SATURDAY MORNING TREASURES

We love sailing.  Yard-sailing that is.  Most Saturday mornings, Jimmy and I grab a quick breakfast and venture out, coffee cups in hand to hunt for treasures.  Jimmy is always looking for antiques. I have my eyes open for fabric and sewing items, and maybe a good book or two.  A couple of weeks ago, we found out what God was looking for at yard sales, what he treasures. 

One treasure we encountered was an older man named Keith.  Keith chose to share with us while other folks shopped his driveway, about his medical condition:  Cancer in his lungs, surgery to remove part of the lung, a prognosis of five years of life left to him.  “I’ll take those five years,” he said with a smile.  His smile spoke louder than his words: “I love life!” 

Whenever someone shares a medical condition or other need with me, I take it as God saying, “pray for this one.”  So I asked Keith if we could pray for him,  “Yes!” he answered.  “Can I put my hand on you as I pray” I asked.  Another “yes” with that million dollar smile.  So Jimmy and I prayed over Keith that God would heal him and give him life, since he had such a love for life.  I don’t know if I will meet Keith again, but treasure in my heart that encounter we had with him, and continue to pray for his healing and that he knows the love of the Father.

We continued on to another garage sale where we encountered Art, an elderly man sitting in his garage, selling off the last of his fishing equipment. Since our son is a fishing enthusiast, Jimmy started discussing fishing with the man as I listened nearby.  He obviously had a passion for fishing, and a great knowledge of the craft as well, as he told Jimmy about various fishing trips with his son over the years.  Now we had noticed that the man had a brace wrapped around his chest.  So I ventured into the conversation and asked him why he was selling all his fishing equipment. Art proceeded to explain that he had a chronic disease that affected his bones; his body no longer produced marrow to replenish his bones so that he was continually fracturing bones all throughout his body.  The brace on his chest was due to the many broken ribs he already had in his chest.  He could not do any activity at all, much less fishing, and still continued to have bone loss and fracture.  He received frequent blood transfusions that had kept him alive for the past 7 years in this condition.  “Could we pray for you, “ I asked.  He nodded yes, and I took his hand, Jim placed his hand delicately on his shoulder and we asked Jesus to give him a blood transfusion from Jesus’ own blood to heal him.  We chatted some more, met his wife who had heard us praying for him, and then went on our way.

Can I tell you what treasures I purchased that Saturday in May?  Not a one can I recall.  But God’s treasures, Art and Keith, I hold in my heart, and my prayers.