Some people
come into our lives for only a short season. Yet it seems that the Lord in His
kindness brought them to us for a specific reason at just the right time. For
me, such a person was Renee Bottoms. We had gone to the same church for many
years and, though we had had short conversations here and there, I did not know
her well. I had not been to any of the women’s bible studies that she taught,
and within the church, we just seemed to move in different circles.
I had just
finished teaching through the book of 1 Peter at the end of February this year when
Renee stopped me after church to find out where the Wednesday night women’s
study met and how many women usually came. She was set to teach through the
month of March and had chosen some of the Psalms as her theme. I told her where
we met and a little about the group, and then came to the study that first
Wednesday in March. After we briefly discussed our favorite psalms, she took us
through Psalm 121, pointing out not only the meaning of the text but also its
writing style. She was very down-to-earth in her teaching and also very
knowledgeable. She had studied that passage thoroughly. At some point in the
class, either based on an application question she asked, or it could have been
prayer request time, I spoke of Kelly’s cancer situation and either my fears or
what the Lord was teaching me (I really can’t recall). This was a week before
we found out that Kelly’s medication wasn’t working and we would need to have
surgery to remove the tumors. That evening ended up being the last time that I
saw Renee. For it was later that week that everything shut down, and church
stopped meeting on-site. Even when we did begin meeting again, Renee could not
join us due to her fragile lungs.
That would
have been the end of my interactions with Renee had it not been for a card that
she sent me a week or so later. Renee had had her own cancer journey many years
ago and shared her experience with me in the card she wrote and mentioned how
she was praying for Kelly but also specifically for me (in response to what I
had shared in class). She then sent me a text while Kelly was in the hospital
in early April, and from that day on, until her passing, we developed a
friendship over texts. About once every week or two, we would exchange texts.
She updated me on her situation as her health was declining, and I kept her
updated on how things were going with Kelly and with the possibility of our
children having inherited the genetic mutation that caused Kelly’s cancer. And
oh how she cared and how she prayed! She told me specifically what she was
praying for me, she sent Scripture verses, she reminded me of truth, and she
praised our Father with us over the answers to prayer along the way. That day
in church, when I shared what God had done in my heart through Kelly’s cancer,
Renee was praying for me. She sent me a text right after I shared that she had
seen that I was getting teared up and so she started praying right then that I
would be able to get through all that I wanted to say. Perhaps it was thanks to
her prayer that I did. I, in turn, was
able to bring her name to the Lord as she went to various appointments and as
her lungs struggled to function well. When she texted that the doctors had
given her only 3-4 months to live, I grieved with her. I wept tears over this
precious woman who had become so dear to me whom I would not see again on this
earth.
So why do I
write this? Because I, and perhaps you too, can get so caught up in my own
life. I can have great intentions about reaching out to others, but in the
busyness of life, it doesn’t happen. But I have been the recipient of a dear
woman who took the time to write that card and to send that first text. A woman
whose prayers and texts and Scripture helped carry me through the most
difficult time that I have been through so far in my life. Renee reached out to
me, a woman she barely knew, out of a heart of care and concern for a sister in
Christ. She took the time, and a beautiful friendship developed. I’m forever
grateful to her for the role she played, and as she texted me once after she
told me that she probably wouldn’t live much longer on this earth, “we have all
eternity to learn and grow together.” How thankful I am that I will see her
again and will be able to give her a hug for the first time ever.
It’s a bit
amazing to me that as I am challenging us to open our eyes to the needs of
others, to reach out, to encourage, to write the card, to send the text, and
then to follow-up so that we can be those special people that the Lord uses
greatly in the lives of others, I know that Renee would agree. The very last
text I have from her ends with this (I don’t think she’d mind me sharing): “I
DO wait for the Lord and continue to be overwhelmed at His people that He has
uniquely in place to meet my needs and show Christ’s love! Tears flow from
gratitude for such love!” She had experienced those people in her life. She was
that person for me. How I pray that you and I could be those people for others!
--Amy O' P
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