With all due respect to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
I just have to talk about my friend Vanessa.
Nessa and her husband Ray are some of our closest friends. We have spent many hours together, fellowshipping, sharing great times and great food, Playing cards for hours on end, sharing a love for great coffee and whatever the baristas can talk us into at Starbucks or Jittery Joes, or creating the same drinks in the comfort of our own kitchens but most of all, talking about our Lord and sharing our passion for worship and intercession and what the Lord is doing in the world today and in the future.
Nessa and Ray are unique individuals and a unique couple, devoted not only to each other and to the Lord but to their son Jason, his wife Karen and their daughter, and grandaughter number one, Savannah. Savannah is battling a health condition but seems to have a handle on it through the healing hands of God and the fine Doctors in Augusta.
Ray is semi-retired, working when he can of wood working projects and creations and taking care of Vanessa. The family pet, Misty is the luckiest and most spoiled dog in the world. Nessa has been an accomplished baker and restauranteer and creator of many crafty things of her own.
Early on this year Nessa heard from the Lord that this year would be about her health. She set about with great fervor to eat more healthier and to be more healthy. In the midst of great successes in weight loss and such, Nessa had a nagging cough that would not go away. As time went by, her energy level dropped and her ability to "catch her breath" became more and more challenging. After dealing with this for quite some time, and seeking answers with different doctors, she had a complete blood work up.
The results were scary and Vanessa was transported to the hospital for tests and treatment. Almost daily transfusions and countless units of platelets had little effect. The diagnosis? Cancer in the bone marrow. Chemo and more platelets followed, but encouraging words were not coming from the Doctors. Vanessa got to go home, but had to return daily for more treatment, more platelets, oxygen, and more. After a three week stretch of this tiring routine, Vanessa called my wife Frances and said, "Is there any way you and Jack could meet us for lunch and coffee one day this week?" We said of course, and said what day would be best for you? We settled on Thursday, when we would be in Athens on business and we would hope for a good day for Nessa. Thursday came and as her platelets test was not great, she was encouraged to go in for a transfusion. Nessa asked if it might be possible to take a day off. The Doctor enthusiastically said yes. Go and have lunch with your friends, we can do this tomorrow.
Thursday came. We met at the Olive Garden for a great feast of food and good times. It seemed we had the old Vanessa back. Cutting up and enjoying the time together. We headed from there to Jittery Joes for lattes and more good times. There we talked about the Lord, sharing rhema words from the Lord and where we felt the world might be heading. Talking about the deep things of the Spirit and Nessa sharing the burden of what the Lord was speaking to her. I remember encouraging her to journal, saying that the Lord could use her to touch many people. She gave us such encouragement and shared victory and the assurance that the Lord was working in her behalf. She never wavered in the knowledge that she was firmly in the palm of God's hand. Then she shared that she wanted me to tell my son Daniel that she now understood why he loves to sing Free Fallin by Tom Petty in the midst of a worship set. I told her how much I admired her faith in the face of the obstacles she was facing. We told her and Ray we were going to the mountains for a few days of R&R but to keep in touch and call if they needed us.
The next day, Friday, Nessa's body rejected the platelet transfusion for the first time. By Saturday, she had to go back to the hospital, where they put her in ICU. Pneumonia was setting in and things looked rough. I talked to Ray Sunday morning when he called for prayers of the saints. I prayed for Vanessa and asked God to give her her miracle. We were sitting at the table in the condo in the mountains when the text came in around 2:15. I almost didn't even want to look at it. Frances said "Oh No!" and I handed her the phone. Vanessa went home to be with Jesus at 2:00.
It still doesn't seem real. We had a celebration service, a homegoing as Pastor Conine called it. We shared worship, stories, food and fellowship, and I believe Vanessa would be proud. Ray, Jason, Karen, Savannah, and Mrs. Dollie (Vanessa's mother) are holding up remarkably well. Please join me in lifting them up to the Lord for His comfort and the Peace that passes all understanding.
For Vanessa, I sang Free Fallin at the Potters House as we led worship there Wednesday night. I can only imagine Vanessa as she is experiencing a Free Fall into the Master's Arms.
Now I'm Free....Free Fallin
Jack
