by Cheryl AF Okimoto
This Thanksgiving I am so very grateful that God moves in my life without my approval! A year ago, had He asked for it, I would have said a resounding “NO!” And I would have missed out on wonderful blessings. But as it is, in the last year, God has not only blessed me incredibly, but He’s also shown me that He does indeed answer prayer. He answers prayers before we ever pray them, but He also answers the prayer when we are hurting too much to pray!
Last year at this time, I was very happily married to a wonderful man. That in itself was a multi-faceted miracle that will have to wait for another time to be told. It goes all the way back to when I was two-and-a-half and my father left, setting me on a course of bad relationships that only God could break.
But for now, let’s make a long story short and fast forward to just past the breaking point. I gave God control of my life and decisions. Just after my second divorce, I told Him that if He ever wanted me to marry again, He’d have to make it happen Himself! And He did.
The process isn’t important for this story, but the fact is that in 2000, God sent me back to the man He had intended for me in 1993, when I stubbornly went my own way and stepped into my disastrous second marriage. In December 2000, I was back on track with God’s will for my life as I became Mrs. Ronald H. Vail, Jr.
The ensuing two years were the happiest of my life to that point. Not only were we growing closer to each other and to my three children, who Ron claimed as his own, but more importantly, we were growing closer to God in wonderful ways. (Another story that will have to wait for another day!)
Last November, the day before Thanksgiving, we were eagerly anticipating my daughter’s arrival from the Mainland. As the time approached for us to go to the airport, Ron began to get feverish. By the time her plane landed and she had claimed her baggage, Ron was definitely ill. But his decision was that Satan was tempting him to take his focus off of God and it wasn’t going to happen! His fever broke during the night, but by the end of Thanksgiving day, his hip was starting to hurt. Saturday, he woke up feverish and in great pain. Since it was a dialysis day we decided that if he was not better after the dialysis, we would go to the emergency room. The decision was based on two facts: in the past he had been sick before dialysis and felt better after, and, if we took him to the emergency room in the morning, he probably would not get dialysis at all that day.
That afternoon, Ron was admitted to Tripler Army Medical Center in the Intensive Care ward with a massive infection in his hip. He never left the hospital as he died Sunday, December 8, just after they brought his lunch to his new room in the regular ward.
The pain of the loss was intense. Only the knowledge that God was in control sustained me in the dark days that followed. And in the next few months, without me even realizing it, God set me on the new course He had planned for me. I thought I had lost the love of my life and my soul mate, but God first showed me that He was the love of my life. Then He showed me that we create our own soul mates when we choose to follow His will.
Here I’ll need to pick up some background for the next events to make sense. Ron and I started a small business just months before he died. Since I am not just a writer, but also adept at editorial and organizational work, we were interested in starting a Christian newspaper. We knew we didn’t know enough or have enough resources to do it on our own, so we prayed. One day, as I picked up a copy of the Island Christian Guide, I commented to Ron that the publisher of the Guide might know something about starting a Christian newspaper. Logical, right? A Christian in publishing! So, with Ron’s encouragement, I sent a letter to the publisher of the Island Christian Guide – Paul Okimoto according to the letter in the front of the Guide. In September, shortly after he received the letter, Paul called and talked to Ron as I was out at the time. Since Paul was busy selling ads for the December issue of the Guide, they decided we would get together in November after the book went to the publisher.
On November 14, 2002, Ron sent Paul an email requesting a meeting. Paul’s response was that he’d be in touch, but he was currently busy with another project. The next communication was that Ron had died. I told Paul I still wanted to get together after the first of the year, and he made the contact during the second week of January. The meeting was set up for January 13, 2003, with three other people.
That was the start of a business relationship that God quickly moved to a friendship. From the friendship came romance.
From my personal journal, I know the day God assured me that the romance was a gift from Him. May 4th, during my devotions, God reminded me that He answers prayer, even before we pray it. My first thoughts turned to how even before Ron died, He set Paul and I on a course to meet. But that wasn’t all God had for me that day. He sent me back to my sermon notes, all the way to January. One of the sermons by a visiting pastor was about God restoring things. I clearly remember him saying, “God will restore in 2003 what Satan took from you in 2002!” I also clearly remember that in my pain I rejected the whole notion. I did not pray for restoration, for my thoughts were, “Yeah, right! What I lost was the love of a lifetime. Like God’s really going to give me another husband to love me like that in 2003!” That was the evening service on Sunday, January 12th. The very next day I met Paul!
Does God answer prayer? You better believe it! Does He know what He’s doing even when you can’t see His plan? Beyond a shadow of a doubt, yes!
So this Thanksgiving, I thank God for the blessing of two wonderful men in one year. Two very different men with the same love for the Lord. I thank God for a vision that carried on even when I thought it was dead. For not answering my prayers when I asked him to take me home, too.
I thank God for being God! Creator, Redeemer, Restorer. The Love of a lifetime!
Copyright 2003 Cheryl AF Okimoto
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