Aching For My Friend - Ignited for Prayer

I am not sure how to start this except to just start.

A woman I deeply admire lost her eighteen year old son last week in a tragic car accident. She has always been a Woman of Valor in my book. She diligently prays for her family, serves them with joy and works hard to be a blessing and encouragement to so many others too. She has also taught my two oldest son's Sunday School classes as well! She is a Proverbs 31 woman. A real life hero. Anyone who knows her would likely say all of the same things (except she may have not taught their kids Sunday school :)).

We have talked from time to time and we have prayed for each other, but this time it's just different. My prayers for her and her family are so deep, like the tumultuous currents that come after an earthquake at the bottom of the ocean. The surface looks unaffected but the aching waves swell and stir up the depths of my soul.

God is asking her to walk one of the the worst paths I can imagine. This devastation she is walking through is unimaginable. I know He is right by her side. I know He has dispatched a very specialized team of angels to take up residence in her home as she and her husband and their precious daughter wade through this season of grief. He has positioned dear friends to surround her, released finances to provide for the kinds of expenses no one can plan ahead for, and flooded the community around her with compassion and concern.

We are never alone. Mathew, her beloved son was not. God was there with him too that night. In this time that I have been interceding I asked the Lord about that night. I wanted to know if the precious boy I prayed for these past six years, was filled with terror just before the accident or when the accident happened, or if God intervened supernaturally on his behalf. Then, in the midst of my prayers I saw it, a flash of light and a whooosh and Mathew was airlifted to Heaven. Received by his Lord, embraced and welcomed and released from the earthly life he was just in. I praised the Lord. In awe of His great mercy and so thankful He deposited such a precious moment between He and Mathew in my heart, I am overwhelmed by His provision again.

What that moment said to me was that He has already supernaturally provided for all who were affected by Mathew's seemingly untimely departure. He knows what is next and He knows what each of us need to process this life altering event.

Please join me in prayer for the Memorial Service that will be held tomorrow as we celebrate the wonderful deposit God made on this earth by the name of Mathew Rocheleau. Please pray that those who attend will be deeply affected by God's great love for them and that the impact Mathew made on so many would have eternal implications for ALL. I pray that not one person would leave our church tomorrow night without embracing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That the lost would be found, the wounded would receive healing, and those who have distanced themselves from God would have a breathtaking reunion with the One who has never left them.


I know this blog is supposed to be about my transition into a healthy and fit lifestyle. Praying for your friends and those who God lays on your heart - even if you have never met them - that is a KEY component to a healthy and fit lifestyle. We are in the pursuit of a deeper relationship with God. He is the author and perfecter of our faith, He is the One who designed the Body Of Christ to meet each others needs and to usher future believers into His open arms of love. That is Health my friends. That is being Fit for duty as your Lord calls your name and compels you to act on behalf of another. Listen up! He is speaking!