Reaching Out to Old Friends

For more than ten years, I attended a church in Austin called Hope Chapel. The memory of this church I attended right after graduating from UT has, in recent weeks, returned to me. Especially one man, who was an elder there, named Armond. There were others--roommates, friends, mentors, teachers--I remember with fondness, but Armond was really special.

It's incidental to this story, but I remember once coming to him frightened that I wasn't going to be able to pay my rent. Without hesitation he asked, how much do you need? I had to think about it, but finally came out with my answer. Within seconds the amount I needed was being handed to me. "How can I repay you?" I stammered. "You won't. It's a gift. You need it? It's yours." And that was just one example of Armond's graciousness, not just concerning money, but his time and energy.

Today, I decided to google his name. The first entry that popped up (amazingly) was a string asking for prayer for Armond in 2004 concerning some vertigo he was experiencing. The string originated from a church I'd never heard of in Austin, but I quickly googled the church and found its phone number. Not expecting to get anyone, I immediately found myself talking to someone in the office of Red River Church, who happily gave me a phone number for Armond. She also told me the news I couldn't believe: Armond's wife, Jo, had passed away two years before.

To my surprise, I also discovered that Renee, an old friend and roommate of mine from those days, is the wife of the pastor for Red River Church! And I was able to get her phone number, too. But, unfortunately, Renee, too, was reeling with an unbelievable development: she has a rare form of cancer that has somehow progressed to Stage IV.

I was stunned.

The call to Armond was everything I hoped it would be. For he is a very wise man. We must have talked for forty-five minutes. He had so many things to tell me that brought peace to my heart. At the end, we prayed together on the phone.

I also had the chance to talk to Renee. As it turned out, she will be at MD Anderson at the same time I'm going on May 7th. We talked a long time, as she explained her situation. I still can't believe it, but she's been suffering with a type of skin cancer called MF. We talked about healing and she shared that she had a blog. I went to it while we were talking on the phone. It is http://reneesmf.blogspot.com.

When I hung up, I found myself praying hard for Renee. She is one of my favorite people, and such an incredible person. She has three children in their teens. I prayed for her so hard...well, it was unbelievable. I felt my heart turn to a faith that came from a bright and sweet place so deep in my spirit that it's hard for me to describe.

I felt the presence of God and was filled with hope...for Renee but also for myself.