Always Be Ready

It's been a very busy summer for me. Ten weeks of summer camp with lots of little ones and I was ready for some much needed rest and relaxation! I'm fortunate to have wonderful friends who rent a house in Carmel, California for the summer. They invited me to fly over for a few days and I took them up on it. I'll have to post more about that in another post.

But what I wanted to share today is about always being ready. Let me explain.

I was on my way home. I was leaving Carmel on a foggy day with a temperature of 59 degrees. I knew it would be sunny with triple digit heat in Phoenix. I found my seat on the airplane and settled in.

A lovely woman several years my senior sat next to me. I had noticed her in the terminal as she was carrying a beautiful plant. We exchanged pleasantries and discovered that she was a recently retired teacher. We spoke for some time about schools and teaching.

I can't remember how we got on this topic. I think I mentioned that my previous career was in nursing. I've been at the bedside of many patients when they died. She was quite curious about this and began asking me if I had witnessed any near death or unique situations surrounding death.

I told her several stories. I had no stories of people coming back and talking of bright lights, etc. Only one patient that I can recall had a horrific experience that frightened him after he was resuscitated. But I shared several stories of people who accepted Jesus into their hearts before dying. I told her about Vivian who prayed only three days before her death. At her funeral, I was able to share with her family and they rejoiced as they had been praying for years for this.

I also told this very educated woman about having to be perfect to come before a Holy God. On a scale of 100, maybe Billy Graham or Mother Theresa might be in the 90's but where would we be? And that's where Jesus comes in. He paid the price for our sins by living a perfect life; 100%. Through Jesus we can come before a Holy God and be accepted.

1 Peter 3:15

Maybe I planted a seed that day. I don't know. Chances are I will never see this woman again. But I hope I planted a seed. And maybe someone else will come alongside and water it.

It reminds me of the plant she was carrying back to Charlotte.

Always be ready!

Blessings and love,