Jeanette, my friend and counselor...

Jeanette could tell you a lot about me. She's heard just about all of the tough stuff. She was my friend first and later she was my counselor, mainly because she knew my story and how much I'd already been hurt. She cared enough that she didn't trust another counselor to help me. With God as her guide, she helped me to push through the toughest parts of my life and to get to the other side. I am so very thankful that God led me to her.

Jeanette helped me through the pain of incest, rape, and feelings of abandonment...to name a few of my issues. And she helped me through trust issues that made it difficult to trust my Heavenly Father. That's the way it is for most people when you haven't been able to trust your earthly father. I had been to other counselors, but there was something about the way that she seemed to call on the Lord for every word that came from her mouth in our counseling sessions.

The main thing I think Jeanette helped me to understand is that the only Counselor I truly need is Jesus. While we definitely still need earthly Christian counselors sometimes, Jesus is the only one who has been there and done that when it comes to any pain you might be experiencing. He took on all the sins of the world, so there's not a single one that is causing any of us any pain that he hasn't already felt.

And now it's possible that I may soon have to say goodbye to my friend Jeanette until we meet in heaven. You see, after only knowing her for only a short time really, Jeanette was diagnosed with stage four cancer. She has been fighting an incredibly difficult battle with it for over a year and I've only talked to her a few times since. Part of that has been because she's been very busy trying to keep living her life and part of that is purely my fault.

And again she's being told that things still aren't looking great for her recovery. I wish so very much that I had met her when we were younger, but I have been truly blessed to know her either way. I still pray that God will decide to heal her of this horrible thing, and I know that he can. If so, I look forward to more years as her friend. If not, I will have no doubt where she is and that I will see her again.

God speaks to me most in songs and so I am reminded of the Ray Boltz song "Thank You For Giving To The Lord" because I am a life that was changed. I am so thankful to those who have, like Jeanette, given to the Lord in helping others.