Julie & I (a love story)

Julie & I
A love story

Sometimes we have stop and look inside to see that the true blessings God places in our lives may not last long but they change us forever.

For me it was seeing Gods work in another’s life that brought me closer to my Lord.
I had bounced around from Church to Church for most of my life and though I heard the words I never really felt the spirit behind them. I was faithful and believed in God but he just wasn't a major guiding force in my life. That all changed on a Sunny Sunday Morning when on a whim I got up early and dressed for Church, there was a Church I passed everyday on my way to work so I thought I'd give them a try. I entered nervous, not knowing any one and unsure where to go, where to sit. I was directed toward a Sunday school room and found several people already inside. The Class was a few weeks into a study of the book The Purpose Driven Life and of course I didn't have a copy. That was when a sweet little woman (she was only 5 foot even) invited me to share her book. A few weeks later I invited my Daughter to attend the church with me and there I again saw that Little woman with the big smile, this time we talked more and after church I took both of them out for a sandwich.
I was to find that Julie (that was her name) was carrying a heavy burden in her life. She had suffered her first heart attack at age 30 and been totally disabled since that time, she had congestive heart failure and fribromyagia and suffered from severe breathing problems. You would never have known it from seeing her smile but pain was a constant part of her life and she was taking on average sixteen pills a day just to keep going.
Due to these problems she could not work and though she had applied for disability Government red tape and nonsense had help up her claim for seven years during which time she had to rely on her Mother for support as she had no money.
She loved the Lord and was deeply devout despite her burdens and together we found a deep and abiding faith that made our relationship one of the closest I have ever experienced in my life.
Julie had been blessed with an amazing voice and thought she was small when she sang the sound filled the room to the rafters. Her style was very much like that of Sandi Patti whom she admired and could hit and hold notes that others can’t even approach. We traveled to many churches where she sang but when we returned home she would once more have to take the pills that often made her sick and weak.
It lasted for a glorious few years she and I.
The Government finally came through, after two lawyers and seven years and approved her for the benefits she should have had from day one and back payments for the time she had to wait. She was finally able to pay back some of the many blessings others had shown her through the years. We talked of Marriage but due to her medical benefits, which she would lose if we Married caused us to put off a legal marriage but we did say sacred vows before God.
We found an Apartment and she had such a good time decorating what was her first independent home in so many years. My job at that time took me away from home for weeks at at time and when I would return she was always there happy and waiting.
Three Months after we found our apartment Julie passed away, she started having breathing trouble while we were out shopping one afternoon and even though I rushed her to the Emergency room she suffered a collapse and passed away that afternoon.

It was hard for me to understand, I did so much soul searching trying to find a reason that God would have taken her just when things were going so well and she was so happy.
It was during one hard late night missing her being there that it came upon me like the touch of a hand on my shoulder a feeling of peace. I found myself on my knees there by the bed sobbing as the hard feelings I had been holding in were lifted from my heart.
The wisdom came upon me that what I had been seeing as my loss was just my selfish view of things. That though Julie had been taken during what seemed to be the time that things were turning around her , a voice whispered in my heart that it was just that before she left this Earth all her prayers had been answered, She had found her true love, recived the benefits she needed and had been able to payback her mother and family for all the care and love they had shown her through her illness, she had seen her fortunes restored like Job because of her unfailing faith. The last and final prayer answered for her was to be released from the constant pain.
I came up from my knees with a deeper and more profound understanding of Gods abiding love and grace and a desire to have his presence always in my life and his guidance in my heart. I also came away with the understanding that Julie and I would see each other again.

I keep the Lord my God in my life and though only a man and therefore sinful, I try to live as a Christian and may not always succeed but he smiles on me and I believe he forgives me my faults.
This is my testimony of my faith

James Malone