Gabby

-
I met a girl named Gabriela last year. I was very much plugged in to the church scene, claiming Jesus was my everything, she was fighting a life of sin to get back to the God she once knew. We spent 2 weeks together going through the thick and thin, tears and laughs, of STP. I was very much attached to her, but then never saw her again after STP (we lost her to Prague).

I saw her again for the first time yesterday. I was on my way to lunch with a friend, she was on her way to drop all her classes and fly back home to Thailand. She found out two days ago that her sister fell off a building to her death.

This girl weathers the enemy's attacks like it's her occupation. You look into her person, and you find amazing depth and feeling; you look into her life, and find a constant war scene. She knows God like no one else, and she knows the devil like no one else. She asked if we could sit down and pray. We sat down on a bench, and I struggled to find words that could ever be adequate for a tragedy like this. But I simply asked the Spirit to come comfort her, and He came and flowed between our palms and intertwined fingers. I didn't want to let go, but didn't know what else to say. She thanked me and told me how glad she was to have ran into me--"I was walking over here..and was about to hit someone." That's Gabby.


Last night, God's heart was aching in me for her. It was a heartache that kept me awake, so I can't even begin to comprehend how she's feeling. He wanted more than anything to be with her and to just keep her company (I say "He" because He is all my compassion), He kept wondering what she was doing, how she was doing. If Jesus were me, He'd be with her right now..

I've never lost anyone really close to me, and God knows I fear the day I do, but I have experienced agonizing heartache, and I know that's what Gab's experiencing right now (she's an intense Feeler). Please join me in praying for our dear sister and her family.

Comments

Monica said…
again, thanks so much for sharing this post. your writing is so beautiful but what touches me even more is your heartfelt sharing and your intimacy with God. that same night Gabriela came to ICA Rally and we--well, Pastor Min and the rest of us--got to pray for her.

i sometimes wish i had as much compassion and heart as you. but i really don't know how to respond to situations like this. i'm just asking that God ease her and her family's pain...

and ours a little too cuz we will miss her while she's gone :'(
February 2, 2010 at 12:45 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Joyful Invitation

-
As, when the Jews from all parts of the country went up thrice a year to worship at Jerusalem, they called on their friends in the road and excited them to go along with them, so shall many of the Gentiles court their relations, friends, and neighbours, to join with them in embracing the Christian religion (v. 3):  "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the  Lord;  though it be uphill and against the heart, yet it is the mountain of the Lord,  who will assist the assent of our souls towards him.’’  If only we would as easily invite all our friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers to know the Lord , as we would invite them to parties or to hang out..
Read more

The Good Eye

-
Image
Coming from an unsaved home, the messages I first received from Christianity were that there was a Person who loved me. I was mind-blown that there was a Creator who knew and loved me extravagantly. I didn’t understand the religiosity of things or even how people could be sick of church. But over a decade, the Person I first fell in love with began to fade into the background of my memory, and the clamor of my own insecurities and comparisons with others began to take over – in regard to how well-versed I was with the Bible, how well I could pray, how much I was doing for God in missions and evangelism, whether I could prophesy accurately, whether people were healed when I prayed for them, and the list goes on.  The passage that struck me recently regarding this matter was Matthew 6:22-23: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good , your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad , your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light ...
Read more

The Worth of Hiddenness

-
Image
For much of my 20’s, I aspired to a certain idea and vision of greatness. I received prophecies about my greatness and how the Lord wanted to use me to “impact nations.” I heard these kinds of words over and over, and these words were great to hear – but naturally, after many years of not making much impact, I felt like I had failed God to some measure (I believe my experience is not uncommon). I felt I needed to figure out how to achieve “big impact” in order to truly fulfill my calling and destiny in life.   The Great Commission says in Matthew 28:19-20:  "Go therefore and  make disciples of all the nations , baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...”  When read plainly, the Great Commission does put forth this command of impacting nations. The problem is that we have interpreted the Great Commission in a way that makes it unachievable to 99% of Christians who do not have large platforms or access to thousands ...
Read more