Sunday, December 28, 2008

Thanks

Ever been thankful for bad luck? How about an illness? Sound crazy...thank about it for a minute. I have had many times in my life when things have, for what ever reason, gone completely wrong and the end results was for the better. I have come to look at these times as God saying " slow down and look around".

I had one of these earlier this month. I had what seemed to be just another case of strep throat and it turned out to be the mother of all strep encounters. For the first time in my life I ended up in the hospital. As I waited for my room some of my friends from EBC showed up. When I got to my room more men came. Soon I had around 10 in my room at 10:00pm. It turns out that just down the hall another man from EBC was in the hospital, Wallace Fulmore. The men started to shuttle from my room to his and all got to visit and pray with him. The next day my Dr. cleared me and I made my way to his room and sat with him for awhile. We talked and laughed and then we prayed together.

That was the last time I saw Mr. Wallace. The last time I heard him talk about how excited he was to see what was happening at our church. The last time I heard him laugh. The last time I saw him smile. The last time I got to pray with this wonderful brother, this man of God. So for that I say...thank you God for strep. If it had not been for that, 10 men and myself my not have had that last encounter, that last memory.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Paul, I hadn't heard this story, but I'm reading it now with tears. God had you in that spot, however uncomfortable it was for you to be sick, and He blessed you with that encounter. I know you'll never forget it.