Restoration

I've never seen him in a suit, nor do I believe he would ever wear one. Old jeans, a tee shirt, and flip-flops seem to fit him best. And for some odd reason, it's the way I like to see him.

He always seeks me out, grabs my hand and gives me a warm, huge smile lit up with twinkling eyes and loving words. My heart feels contented, and I thank my Heavenly Father for this man of grace and many gifts.

I thought I was stuck in the old hymnbooks when it came to my choice of music. But on this particular Sunday evening, I found a new place in my heart that I never knew was there. It included drums, guitar, harmonica, piano, flute, and this man with a voice like Chris Christopherson, eyes that shone with God's glory, and a heart full of God's love.

And the tears began to fall.

He was singing the song that is playing in the background, "The God of the Mountain," a song that came to mean so much to me during my cancer journey. A strange thing happened during those few minutes: It seemed that I took a fast-forward trip through all those chemo treatments, surgery and radiation, and experienced all the emotions that I probably should have had back then. . . .No, on second thought, it was different. You see, I was looking back to a mountain and a valley in my past. And this song had now changed from an encouragement for me to a testimony of all God was and had done for me.

I never tire of his singing, but I missed him last week. I missed the drums, I missed the guitar, I missed his eyes, and most of all, I missed his expressions of love for our Saviour. My heart told me he needed prayer, and I prayed often that the Lord would be his strength.

I don't know what moved me more -- to see his tears and his broken spirit as we hugged and he shared that he had fallen --- or to see one person after another "restore such a one in the spirit of meekness". I learned compassion, I learned forgiveness,I learned repentence, I learned humility, and I learned faith. I learned that MY problems are so small in comparison to others. I learned that God's grace IS greater than ALL our sin. I learned that the Shepherd DOES go out and finds His sheep. And I learned that the Lord DOES inhabit the praises of His people. I was there. I saw it happen. And I'll never be the same.