Hammer on Anvil '

A very dear friend of ours, with whom we shared breakfast just a month or so ago, passed into the arms of Jesus over the weekend. Jo was a vitally alive woman, even when last year she was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

When my mother-in-law passed away last April, Jo came to the visitation. My husband and I had not seen her for a while, and noticed that she seemed frailer, and a bit stooped over. Her speech was halting, and we thought perhaps she had suffered a stroke.

We met Jo and her husband, Larry (who passed away four years ago) at church many years ago when we began attending their Sunday School class. The subject was intercession (a passion of mine) and my husband and I learned a great deal from Jo and Larry's wisdom. We didn't just learn about prayer, though -- Jo and Larry asked us to begin praying with them during the church service.

Those Sunday mornings are forever etched in my memory: Jo and Larry on their knees, tearfully pleading with God to come in power and accomplish His purposes in the Sunday service. I probably learned more from praying with them week after week than I would have ever learned sitting in the sanctuary.

The pastor of that church ran it like a shrewd businessman. John and I saw the writing on the wall and left the church, but Jo and Larry stayed. Even though they knew the pastor was dead wrong, they interceded week after week for him and the congregation.

After a time, Larry wisely and biblically confronted the pastor about his sins. Instead of accepting the correction, though, the pastor made the grave mistake of essentially booting Jo and Larry out of the church. They showed up to a business meeting and were informed that their names were no longer on the membership roll. I will never forget the sense of dread I felt for that pastor when Larry told us what had happened. In removing Jo and Larry from membership, he had also unwittingly removed his own prayer covering. Shortly thereafter, the church imploded and its congregants were scattered.

Jo and Larry found a new church home, which I'm sure benefited from their wisdom and counsel. After Larry passed away, Jo remained involved in her church, and even kept a neighborhood Bible study going that she and Larry had started.She exuded the "gentle and quiet spirit" with which Peter says women should clothe themselves (1 Peter 3:4). When she battled breast cancer, her countenance did not waver.

Whenever we got together with Jo, it was usually at Cracker Barrel for breakfast -- where we last saw her about a month ago. Our bond was such that, even if we had not seen each other for months, we easily picked up where we left off. We shared news about our families, and laughed and cried together. The last time we were together, Jo fondly remembered an incident we had shared about one of our sons a few years back. She began to cry and said she admired us so much for how we loved our son unconditionally. My husband and I could scarcely believe our ears. That kind of compliment, from a woman of God that we held in such high esteem -- we were humbled beyond words.

Proverbs 27:17 talks about the kind of  "iron sharpening iron" relationship that we all need in order to grow spiritually. If you do not currently have a "Jo" in your life, I encourage you to ask God to send you someone to mentor you. You will not regret it.