Echoes in Heaven

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

Had it been a year since I last saw her? Funny how we can live a thousand lifetimes in a year. A smile capped a shy nod of acknowledgment. We both felt the impact of time. How to pick up where we left off? Should we even try?

She was so young. I was the one to whom she'd say, “You and my mom would be good friends.” I wondered if I should do more to connect. No. Leave it alone. After all, in just a few days, we'd retreat to opposite parts of the country. Facebook would again allow a wink and a nod here and there. I could leave her to her younger friends and life. She didn't need me. Facebook friends we'd be.

The echo in my heart prodded again. Do not let this opportunity fade. Call her name. I looked up. Another had stepped in the gap. She didn't need me. It would be a busy week with so many calling her name. I would be lost in the noise. Me. The one old enough to be her mother.

Again the echo. Don't give up so easily. I turned to see her back retreating at a clip. Time was running out. Doors would open and close. Would the chance come again? I called out expecting my voice to fade beneath the din of old and new friends gathering to bond. She stopped and turned.

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

Another shy smile signaled me on. My pace hastened as did my heart. What to say to this lovely young lady whose life had touched mine so briefly?

We did the dance new old friends do when the cement of friendship has not had time to harden. “Hello? Have a good year? What have you been up to?”

I took a deep breath and began to lower my mask. “You have no idea how pivotal this year has been nor the role you have played.”

The tension in her jaw loosened as perplexity dawned. “ME?”

As the details of my story spilled out, tears began to spill down her cheeks. “You have no idea. I can't believe you would say you felt those things last year. I had no idea. I can't believe you used those exact words to describe how you felt then. That's exactly how I feel now.”

We managed a hasty retreat to a quieter area. Our lives entwined in ways I never imagined. Life had broken me. She entered my life just as I began to climb out of my pit of brokenness. Only a year later, the pit was trying to swallow her. She wept out of pain. I wept out of wonder.

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

She is afraid and adrift. Sure that what is coming will bring disaster. I have seen disaster and lived to tell about it. And so it was, that we spent two hours together, the unlikely pair that we are. She the lovely young lady that is everything I'd want a daughter to be. Me the woman old enough to be her mother sure I had nothing to offer that she could not find in a younger friend.

We spoke of love and faith and doubt. We spoke of foundations too poorly laid. I spoke of hope in the face of paralyzing fear and doubt. I clasped her hands and prayed. More than that, I promised to pray without ceasing until her storm has passed.

Today, I inboxed her with a reminder that I am here. I promised I would not leave unless she told me to. “And even then, you may have to chase me away with a bat because I know that 'go away' often means 'don't you DARE leave me in the middle of this mess.' ”

Courtesy Mad Penguin Creative

Last year, I had been a desperate heart in desperate need of prayer. A stranger said, “If you need prayer, just stop me and ask. I will pray for you. I will.” Too afraid to trust, I slipped an anonymous note under his water bottle when no one was looking. Later, we connected thru friends and Facebook. His prayers have followed me all year long.

Courtesy B. Creasy 2010

You have to smile a bit as it dawns on you. Heaven is filled with the echoes of our prayers. Now his for me mix and mingle with the echoes of my prayers for my hurting friend. What a beautiful sound that must be. 

  

Jeremiah 17:14

Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.