Throw Back Thursday
This blog was first published on September 16, 2013.
Large groups of people share monumental moments together, which become dates they will never forget. Where were you when you heard about the planes crashing into the towers of New York City, now known as 9-11? Earlier generations share similar memories with what we now know as Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941. These are just 2 dates of many scattered across history which have changed nations and some the world. (Currently, we can add the entire year of 2020 to the list, with the world wide COVID-19 epidemic.)
What about our own personal days we will never forget? Some dates are shared with only a few like a car accident, a marriage, the birth of a child or when a loved one dies. Some dates are unique, because the unforgettable moment only happened to you and it’s memory is forever etched into the files of your mind.
September 16, 2011 was one of those days for me. A day in my memory book as fresh as if it happened yesterday. Powerful moments only shared with me and one other precious friend.
The morning began like any other week day, getting kids up, breakfast and lunches made, kids to school and thanking God it was Friday! However, this day was my day to go and help out a friend, a friend who was struggling with her second round of breast cancer and was at a point where she and her family needed extra help. A group of us were scheduled do this and September 16, was my day.
This part of that day in many ways began normally too like all the other times I had gone over to help. Except this morning, I packed a few items to take with me. Knowing she had recently been confined mostly to her bed as a result of the great pain she was in and she would be sleeping much of the time; I added my bible, journal, and Jesus Calling devotional for possible reading and time with God.
After I did what little tasks I could do around her house, I grabbed my backpack and settled in beside the bed to sit with her. She drifted in and out of sleep, but she seemed to be aware when someone was in the room and this brought her comfort. As I pulled out my Jesus Calling, she began to stir from her sleep and sit up in bed. While adjusting pillows for her, I told her what I was about to do and asked if she would like me to read it out loud to her. In a soft whispering voice as it was much effort for her to talk, she answered with two affirmatives, “Yes, yes!”
I opened up Jesus Calling to September 16th. I read to her:
I DESIGNED YOU to live in union with Me…. Find fulfillment through living close to Me, yielding to My purposes for you. Though I may lead you along paths that feel alien to you, trust that I know what I am doing…
In union with Me, you are complete. In closeness to Me, you are transformed more and more into the one I designed you to be.
I read her the listed scripture verses and asked if I could sing to her and she nodded her head with another yes. I sung softly a hymn, which was taped in my journal from a previous experience with God.
Have Thine own way Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay!
Mold me and make me After thy will,
While I am waiting, Yielded and still.
Have Thine own way Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, Wash me just now,
As in thy presence Humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, Help me I pray!
Power, all power Surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
Have Thine own way Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o’er my being Absolute sway!
Fill with thy Spirit Till all shall see
Christ only, always, Living in me.
Have Thine own way Lord! Have Thine own way!
I was barely able to hold it together, but I don’t think she noticed as she had drifted off to sleep. These words I read to her that day had a deeper meaning for her than either of us could have known. Only God knew what was about to unfold over the next few days as I now believe He was preparing Daryl to get ready to be reunited in the ultimate union with Him.
Daryl’s journey with cancer was foreign to her and unbearable for many of us, especially her family, but it was most unbearable for her. Trusting God in such trying times is one of life’s greatest challenges. Later that day Daryl’s alien path would take her to the Hospice House never to return to her earthly home.
Three days later on September 19th, 2011, Daryl Cahill’s earth life became completely still as she yielded to this world and followed Christ to her heavenly home to live in union with Him. “In union with Me, you are complete. In closeness to Me, you are transformed more and more into the one I designed you to be.”
“For the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord
as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed
into the same image from one degree of glory to another,
for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3: 17-18, NRSV
What seemed like a simple moment with a precious friend turned into a lifelong memory of a day I will never forget. (Sunflowers were Daryl’s favorite flower)
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That was beautiful Janae. Thanks for sharing.
Dear Janae, I too remember those days. She was a very special woman and was taken from us way too soon. God had other plans for her and for us. It is so hard to loose those we love and watch as they suffer but as believers we know that Jesus is with us, now she is with Him and we will be reunited someday. Thanks for sharing these beautiful memories as hard as they are. You were a great friend to her and such a blessing to many. Love you 😘