I'll walk you home

"Sarah, this is Debbie." It had been a long time since I had seen my friend and I was so happy to hear her voice. She asked about my family and how I was doing. And then she said, "Sarah, the doctors have told me that my cancer is terminal. I want to come see you and say goodbye."

I hung up the phone and sat in stunned silence while memories of my friend flooded my mind. I had only been married a month when we first met. However, she had only been married two week, so I shared with her all my wisdom. Thinking back over that memory I couldn't help but blush. Debbie had suffered for years with infertility when she decided to adopt. She named her daughter Sarah in my honor. She then gave me the privilege of being at the airport when Sarah arrived from Korea. I was there when she held her daughter in her arms for the first time. Debbie called me when she had received the impossible news that she was pregnant. She told me that she called me because it wasn't until she heard my reaction that she could dare to believe that it could be true. I didn't disappoint her. I reacted!

Debbie came. Our visit was bitter sweet. We had lived in different states and had each been busy raising our children so it had been several years since we'd seen each other. We spent the first day catching up, sharing stories. It was as if we were each opening a window to our souls to let someone else come in. We shared our joys and our sorrows.

At one point Debbie asked why the pain of one of my memories seemed so fresh. I told her it was because I had found an old journal in the attic and had read through it recently. She looked at me for a long time and then said, "Sarah, burn it. Life is to short to hold onto sorrow."

Before Debbie left I promised her that I would walk her home. I called her every day for the few months that she had left. I had no answers to the questions my dying friend asked. I couldn't understand the pain. Often my response was simply to weep with her. I was reminded of the children of Israel in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. I walked with Debbie in the wilderness; we shared our faith we spoke daily about the hope that is an anchor for our soul. However, the time came when it was time for Debbie to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. I could go with her no farther. It was here that I was aware that Joshua (Jesus) had come to part the flooded muddy waters of the Jordan and take my friend the rest of the way home.

https://youtu.be/5BSLQnXcLPM