Caught up in the things they told her would make her smile.  The coffee had lost its aroma, now tasted simply burned beyond consumption.  One cigarette left, though the vapor was full of strawberry fields.  She laughed, to stop that rising tear, wondering how she had gotten here, not remembering the sequence of events and bad choices that brought her to this version of her present.  She could only mourn, mourning life as if it had already passed.  God would intercede this night, for she had cried out to him in humility at dawn, knowing that if He didn’t she would never have hope again.  He answered the prayer by sending her cousin, who had the sudden desire to travel home from college and would just happen to bump into her at the mall.  She would find Jesus this night and life would begin, cleansed, fresh, new.

A child gone, too soon, taken from his single Dad by something so innocuous as backyard, jungle jim.  Agony, breathing fire, misery and anger his father struggled to keep himself awake, consuming every narcotic and alcoholic beverage he could get into his fist.  Rage, kindled by loss and the guilt of having been negligent, leaving his son in the care of friends as he pursued completion of a drug deal.  This one was going to give him the cash to set himself free from poverty.  None of that mattered much now, for the true treasure had been clarified.  His agony would bring Him to God around four a.m. begging, pleading for understanding or death.  God would give Him neither, but would instead introduce him to Jesus Christ, washing clean his sin and setting him free from the nightmares of this life.  He would learn to live again and bring glory to the precious life of his son by helping others to get free of poverty, pain and drugs.  His pain had meaning in service of the King.

So far gone he couldn’t change, dreaming of other deals, greater payoff and nights filled with luxury and endless sin.  He had broken his pledge to serve with dignity and pride in his public office for the people, even before he had stepped foot past the threshold of the House.  Taken bribes, offered false witness, steered votes, promised reciprocity knowing fully the cost to reputation and code.  None of that figured into his thinking for it had become commonplace, acceptable to lie when you got caught and chuckle when you didn’t.  He was a magician at finding the way to get a kickback, payout or leveraged position, practicing slight of hand and manipulating history to make even the fallen proud.  He would lose it all, this treasured life of sensory satisfaction, in a moment God would call him to judgment at a moment predestined before time.  He would have no choice of eternity, for that decision may only be made by the living and now he is dead.

Smiling, she looked around at the swollen faces of her Grand kids one last time before pulling the covers high to her chin and saying, “I am ready now, I’m ready Lord.  This life had been a moment, a chain of events, some bringing joy, some sorrow, but all bringing her closer to Jesus.  Those cherub cheeks cried loudly, though she told them in whisper, don’t cry, I am going home.  She had served her God and honored a man who himself had made her happy with respect, care and love.  She missed this life for a moment, but then she could see her true life coming, where she would have no pain, never get sick or old and spend every day with God.  A her last breath subsided she knew the reason for her pain, understanding it all was intended to keep her close to Jesus.  And suddenly everything was alright.

Praise you Lord for the joy and pain upon us, meant out of Love to Bring us Home to You.