Ten

Ten

            “Ta da!” Melissa said as she waved the Swiffer duster like a magic wand.  It always felt good to have a clean house.  Ed was off to work for the day.  A ray of sunshine filtered through the window and caused the freshly dusted surface to sparkle.  She smiled, hands on hips as she surveyed her domain.  It was good for her soul to feel like there was order in her life, even if temporary.

            She went around the room straightening nick knacks and such. Treasures that told stories of their life and various travels.  The freezer in the laundry room was covered with magnets, a testament to the many places they’d visited.  The once spare bedroom now library, held her collection of book marks which reminded her of where’d she been whenever she popped one in a book.

            She put away the vacuum and cleaning supplies. Then walked through the house admiring her spotless home.  It was everything they wanted it to be.  Fond memories wandered with her as she glanced about.  The library held what she called her personal treasures, she was drawn to a small photo from the seventies.  How young and carefree they all looked.

            Jan, Diana, Mary and several other women had gone to a fall retreat in the mountains.  The picture had been taken as they laughed and walked down a golden leaf covered dirt road.  What a wonder filled weekend it had been as they fellowshipped with one another.  They had been babes in the Lord and relished the delight of knowing Jesus as their first love.  She wouldn’t change a thing about those days, it was a time that cemented their friendships.

            She fondly touched the image of the friend, Anne, who’d died not too long after it had been taken.  It was ironic that only Anne’s feet did not touch the ground as they’d skipped along.  Perhaps foreshadowing what lay ahead of her. The smile on her face was broad and bright as she reflected the love of Christ her life so richly embodied.  What a testament, even after all these years, her life continued to be.

            Melissa was blessed to have witnessed Anne’s granddaughter come to the Lord with a newfound passionate faith.  An answer to prayers long ago yet timeless in the answering of them.  Oh, how Anne would have rejoiced to see her daughter and now granddaughter follow in her faith steps.  A legacy she could see being passed on to the newly born great-grand-daughter.  Even though she’d been long gone her prayers were still being answered. 

            Such answered prayers served as a reminder to Melissa of how Jesus was the same yesterday, today and forever.  Time did not matter to Him.  He was ever faithful as He sat at the right hand of the Father ever interceding on their behalf for the Father to draw them to Himself.  What a beautiful picture and legacy, a wonder to behold, the answer to her beautiful friends’ prayers from their youth.

            Another image in the picture always caused her great sadness.  The joyous smile on Gail’s face in no way could have foretold of her choosing to fall away from her vibrant faith.  She’d followed the Lord, gotten involved in ministry, drew people to Jesus and then turned away from it all.  Went back to the lifestyle she’d been so happy to escape.  They had long since lost contact, but occasionally Melissa would hear snippets about her.  She never ceased to pray for Gail when she came to mind, that she would find her way back to the Lord.

            Those early faith years had not always been easy or perfect, but they had been full of glory and grace.  She chuckled as she remembered their child-like innocent faith prayers.  They had been so zealous in praying for the sick as well as sick dogs in their neighborhood.  Jan wanted to go to the hospital, pray for the sick and clear it out. 

According to several renowned bible teachers of that day, Jesus was returning soon. How they had inhaled any knowledge and everything that had to do with prophecy. Afterall they were the bride of Christ and they were making themselves ready for the marriage supper of the lamb. Thankfully God’s mercy and lovingkindness had protected them from themselves. They had grown beyond the need for all things end times and focused on their personal relationships with Jesus.

            Melissa ran her fingers along the spines of forty plus years of journals she had kept.  Oh, the wonders she knew they contained.  She often pondered what she should do with them.  The journey’s her studies and prayers had taken her on, that she’d documented along the way.  Out of curiosity she randomly drew one out, journal number fifteen from 1993.

            She flipped through the pages and landed on notes from a retreat, not the one in the photo.  It was based on a prophetic dream the woman teaching had about an ever-increasing scale of unity in the body of Christ.  Her four dreams were pictures of what the church had been like in the sixties, seventies, eighties and at that time, the nineties. How the church had needed to grow and change through those decades.

She read through the notes thinking the more things change the more they stay the same.  The scriptures used and prophetic word taught were echoes of messages still being given today.  Melissa’s heart grieved to think how much time had passed and yet some things had yet to change. As usual the message was all about the last great revival that was about to happen, yesterday and today, and how they were to prepare for it.

“Oh well,” she murmured as she slid the notebook onto the shelf then picked the photo back up.  She wouldn’t trade those days or friendships established then for anything. 

Those days seemed like a much simpler time, but wasn’t that true when one remembered one’s youth.  She shuddered to think of the stupid things she’d said or done over time.  But then there were those aha moments of wonder and answered prayer.  The time she’d helped a visiting evangelist pray for those who’d come forward in a meeting and watched a woman’s leg grow three inches.  How that woman rejoiced and danced with delight.  The miraculous never ceased to amaze her.

Her testimony was an example of how unorthodox her life had always been. Whenever she’d tell it people would shake their heads and laugh at how out of character it seemed based on the her, they knew now.  It was a marvel to her as well.

Her family had never been regular church goers.  Although she did remember times mom would send them off to Sunday school with neighbors or friends.  Faith was one of the positive attributes she and her siblings attributed to learning from their mother.  Despite her many hypocrisies, of not practicing what she preached, faith in God was a major emphasis.  For which they were ever grateful.

Melissa remembered playing under some trees at about eight years old and praying for wisdom like Solomon.  That memory was still vivid in her mind after all these years.  Her teen years had certainly not been a reflection of having prayed such a prayer.  When sixteen and at a New Year’s Ever party three young men knocked on the door and said they wanted to share Jesus.

Most of the partygoers drifted out of the room, but she stayed, listened to their testimony and accepted Christ as her Savior.  After they left, she went back to partying and promptly forgot all about what she’d just done.  Looking back, she was glad God had not.  She’d went on to dabble in telling fortunes with cards, as taught to her by a friend of her mother’s.  Ouija’s boards were also a fascination with several very bizarre and evil experiences that could have led her down a dark path. Thankfully it had scared the crap out of her and she quit playing with them.

After she and Ed married their first neighbors were avid churchgoers and constantly witnessed to them. At that time, she wasn’t ready to give up her worldly ways.  It was the seventies during Alaska’s Pipeline days of madness and folly.  Marijuana was legal, drinking age was nineteen they were young and carefree.  Ed was fresh out of college working on the pipeline to pay off college debt. She worked at Duty Free in the airport.  Life was good.

She loved to smoke pot, read a book and listen to Barbra Streisand records when home alone. Sometimes she would pick up her bible and try to read it but the King James version was like reading Greek, so she’d put it down.  Somewhere along the way on what she was sure had to have been a dreary day, she stumbled onto the PTL Club with Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.  

She soon found that whenever Ed was at work and she off, she’d smoke a joint and watch them from two to four in the afternoon. They were a real trip to watch stoned. Somehow the holy spirit pierced the high on pot fog as the Father faithfully drew her back to the Son.  Whenever they’d give the salvation message and have people pray the sinner’s prayer, she’d pray along with them just to make sure she was saved.

Literally, only heaven knew how many times she prayed that prayer.  A longing to know Jesus took root in her.  Around then Ed got his dream job with NOAA and they moved to Newport.  Here was where she met the wonderful women in the photo. A neighbor invited her to a bible study and the rest was history.  Funny to think Jan didn’t like her at first, and hated it when she would laugh and tell that story.  Fortunately, she got over it and they had grown in their faith together, unconditionally encouraging one another along the way.

Whenever she recalled her testimony, it humbled her to remember how God watched over her despite her wandering far from Him.  Accepting Christ had given Him permission to remember her even though she had forgotten Him.  He never gave up and continually drew her to Himself until she finally surrendered.  His love knew no bounds. 

Melissa sighed with satisfaction as she put the picture on the shelf.  Her faith friends had sustained her through the years and without them she didn’t know where she would be.  She couldn’t help but gaze at her image in the picture.  Long brown hair, bell bottom jeans, platform shoes, flannel shirt over a turtleneck.  Her arms linked with the women on either side, her mouth wide open made her wish she could remember what she was saying or had they been singing God’s praises. It was a moment captured not only on earth but she was certain in the heavens as well, for which she’d be eternally grateful.

She switched the light off on her way out of the library.  Time to get in the shower and start supper before Ed came home.  She hummed Jesus Loves Me as she walked down the hall, content with a clean house and fond memories.