I want to tell you a little about our friend Raheim. He is a 25 year old single soilder in the army. At our church there are not many single people and very few families without kids, so with Raheim being closest in age to us we gravetated to each other quickly. Landry and I have always been drawn to his zeal for God. He lives about 45 minutes from the church building and has a demanding job in the military and is taking classes online, but he rarely misses a service. He comes Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday night. Every time we hang out and go for a hike or something we discuss God and His word. You can't talk with Raheim very long and not here him say something about the Lord of his life. He is diligent in reading his Bible daily! He has a plan and he sticks to it. The other passion in his life is family. As we have grown to know him more, he has told us a lot of stories about him and his 2 brothers. He was raised in a single mom home and he always felt like a dad to his 2 younger brothers. He protected them when they were younger and as he has grown spiritually he has tried to guide them in that way as well. Raheim did not grow up going to church regularly, which I believe is where a lot of his enthusiasm for telling others about the good news comes from.
I tell you this small amount of background so you will understand the rest of what I am going to say. Saturday Landry called me from work to tell me Raheim's brother had been shot and killed. A friend of Raheim's from home called Landry to see if he could go check on him. Immediately I felt a strong pain in my heart for Raheim. Then I got an email from Jenni(a faithful prayer warrior who always emails out prayer list to everyone) at church asking for everyone to pray for him. When Landry got off work we met with Raheim to grab a bite to eat and talk. We had to wait a while before he could get free from all the military forms and things he was having to figure out to get a flight home. When he pulled up to the resturaunt we were sitting outside waiting on him. His eyes were bloodshot from tears and his voice shakey when he spoke to us. The first 10 minutes of conversation Landry and I did not know what to say or how to comfort him. Also we did not want him to feel as though he had to retell us all the details and stir up all his emotions again.
Landry asked if he wanted us to have a prayer and he said yes please. As we all three held hands, sitting at a table outside a burger place on a rainy cool night, I felt such a strong bond. As Landry began to speak I noticed his voice was softer than usual I turned to look at him and saw a stream of tears rolling down his cheek. I rarely ever see my husband cry and I new that our bond with Raheim was something special, something different!
Fast forward to the next morning during worship service at church. Raheim came as I knew he would. He always sits at the front by himself so he can hear good and pay attention. Landry went to sit with him and I sat with my family who is in town visiting right now. We were sitting a few rows behind them on the side so I could see them well. Every song that we sang stirred up strong feelings for me. As I sang the words to songs I have sung thousands of times I felt differently about the meanings. I felt Raheim's pain. With every few words I would begin to cry and I felt surprised at the hurt I was feeling. I have had friends and family members in the past go through hard times and I have felt sorry for them, but I don't think I have ever felt pain for them.
1 Corinthians 12:26 reads, "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" For the first time in my life as a Christian I truely understand this verse. We said goodbye to a family at church Sunday that has 4 children in the youth group that we were able to spend some time with. Although we did not get to know them too well, because they were only with us a short time I felt sad to see them go. As I watched our church family go forward to hug them in the closing song, as is our traditon, I thought what a joy it is to be a member of the Lord's church. As I have mentioned before in previous post I really feel like our small church here is unique. I have gone to church my entire life, but never really felt completely at home or like this truely is my family. But being miles and miles away from all the people I know has encouraged me to let go and rely on the people from church as I would my blood family. I think this is the way the church should feel everywhere. All should feel welcome and loved. Everyone should work together as a team for Christ fighting Satan hand and hand. It should feel like home...
This world is not my home, I am just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heavens open door, and I cant feel at home in this world anymore. Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you, if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do. The angels beckon from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore.
My prayer today is for Raheim and his broken heart. Please join me in praying for him and his family in this hard time.
