As I pulled the car into the garage, a call came in on my cell phone. I sat and talked, when suddenly Linda appeared with a horrified look on her face. "You're all right!" she exclaimed with apparent relief. She had gone into the house and wondering what was taking me so long, came back out to check on me. I had one leg hanging out the door, my head cocked to one side listening. Approaching from the rear of the car, apparently it looked as if I'd had a heart attack and was sitting there dead in the seat. It wasn't two minutes later that our daughter Jessie pulls into the driveway, sees my leg hanging out the door, and rushes to my side with the same horrified look that Linda had. Rell, your call has caused quite a stir here in this quiet little corner of the world! I hope you get a chuckle out of it. Linda may be ready to throttle one of us, so I'll be the man and take this one for you. You can thank me later.
My friend Rell is in Roswell getting treatment for his Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and called to chat. The last time he was in, I called him on a Sunday evening after his wife had left for home. He was feeling down as he sat there all alone, and feeling guilty for feeling down, as if it were some sort of blemish on his faith. I reminded him that God made us for fellowship, and that isolation is one of the devil's tools to discourage us. We prayed together, and he said he felt better.
Rell is as solidly Christian as they come. I've seldom met anyone as concerned with the salvation of others as he. He talks to people all the time about Christ and where they stand with him, and has been wondering about God's plan for him as he battles this cancer. Tonight when he called, he told me of two nurses he wanted me to pray for. He's been witnessing to them, sharing some of the stories of his life, how God has delivered him from some pretty dangerous situations. It felt as if I were talking with St. Paul as he told the Philippians not to worry about his imprisonment, because it had resulted in many even in Caesar's household who had heard about Christ through his prison witness. Rell told me of an experience he had had of the presence and love of Christ one night in the hospital, then we prayed for the two nurses, Andrea and Jennifer, and for his numbers to get where they needed to be so he could go home. Just then, Andrea came in, and he said he had to go. If I know Rell, he was wasting no opportunity to tell her once more of Jesus' love. I am so very thankful God brought this man into my life a few years ago. Rell says I've been a help to him, but there's no way it can match the blessing and encouragement he has been to me. Tonight I am thankful for this man with an odd name and a passion for Jesus Christ.
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