The
day had finally arrived in my life that I was going to face major
surgery. This surgery would take me away from my position at work
over a period of six to eight weeks. After informing my manager of
my medical leave, I began making preparation for one of my associates
to fulfill my duties during my absence. I had been talking to men
all across the United States that were in their final stages of
cancer. Every week I would call each of these men to assess their
level of pain while taking a new medication. Needless to say,
talking with someone week after week, you tend to develop a personal
relationship.
This
particular week my calls were not only to assess their pain level,
but also to let them know that I would be on medical leave over the
next six to eight weeks and that someone new would be calling them
weekly. I wanted them to know in advance so they would not feel
uncomfortable in any way during my absence. As I was speaking to one
gentleman, Mr. Morrison, who lived in San Bernardino, California,
informing him of my upcoming absence, he said; "Ellen, would it be
alright for me to pray for you before we hang up?" I said
"absolutely." My heart was pierced to the depths of my soul to
think that this man who was dying wanted to pray for me. After his
prayer, I thanked him and told him to take real good care of himself
and I would be talking with him in a few weeks.
I
returned to work approximately eight weeks later. I began making my
calls. I called Mr. Morrison, and his wife answered. I asked if I
could speak to her husband, when she informed me that he had passed
away just a few weeks prior to my call. I was devastated! I was
almost speechless. I told Mrs. Morrison how sorry I was to hear
about Mr. Morrison and how much I enjoyed talking with him over the
weeks.
She
thanked me and told me how much he looked forward to my call each
week. As I hung up the phone, the tears fell uncontrollably down my
cheeks. I felt a hand on my shoulder and it was a lady who sat on
the other side of my cubical who had heard my conversation. She came
over to comfort me.
I
could not for the life of me stop thinking about Mr. Morrison
throughout the remainder of that day. My heart was so heavy that I
wrote down his number in my personal phone book, and when I arrived
home that evening I called his wife. I reminded her of who I was and
I told her that I had felt led to call her and tell her how much her
husband had meant to me. How he prayed for me and how he had touched
my life. She was so appreciative. We talked many times from that
point on. We
had so much in common, mainly Jesus Christ. We could just talk and
talk about the Lord and His Truth. As we continued to talk over the
months ahead, we continued to learn more and more about one another.
One thing that really spoke to my heart, was her name was Louise,
which also happened to have been my mama's name, and her birthday
was October 10th,
and my mama's birthday was November 10th.
I
grew closer and closer to Mrs. Morrison. It helped to fill the void
of losing my own mother several years prior. I ended up sending her
a written copy of my personal testimony, along with a few other
articles, revealing the works of our Lord in my life. She
called me to tell me how much they had blessed her heart and wanted
my permission to share them with her congregation. What a blessing
that was to me! I also remember one day in particular, I went to the
Christian bookstore to pick up a few cards that I needed. While I
was in line waiting to check out, I noticed the books displayed on
the best seller rack next to me. I picked up this tiny little book
titled "The
Prayer of Jabez"
by Bruce Wilkinson. As I was reading the intro I just about bought
the book, but I heard this small voice in my spirit say, "You don't
need to be buying any books right now," so I put it back on the
shelf. I paid for my cards and headed for home. As I drove into my
driveway, I stopped to get my mail out of my mailbox, as I do every
day. I had a small package from Mrs. Morrison. I could hardly wait
to get inside and open it to see what she had sent to me. My eyes
just about popped out of my head, it was "The Prayer of Jabez."
She wrote in the front cover: Dear Ellen, May God bless you INDEED!
With Love, Mrs. Louise Morrison.
Coincidence?
I think not! Needless to say, I called her immediately to tell her
what had just happened and how the Lord had really used her to make
sure that I was able to read that little book. After
reading that book the Holy Spirit led me to purchase many copies and
have them distributed to each family within my church anonymously.
Let's just say that "The Prayer of Jabez" was the talk of our
church for quite some time. What a wonderful little book.
Jabez
cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and
enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from
harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his
request. (1 Chronicles 4:10)
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