Kelly had been sitting at her computer for most of the day, writing, reading, following the silly string of the lives of her new found on-line friends through the blog world. While she was certainly enjoying her lazy day, her thoughts did wander occasionally to all that she should be doing. The house had not been cleaned for at least two days, she needed to pack as moving day was not far ahead, and for goodness sakes, she was still even in her pj’s!
Still contemplating all that she needed to do, the lure of the meaty conversation that was available to this stay at home mom was stronger than the mundane everyday tasks that lay waiting. But then she heard the back door open. Uh oh. Her husband was home from work an hour early! Thinking quickly, she decided to make light of the state of the house, or rather un-stately appearance of it, before he could even say a word.
“Honey! You’re home early, the maid doesn’t show up until 2:15!” she laughed weakly. Would it work? Judging from the look on his face, he wasn’t seeing the humor in it. You’d think she was laid up on bed rest again like she was during her pregnancies for all that she’d been keeping up on lately. He was working two jobs, and getting a bit impatient about having to fish for clean socks out of a basket every morning.
It wasn’t just the blogs that were taking all of her time up though. There had been a revival going on in Florida for the past month, the likes of nothing they had ever seen before, and their entire family had been glued to the computer screen every night as it was broadcast live around the world. Never in history has there been a healing revival that people could participate in from any place on the planet that had internet access, as it was happening, without ever leaving their home!
She and her husband and kids sat in awe nightly watching blind eyes and deaf ears open, dozens and dozens of crippled people get out of their wheelchairs as their twisted up fingers and feet straightened right before the camera, not to mention the salvations! People were coming forward in droves to give their lives to Jesus! Kelly’s favorite was a big, huge, burly motorcycle guy whom could suddenly move his neck in full range after it being partially paralyzed for years. He was so overwhelmed with being healed he just stood up there and cried like a baby, shaking from the sobs. Another favorite of the entire family was the drug addicts and alcoholics who willingly came forward and asked for prayer for deliverance. One by one over the next week they would come up and share that the desire to drink or do drugs was completely gone! For some it had been decades of abuse. Even teenagers who had been addicted since being children! With no detox effects either! Such love Father God was touching so many people with!
The children were the best though. To see little children who had been sick their entire life come forward and share that they were healed, and to see their smiling faces, was such a joy! Even diabetics who knew they were healed and under doctors supervision and orders, completely stopped taking their insulin! Weeks later they are still alive, well and healed! Yes, this was certainly capturing Kelly’s attention, and her husband and children’s. The kids had been sleeping in the living room every night for a month, just so they wouldn’t miss watching God pour out His love and touch people in such amazing ways. They had all found a new excitement for God, His love, and sharing Him with a hurting world. She also knew deep inside of her heart that people didn’t have to go to Florida for God to touch them, heal them or save them. Yes, many had been so disappointed and discouraged in their own brokenness that hooking up with someone else’s faith for their healing and deliverance seemed like their last hope. Kelly knew though, that this same God lived inside of her, and determined that she could take Him anywhere He wanted to go, and give all that He is to anyone who wanted Him.
None of that however, helped in getting her house clean or the laundry caught up. After her lighthearted comment about the maid not showing up until 2:15, Eric responded with, “And what will you do if the landlords show up at 2:30?” Which was definitely a possibility as they would most certainly be around to begin landscaping their beautiful flower gardens before the house turned back into a weekly vacation rental. “Hide in the bedroom and not answer the door!” she exclaimed with assurance.
Half an hour later, at exactly 2:30, there was a knock at the door. Her eyes grew wide with fear as she began to contemplate her escape route! Her son Dakota then noticed the young lady that lived next door walking to her porch, and then walking away, and then back again. Of course, sitting at the computer still in her pajamas, Kelly freaked out to say the least. “You answer it!” she whispered to her husband. “Nope” was his only answer to her. He had a bit of a smile on his face while he said this. Finally she just got up and went to the door.
“Um, someone at the grocery store told me you would know someone who could help me”, the young lady said looking as if tears were going to spill over at any moment.
“What do you need help with?” Kelly asked, still too focused on her pajamas and messy house to discern what was happening at her own front door.
“My marriage”, said the young lady. “I need someone to help me figure out when it’s okay for me to get a divorce”, and with that the tears could no longer be contained.
Kelly finally got the picture. Goodness, God was sending people right to her front door now! Someone at the grocery store told her neighbor that she knew someone that could help her? Did she even know anyone at the grocery store that knew that much about her? Nonetheless, there was not time to think about that, she had a girl in tears on her front porch.
“Let me change my clothes, and I’ll be right over” Kelly said, and then ran into the house on a cloud feeling like she had just seen a miracle in person herself.
She went to the young lady’s house next door, sat on her couch with her, and listened intently as her 22 year old neighbor, who barely knew her except for a few “hello’s” in passing, poured out her heart and her tears freely.
Throughout the conversation, Kelly learned that this young lady, after two short years, just didn’t feel like she was in love with her husband anymore. She wasn’t really happy with anything in life for that matter. No matter what she does, or who she’s with, it all gets boring after a year or two, and she just can’t seem to find happiness.
Kelly finally looked at her with such compassion and asked, “Do you know who Jesus is?”
“No” she answered. “I mean, I’ve heard His name, but I don’t know anything about God, or Jesus, or anything religious at all. I’ve actually been trying to read a Bible, but I can’t understand it, and there’s no one to explain it to me. I mean, where did God come from? Who made Him?”
Kelly spent the next hour and half walking her through the story of a loving Father who created man for relationship with Him, brought the Law to show man his need for a Savior, and of His Son Jesus who took all of the sin of mankind on His own sinless body, died, and was raised back to life all so we could live free and have a relationship with our Heavenly Father who loves her so very much.
After listening intently for awhile, the young lady spoke through tears once again, “Someone told me that I don’t know how to love anyone else, because I don’t know how to love myself.”
“That’s probably very true”, said Kelly, “and you don’t know how to love yourself because you’ve never met God, who is Love Himself”.
“So what do I do? How do I meet Him? How can He come live inside of me like you said? I don’t understand”.
Kelly opened up the young ladies Bible, which was her husband’s teen Bible from when he was younger, and showed her the verses in Romans 10:9, 10 about salvation. She also showed her the book of John.
“It’s so easy, just like it says, all you have to do is confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and salvation is yours. Salvation is so much more than just going to heaven after you die. The word actually means deliverance, peace, healing and freedom. It’s like you make a decision to get in the back seat of the car of your life, and invite God to get in the drivers seat. It’s really not about your marriage, it’s about your own heart and your need for a Father who loves you so much. When He is in the drivers seat, He will drive your marriage where it needs to go, and every other area of your life if you will trust Him. He will always make sure you end up at the right destination, no matter what you see along the way. It may not always look the drive is easy, or fun, but His love for you is His motive. His Word will be your road map so that you know your heading in the right direction.”
And then Kelly said something that even surprised herself.
“I don’t want you to do what Romans says just yet though. I want you to read John, and learn about Jesus, Who He is and why He came and died for you. I want you to see His love for yourself, so that when you are done, you will be able to say from your own heart, ‘yes, I want You to be my Lord, and yes, I believe’. I want you to meet the One who loves you so much, and not just pray something you don’t understand simply to fix a hard situation. You can pray and ask Him to be your Lord when you are ready, and I am right next door, you can come knock on my door anytime you need to. I will help you understand what you are reading in the Bible, so you can get to know the One who loves you so very much, and allow Him to fill every empty place inside of your heart, which He will do.”
“Yes, I agree, that’s exactly what I want to do. I want to read about Him first, I want to know Who Jesus is. Thank you for coming over. I’m exhausted now, I think I need to take a nap.”
Kelly smiled and said goodbye. She decided to go home and get her house in order. She knew this was just the beginning. Apparently someone at the grocery store “knew she knew Someone”!
Secrets like that don’t stay secrets for long 
