This picture is a treasure. Many will simply see friends having lunch after church. Some who “know” the people in the picture might scoff. This picture holds so many stories.
As the oldest of my family, I had an often-challenging relationship with the friends of my siblings. One minute they were seeking me out for advice. The next day I was just another friend at a party. And there were also those days that I had to act more like a mom. (Not because they wanted another mom, but they needed one in that moment.)
Such was the case with Shannon and my brother Michael. They were more like siblings than friends; mischief was generally soon to follow.
When Michael died in a freak accident in March 2001, Shannon was one of the friends I started praying for. I knew that she didn’t have a relationship with Jesus, and I firmly believed that losing Michael could push her to one extreme or the other.
Like so many of Michael’s friends, Shannon maintained contact over the last 23 years. Many memories were bittersweet for us as Michael should’ve been there with her; with us. Life keeps moving and we find ways to move with it or at least allow it to carry us along.
We all make choices every day. The four people in this picture are no exception. Sometimes we make the right choice and other times we screw up. Whether we make good or bad choices, we’re all in desperate need of grace. Without Jesus, we’re all doomed. Literally. That’s what sin does to us.
But to know these four people now is to know redemption and restoration. To know our stories is to understand and believe that what the enemy intended to take and use to harm us has instead been used by God to refine us. A lot of that process has been and continues to be painful. (Fire generally has that effect.) Yet our lives without God isn’t even an option to consider anymore. We wouldn’t survive (trust me, we tried).
We planned to meet for lunch after church today. Shannon and Ronny had recently experienced The Great Banquet and we were anxious to hear all that God was doing in their lives and in their hearts. For two hours we took up residence in that booth and were in awe of God’s providence.
The four people in this picture have a lot in common. Some is good. Some is the exact opposite of good. The best part of their story is this: Each is a sinner saved only by the grace of Jesus.
Michael’s life and death have been used over and over to reveal Jesus. I don’t understand even after all of these years. But I know this would make him smile. This story is something only God could do.
II Timothy 1:9 ~ But share in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before ages began.