  I only know her first name.  I didn’t get a phone number or an address or an email.  Not even a last name.  How would I contact her?

I couldn’t ignore His voice.  I just couldn’t.  But I wasn’t sure how to proactively respond, given I had no information.

I realized that God was fully aware of my dilemma.  And somehow (HOW????) He would make possible what He asked me to do.

I left church a little more quickly than usual, only talking to a few people on the way out.  The lump in my throat still there.  The voice in my head still whispering.

Mark and I were headed to the parking lot and suddenly I heard a voice call my name.  I turned  to find a dear friend running after me to give me a hug and some precious encouraging words (and to tease me about yesterday’s post by comparing our shoes!).  We began talking and I told her of my morning experience.  I didn’t mention a name, but I told her a bit of the story.  Before I could get out the full description, she interrupted me, completing my sentence.  She KNEW this person.  This dying woman is a friend of hers whom she has been praying for, for a very long time.

What are the chances that the ONE person I share the story with is someone who knows this woman so well?  That loves this woman dearly?

Well, given that God is in the details of His plans, I’d say the chances were about 100 percent!  If He asks, He will make it possible.

My prayer is that, given this connecting point, this beautiful mutual friend, I might be able to meet with the two of them this week and ask her if she knows Jesus.  So many have been so faithful in sharing Him with her, but up to now she hasn’t been ready to step into a relationship with Him.  Or maybe, until now, she didn’t understand.  Pray with me that this week that might all change.

I share Jesus freely with nearly everyone I meet, just in general conversation.  But today I was awakened with a new intensity, a new urgency in knowing that the reality is that there is whole world out there that is dying.  Both spiritually and eventually physically.  The whisper in my ear of “Does she know ME?” needs to be the background music of my existence.

I just got a text from my friend.  We are meeting at my house on Tuesday morning.  Please, please pray with me.  That Jesus’ love will be so evident, so inviting, so irresistible that she will literally “come to Jesus” and know with full certainty that she will soon join Him in Paradise!

Thank you, Jesus, for answered prayer.  Thank you, my sweet friend, for being that answer!!!

I am so excited!!!!!!!!!