Not long ago my secretary and I were driving up Interstate 85 from Atlanta to Charlotte. It was Sunday afternoon and we pulled off the road near the Georgia state line to eat at a Cracker Barrel restaurant (I love their vegetables). Anyway, there we were standing in the waiting line when a woman in front of me turned around and asked, “Are you the ‘Joni’ of the ‘Joni and Friends’ radio program?” Well, for the next few minutes I talked to this woman – her name was Jane – and learned exactly why she loved listening to our program over WRAF.
Jane said to me, “Joni, for 12 years my husband, Henry, and I have taken care of our adult son named Clarence. Our daughter-in-law left him after his multiple sclerosis became severe. That’s when Henry and I opened up our home to our son. For over a decade, we lifted our son and bathed him and fed him, read to him and prayed with him.”
I sat there in the line at Cracker Barrel and listened to Jane talk about her disabled son, Clarence, with such love and compassion. I learned that since she and her husband lived way out in the Georgia countryside, it wasn’t always easy to get help – and that’s why this radio program over WRAF provided such encouragement and inspiration. Jane felt, “Someone out there knows what I'm going through. There are other families like mine who are struggling to live with a disability.” Not only that, she told me Clarence would sit in his wheelchair by the radio and listen to me talk about embracing paralysis as part of God's plan for him.
Right before we were seated at our table, Jane finished off her conversation by explaining that Clarence had very recently gone home to be with the Lord. She also told me that she loved it whenever I would talk about heaven on the radio.
Right then and there I knew why God led us off Interstate 85 at that particular exit, at that moment, to pull into that restaurant. God knew that Jane and Henry were standing in the line at the Cracker Barrel… and God also knew that they, having lost their son Clarence just months earlier – they needed Christian encouragement sent straight from heaven. And so what did God do? He moved heaven and earth, as well as our van, so that we would arrive right on time to get right behind them in line to be seated for lunch – just enough time for us to get to know one another and encourage each other in Christ.
Isaiah 58:7 says that God loves people who do not turn away from their own flesh and blood. Jane and Henry – I know you are listening today over WRAF, and you did not turn away from Clarence… and how grateful to the Lord I am that I had a chance to give you a personal word of thanks sent straight from heaven.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
www.joniandfriends.org
© Joni and Friends