Michael and the Grace of God

I mentioned the unknown in the first blog about Mike. The unknown is that place of either wild and vain imaginations which lead to a dark pit of depression, OR it is the open door to the grace of God. We have a choice, one or the other. In His mercy, God led us to His grace. A much welcome late night twitter from a granddaughter came tonight with a message that she had read the blog about Mike. It was time to finish the story of Mike.

Mikey was a little boy that early on was a defender of the weak and anyone who seemed to be the under dog. Nothing seemed to hold him back when he helped someone, not even fear. As he grew older, sometimes that defensive mode got him in trouble, but a world in pain needs its defenders. We loved him for it.

One of the people he was defensive of was a young woman who was 21 years old. Her name was Mary and she lived in a nursing home. Every day in a wheel chair. She couldn't speak, but had a voice for yelling and when she yelled, her face showed pain and frustration. I think this was the motivation for Mike when we visited her. Our church had a ministry at this home and Mike loved going there. One Sunday we were on our way and Mike asked what he could do to make Mary feel better. He was 10 years old at the time. Had to think about that for awhile. We had plenty of people who layed hands on her and prayed for God to heal her, but I knew God had something else for Mike to do. He had just learned to stand on his hands, he did a great job at that, and his determination was very entertaining. So I suggested that he stand on his hands for Mary. His eyes lit up knowing he had something to help her feel better. We walked through the door of the nursing home and there she was, right by the front door. Mike greeted her and said he had something to show her. Mary wasn't screaming, just watching Mikey. First try, he gets up on his hands, legs straight up in the air and he just stood there, upside down. All of a sudden Mary began to clap her hands and give this funny laugh. Her whole demeanor had changed. Someone had stopped and focused on her. A little boy from the kingdom of God.

Mikey stood on his feet, red-faced and said, "did ya like that Mary?" And she clapped again. God's grace is so good. Many, many ways to serve in this world.

Life with Mike was one adventure after another. Our lifes mission was to love and keep him on the right track, and most days it worked. One day when over night it seemed, Mike was a young man of 6'3'' and 16 years old. In his 16 year old way, he let loose with a smart mouth toward me and I reached out and swatted him on the butt as he passed by. He looked and smiled at me and said, "mom, you hit like a marshmallow!" That got me fired up for sure. The swat hadn't work, what to do? No cell phones, XBox to deprive him of, and he wasn't that crazy about t.v. so the next best thing was the two month old can of whipped cream in the fridge. It had to be sour by then. Mike saw "the look" I gave him and started the retreat. By this time I had grabbed the old whipped cream and I got his whole body down on the floor because I knew where his tickle spot was, about the third rib down. It worked! I sprayed and I sprayed until air came out. His whole face was a mess of old cream.

Mike led an up and down life in his adulthood. Encouragement would work for awhile. He would come for prayer and how grateful we were for that. He stayed with a good job that had responsibilities but the next thing we knew, he had quit and got a job as a bouncer at a club in Seattle. We would hear from him occasionally by phone, letters. He always, always called me on mother's day and his birthday, August 19. Mike doesn't call me anymore since that last call.

Over the years, God sent His times of grace to heal. How good it is. The thing hanging over was the unknown. Is he dead, is he alive? The unknown is hell to live in. Here comes God's grace again and many times in between. He opened a giant door to The Rock Church in Monroe. Life hasn't been the same since then. We jumped into everything we could. God was healing many places in our hearts and we yielded one at a time.

About 2 or 3 years ago the unknown was creeping in again. The wondering. Would I ever get another call? Pastor Jeff would occasionally pray for wandering children. That told me there were other parents who knew how we felt. God's grace moves in marvelous ways. I had been in this place of the unknown for about a month this time and Pastor Melinda brought a message one night on how God communicates with us and she used the scripture from Jude about "the only wise God." Jude 25 NKJV. That phrase alone came like a bolt of light in my soul and I went somewhere with the Lord while He healed me. I knew, I knew, I knew (three times, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved in this one!) without a doubt that God knew where Mike was. In fact, God is omnipotent. He alone knows everything about Mike, now it's ok.

Years ago we dedicated Mike to Jesus and that's what we intent to live in. His grace is that unmerited favor when we know God truly does reign supreme. We could never in this world work that into our hearts, He did it by His grace.