Mail from God!

My sister, Kim, is truly one of the best examples of “Jesus with skin on,” as she says, that I have ever seen.  What she means by that is that so many times, when someone can’t feel God’s arms around them, they can feel ours.  When God can’t reach a coat out of the sky to clothe someone, we can offer that coat.  You name it – what God would want to do but needs to use a human to accomplish it, that’s what she calls “Jesus with skin on.”

She called me a couple months ago and says, “You just HAVE to hear this!  I got mail from God!”  At the time, Kim’s husband Ken had just been diagnosed with fourth stage lung, liver and spine cancer.  They had kept the news quiet, preferring to deal with treatment and outcomes privately, praising God in the good times and getting through the bad times the best they could.  Ken had previously had a lung transplant at Duke, so this new diagnosis was going to be managed by Duke as well.  He was able to get his chemo at CAMC, and that was a blessing, and he really did phenomenally well with the chemo – didn’t get sick, had hardly any side effects at all.
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In the middle of this process, Kim and Ken had made the decision that he was going to sell his airplane.  He had kept the plane in the hopes that he would be able to pass the physical and fly again after the transplant, and before the cancer diagnosis, he was well on his way to being able to do that.  As they drove down to Duke to check on the status of the cancer, they began to discuss selling the plane.  This is a small private plane, and the market is not good for these sales.  Kim is resourceful, so she began searching for every small airport several states around and made a list of them so she could send them a flyer for their bulletin boards, which is the easiest way to sell a plane like his was. They knew it was time to make this decision, but it was stressful thinking about dealing with the chemo and the illness and starting to try to sell things, as you can imagine.
 
She makes this list, gets addresses, etc. for these airports, and they do their appointments at Duke.  The news was not good, but as is Kim’s way, she praised God for the good news and refused to let the bad news overcome her.  They return home, she makes a flyer for the plane, and Ken takes it to the Ravenswood airport.  A couple days later, she goes to get the mail.  Now this is where you see the hand of God reach down into a life and just give it a hug, a touch that says, “I’m here, I know what you are facing, I am working behind the scenes, I am working ahead of you, I am in control of ALL THINGS.”  In the mail is a handwritten envelope of some sort.  She thinks it must be a letter or card to Ken of some sort, so she opens it with expectation of a nice personal note or something.  Inside the envelope is a letter from a man who started off with a story of how his father had been a pilot, and he had become a pilot, and now his son was wanting to learn to fly.  This family had done some research and found the plane that his father had learned to fly in, and they had traced it across the country to West Virginia, registered to Kenneth Rex, Kim’s husband.  They had a sentimental attachment to this plane, and they were requesting that in the event Ken EVER DECIDED to sell his plane, that they be considered to be the first purchaser. 
 
I can hardly type this without wanting to shout.  I mean, really, what is the chance of this happening?  What is the chance that as Kim and Ken were driving to Raleigh, North Carolina, discussing this decision that needed to be made, someone in Houston, Texas had been sitting down to write this letter, putting it in the mail to arrive immediately upon their return?  You see, these are the times YOU KNOW that God is in control, and He knows what is before us, and he knows what we are facing right now, and he is preparing the way before we even know what we need.  This is one of the best examples of God’s hand in the small details of our life that I have ever seen! 
 
This family began to discuss finding Grandpa’s plane right about the time Kim and Ken get the diagnosis that death could be near.  They have no idea what a blessing they are going to be to a family who is overwhelmed, not knowing where to turn.  Two weeks from the time Ken Rex passed on to his reward, Kim had the money for the plane, knowing that it went to a family who had the same loves Ken had:  Flying and family.  She now has new friends, who once they heard her story, were incredulous about it as well.  She has not only sold the plane, but she was able to sell accessories that would have been hard to sell, and she sold his sports car within three weeks of his death.
 
You see, GOD CARES FOR HIS PEOPLE.  He never leaves you helpless, He never leaves you without a plan, a way out, a future with Him by your side.  I’d ask you – next time you get news you just don’t know how to handle, ask God for a little mail!  It may come in the mailbox; it may come by e-mail; it may come through a friend’s word to you; it may come out of your minister’s mouth….but it WILL COME!  Thank you, Lord, for the promises that you will never leave us, you will never forsake us!

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