Pages

Translate

Sunday, July 2, 2023

Oh Look

 

Disclaimer: Obviously I am not an actual angel. However, I feel like God speaks to my heart and I would love to share it with you. Please enjoy.

 

When I was in high school I felt like the youth from our church were the only Christians in our school. I now know that there were actually quite a few Christians but I guess we were shy and none of us talked about it, so I didn’t realize. My sister Diane, and my girlfriends Debbie and Donna were just about it as far as I knew.

We went to school with a nice girl named Lynn. She had grown up in a Jewish family, so she didn’t really know anything about Christianity. Although her family was Jewish, they didn’t really practice the Jewish religion.

We invited Lynn to come to church one time and she did. However, when she saw us praying it was different from anything she had ever seen, and it scared her. She never came back.

Over the years, our lives had taken very different paths and we were pretty spread out.

I worked in a jewelry store in Stockton, which is in central California. Debbie lived in the bay area which was about two hours away. I had no idea where Lynn lived.

One day I was shocked when Lynn and her mother walked into the store. It turned out that Lynn and the rest of her family all lived in Stockton also. Lynn and her mother began coming into the store to see me about once a week.

One day when they came in they told me Lynn had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Each week they would come in and tell me how she was doing with the cancer. Then her mother told me Lynn had married her boyfriend and moved to Placerville CA about two hours up in the mountains.

Lynn’s mom kept telling me that Lynn was doing great and the cancer was dormant. Then one day her mom came in and told me if I wanted to see Lynn I had better go right away because she was in the Placerville hospital and the doctors had given her one week to live.

I was startled and upset, so when I got home that evening I called Debbie and told her. We knew we had to talk to Lynn about Jesus before she died. I was off the next day so we decided to meet in Sacramento, leave one of the cars and travel on to Placerville together.

After a lot of prayer, we started on our journey the next day.

When we arrived at the hospital they gave us her room number. When we got to that room and started to walk in, we didn’t see Lynn. There was a little old lady about 90 years old, but Lynn was in her 40s. we turned to leave but heard a voice say, “Well, Hi”. We recognized Lynn’s voice and were shocked to realize what the cancer had done to her.

We sat down and started visiting with her, but after just a few minutes, someone walked in with her lunch. Since we had not eaten, we told her that while she had her lunch we would go have lunch also and would be back in a little while. Lynn agreed and we left.

When we came back about thirty minutes later, Lynn was   asleep, her husband was gone, and her mother and stepfather were sitting there. We joined them and they told us Lynn had been given a big dose of morphine because she was in a lot of pain.

By five pm Lynn was still asleep and we had to leave to get back home to our families. On the ride home we were quite upset that we hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about Jesus. I had to work the next day, but Debbie said she could come back.

The next day when Debbie arrived it was again just Lynn and her husband. She had to sit propped up all the time because the cancer put too much pressure on her brain if she laid down.

After visiting with Lynn for a while, Debbie asked Lynn if she would like to hear about Jesus. Lynn agreed. Debbie told her all about Jesus and the plan of salvation and asked Lynn if she would like to pray and become a Christian. Lynn said, “Oh, yes”.

They prayed together and Lynn’s whole countenance changed. Debbie said it was obvious that she had really given her heart to the Lord. It was also obvious she was in a lot of pain.

Debbie told Lynn she believed that Lynn was hanging on and trying not to die because she knew it was going to hurt her husband. She said if that was the case, she thought it would be okay with him if she let go and passed on. Lynn asked her husband if that would be okay, and he told her it would.

Debbie left and went back home.

The next day she got a call from Lynn’s husband who told her that about 1:00am he was sitting beside Lynn and talking to her. He said all of a sudden Lynn raised her had and pointed up to the corner by the ceiling. She said, Oh, look”. He looked up in the corner where she was pointing but saw nothing. When he turned back to Lynn, she had died.

We were never in contact with her husband again. We had no idea how to reach him.

Ever since that happened, I have believed that when a Christian dies, they don’t just drift out of their body and float to heaven. I believe Jesus comes personally and takes them by the hand, invites them to come with Him, and escorts them to heaven.

What a day that will be.

Think about it.

If you enjoy my blog but are not currently receiving my email notifications, you can send your first and last name, and your email address to austinlass1948@gmail.com and I will notify you each time I post something new. I promise I will never give your information out to anyone or use it for anything other than my notifications to you. Please share my blog with your friends and family to help me spread the words from my heart with others. Also, if you have any family or friends who you believe might enjoy my blog posts and live in another country, I would especially love to have you share it with them. I am trying to reach more countries around the world. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Janice Austin Bates

8 comments:

  1. That’s a very touching story and I hope her husband is doing ok

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope so too. I still pray for him that he becomes a Christian.

      Delete
  2. Janice. This touched my heart. Was this Lynn b?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Claudia - Yes this was Lynn B. I have told several of our classmates about this and they always cry. Little did I know there were other students praying for her also.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for the memory Janice. I think of her and always pray for her son when I do. It was one of the things she said to me when I talked to her. I remember it so clearly. “I have a son.” I told her I would pray for him and I have. I know he will be in heaven with us too,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will put him on my prayer list too. By the way, who am I speaking to?

      Delete
    2. It’s Deb sorry. Didn’t realize it doesn’t show

      Delete
    3. Sorry. I should have realized it when you said "thanks for the memory" but it didn't register. I thank you for the memory. It's one of my favorites.

      Delete

Thank you for commenting on my blog. It is very much appreciated. However, any obscene comments, or comments using strong language will be deleted.