Nashville

Life is a series of events, but some are bigger than others. Some change your life forever. July 5, 2011 was one of those events. 

I was home visiting my family (in Texas) for the 4th and I received a text that one of my friends had gone missing after a party. I didn't want to think the worst, but something in me knew this wasn't good, and I prayed so hard for it not to be true. I flew back to Columbus early the next day and had a layover in Nashville. When I turned my phone on after landing, there was a text waiting to inform me that Sean's body had been found. 

I felt like the world had just crashed down around me, and it was all I could do just to breath. 

In a fog, I got off the plane and made my way to a Starbucks. It was 9:30am--you can imagine how crowded it was. Even as busy as she was, the barista who took my order stopped to as if I was ok. I had been holding on to a shred of strength up to this point, but that did it. I took my drink, sat down at a corner table, and just started crying and praying, just asking for God to help me get through that moment and the next and the next. 

A friend had given me a new Bible while I was home. I had it with me, so I opened it to a random page, sending a prayer upward for help. I looked down, and the first verse I saw was Isaiah 66:13, "As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.” 

And even though I was still sad and crying, I felt peace. I felt God hold me in that moment, and I knew it was going to be ok. 

A man walked by then and dropped a small piece of paper on my Bible and walked away. 

I never saw his face, but written on the back of the receipt was a message, 

"God is sovereign and Jesus is a sweet savior. 

Trust in His unfailing love! 

He's with you. 

You've got the right book right there." 

That was Jesus. He came to me right there. At the Nashville Airport. In my pain. 

God is SO faithful, and I love Him so much! Bad things will happen in this life. It's inevitable, but we are not alone. There is a God out there who loves you--REALLY loves you--and He wants desperately for you to love Him back. 

Lord, thank You. Thank You being You. For never leaving us. For comforting us. For bringing us through the storms. I pray for whoever ends up reading this. I don't know who that will be, but You do. I pray that they would know You the way I do. That they would see who you REALLY are and seek to know You. Because You're more than a genie or a guardian angel. You're right here with us. Always. I love You, Lord. Amen.