An Unexpected Angel

Matt’s leukemia diagnosis was less than a few hours old and my body didn’t feel like my own. My mind was racing in a thousand different directions. What has happened to our life? Will I lose my son? How will I go on without him? A knock on Matt’s hospital room door rescued me from my thoughts as I was summoned to the hallway.

There I found a pretty and petite middle-aged woman. She wore scrubs and offered me a complicated smile. Through it, I could see her desire to calm me was unwillingly dominated by a deep pain that connected us immediately. Do I know this woman? I looked down for her nametag.

Gretchen.

And then it hit me. Just a few weeks before, my wise friend (who lives in Denver) was telling me about one of her friends who had been through a series of really hard life events - ending most recently with the tragic death of her daughter. I asked my friend how she encourages people, like her friend, in those darkest of days. She said she wrote her a message on a Post It note that simply read, “It’s already alright” and told her to believe it. Her friend’s name was Gretchen.

Four months after the death of her 28-year-old daughter, a total stranger stood before me with a message from my wise friend who was 750 long miles away. It was a Post It note that read, “It’s already alright.”

I grabbed Gretchen and we held each other sobbing. She knew my grief - multiplied by infinity- and was dealing with my worst fear. Yet here she was - called to action by our mutual friend. In that moment, Gretchen showed me that “even if” Matt was taken from me by this terrible disease, I would be able to go on. I would be able to move forward. And hopefully, I would be strong like Gretchen and someday be able to share this truth with someone else down the road.

I recently asked Gretchen where she found the strength to knock on that door and enter into our grief and tragedy. She said she didn’t even think of her own situation; that God placed an unwavering resolve to come lift my spirits on her heart.

Gretchen’s visit was one of a thousand ways that God used people to be his hands and feet. To wrap their arms around us. To share truth on sticky notes. To feed us. To pray for us. To cry with us. To cry for us. To heal us and help cure Matt’s leukemia. Gretchen’s bravery reminds me too that sacrificing for others is sometimes painful. It is selfless. It’s typically inconvenient and often messy.

And it models Jesus’s life and sacrifice. And it is beautiful.

Has God surprised you with someone like Gretchen in your life? If so, give him or her a shout out here and share your story.