Month: September 2026

The 99 – A True Story

Several months ago, an evangelistic rally took place in the Gulf States.  Will Graham, the featured speaker and grandson of Billy Graham, retold* how the ministry team prepared in the week leading up to the event.  On location, they were pulling together the details and doing final set up.  A couple of times, the team finished the day by eating dinner together at a Denny’s restaurant.  A waitress named Stephanie served them, and the team invited her to attend the rally.  She said she had weekend plans but might be able to come to one of the evenings.

Some of my grands experience a lamb.

The first night of the festival took place.  Graham and his team met afterward.  It turned out that ninety-nine attendees made spiritual decisions.  This was wonderful news, but as Graham told it, he was immediately struck by the thought that one was missing!  Where was the 100th person, as the parable of the lost sheep goes in Luke 15?  It came to him that Stephanie, the waitress at Denny’s, was number one hundred.  He began to pray for her.

 

The final night of the faith festival, the event staff were in place, setting up. They were taking promotional photos to post, and as one of the team screened the pictures to post, she recognized Stephanie in the arriving crowd: she had made it to the event!  Later, while listening to the message, Stephanie was moved to respond to Jesus.

What joyous news and answered prayer for Will Graham and the team.  Catching a bite to eat late that night with the event team, Will prayed a quick blessing over the food and rally.  He also asked the Lord to show Stephanie His plan for her.  Stephanie, meanwhile, texted someone else on the team.  She said, ‘I finally know for sure that God has a purpose for me.’  God is at work.   He finds His lost sheep and brings them into HIs fold.  He is our Good Shepherd (John 10 v 11).

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way    Isaiah 53 v 6 www.publicdomainpictures.net
Photo contributed by Andrea Stockel

*My husband and I heard Will Graham tell this story at BGEA’s The Cove retreat center in Asheville, NC this past summer.

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Toothless Wonder

Earlier this year, my husband experienced a bout of dental events.  A capped tooth began to disintegrate, ending in the eventual loss of the whole tooth, a front incisor. A dentist, an oral surgeon, and some big bills later, he had a bone implant so that he can now wait many months for enough new bone to hold a post.  Most of you aren’t interested in dental drama, but I am guessing a few of you (or your loved one) have gone through something similar.  The current result is having to wear a removable dental prosthetic or more often, being a toothless wonder!

Initially we were happy for the custom-made dental appliance which maintained his natural smile.  After a while though, he didn’t care for eating with it, and even felt it made talking seem weird, so he sports a new look.  It’s been an adjustment for me.  In processing this, I considered the many adjustments spouses, or family and close friends, make.  Hair loss from chemotherapy, slurred speech or a limp after a stroke or accident, altered appearance, communication, or behavior due to dementia.  The list could go on.  What is constant is that people change; life and age take their toll. Commitment calls us to gird up.  We stay devoted, even for a broken smile.

A local summer outing for us. He hits a bucket of golfballs; I sip water in the shade.

My other nearly immediate learning was the commonness of dental problems.  It seemed every couple of days I saw someone with a missing tooth.  Was it always this way or was I now noticing because of my husband’s situation?  Twice, it was guys about the same age, and I figured they did not have the money to take care of it, or they decided they had better ways to spend that kind of money at this stage of life.  But I have also noticed more than one young woman bearing a smile with a gap, and my heart felt for them.  It’s not a pretty look for a young lady.  She’s likely embarrassed, and treatments are prohibitively expensive!

The Lord knows the heartaches of women:  Leah with the weak eyes (Genesis 29 v 17), Hannah, the childless ‘other’ wife (1 Samuel 1 v 2).  The prayerful cry of Hagar, Abram and Sarai’s castoff servant girl was, “the God who sees me!” (Genesis 16 v 13) Yes, He sees what is hard, and He helps us see the heartaches of others.  In some cases, we will be the one to supply the need.  For me, it is the mercy to accept toothless as wonderful, knowing that Jesus “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”  (2 Corinthians 1 v 4)