"If you don't change your behavior we will put you into a state mental institution." Loraine smiled,"This is my escape!"
As a child Loraine had been badly abused. No one at the school realized that it was the abuse that was the root cause of her behavior. Loraine was mean to her peers rebellious to all the authority figures at school. The school counselor went to Loraine and her parents with the ultimatum that if Loraine's behavior didn't change she should go to the institution. Loraine's behavior didn't change.
I met Loraine many years later. She had come to a Bible study I was teaching. Loraine had had a spiritual birth. She reminded me of the woman at the well spoken of in the fourth chapter of John. She met Jesus in all her brokenness He offered her a drink of living water and she took it.
The scripture teaches us that we hold this treasure in a jar of clay. This was true of Loraine. She and I spent many hours together talking about Jesus. We also talked about her pain. She had been rejected by both her mother and her father.She was alone but God places the lonely in families. God placed Loraine in mine.
Because Loraine was in my family she shared holidays with us. Our relationship always seemed a little strange because Loraine was over ten years older then I was yet she saw me as a Mother figure. One Christmas Loraine asked me to get a song for her Christmas gift. She told me how deeply this song had effected her. She felt it had been God's gift to her and she wanted me to buy it for her. It was "Resurrection" by Nicole Sponberg.
Two months latter I found Loraine dead in her apartment.
It was as if the image of her dead body had been burned into my mind. I saw it everywhere I looked. I cried out to Jesus," Help me!" Immediately I heard His voice saying to me,"Sarah, let me tell you what happen. I came to Loraine and called her by name. I told her,"Arise, by Beloved and come away for the Winter is passed and the sound of the turtle dove can be heard in the land."
I spent days cleaning out Loraine's apartment. The whole time I was there I listened to the song "Resurrection" over and over and over.
Now when I think about Loraine I think about her in the arms of Jesus.
I am so glad that I have the kind of mother that God brings the lonelies to. This story is so rich, and so bitter sweet. My heart is so filled with emotion that it hurts. I remember so well when this happened. I remember you talking about how when you found Loraine, it was as if her spirit had been called away and her body just dropped where it lay. I could see Loraine as a beautiful and graceful bride approaching her one true love. I remember the comfort of knowing that Loraine, at last, had a forever home. A home where she truly belonged, that she would never have to leave. That was a pretty powerful image of peace, considering that Loraine never really had a home of her own here on earth and that the her great desire was to have her own house.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mommy, for giving light and hope through all the pain and the joy in your life.