Just a quick reminder: today is the last day to enter yesterday’s signed book giveaway from author, Julie Gillies! If you weren’t able to read about it yesterday,  you can click HERE to do so now. The giveaway runs until 9:00 pm ET tonight! I’ll announce the winner tomorrow morning!

There are some people that I see very rarely, talk to only occasionally, but when I’m reunited with them, I feel like I’ve come “home” again. In other words, I’m comfortable around them. I feel like we can pick up where we left off, and there’s not a sense of awkwardness. I personally have only a handful of friends that I could place in that category, but Cody and Maria Whittaker are two of those people.

I first met Cody and Maria at the church we mutually attended before they ventured onto the mission field. God called them to the nation of Haiti (for a season). I really didn’t know them well, and I’m sure they had no idea who I was at that time. But, I saw in them something I rarely see in many people (even other Christian friends). I saw an authentic passion and fire for the Lord Jesus Christ like no other. Their zeal and zest for evangelism and discipleship was contagious. Their genuine faith was something I deeply desired.

That faith was deeply ignited as they lived through the 2010 profoundly destructive earthquake that shook the nation of Haiti.

That faith was clearly evident as they walked with their young daughter, Susana, through a cancer diagnosis and gut-wrenching treatments.

That faith was especially apparent when God called their little Susana home at the age of four.

That faith was unmistakable when they heard God release them from Haiti and prepare them for a new calling in the nation of Nicaragua, soon after their family was robbed at gunpoint during their final days in Haiti.

For me, a clear picture of their faith arrived during my late husband’s “disappearance” and resulting suicide.

Three months prior to Chris’ death, I sat in Susana’s celebration of life service with tears pouring down my face as I watched her father play his guitar and give praise to God through Matt Redman’s song, You Never Let Go. That song was very special to their family, especially Susana (check out more about that story HERE). It blew me away to see Susana’s daddy bringing her such honor, giving God such glory, and sharing the hope that he had with all in attendance. His strength in this storm was like nothing I’d ever seen.

In the days leading up to Susana’s homegoing, I routinely dropped off fresh pineapple at their house, because Maria shared that Susana found it refreshing. I dubbed her the Pineapple Princess. So, as I sat in her service, the Pineapple Princess was being honored, and the Prince of Peace was being glorified!

Fast forward to May 4 of that same year. Chris had already been “missing” since around 5:15 the evening prior. The news media, church, family, friends, and law enforcement had already been notified. Word was getting out, and people wanted to help. I was completely overwhelmed with worry, and I truly didn’t know what to do. My friend, Lorie, looked at me at one point and asked if there was anybody else she should call. I knew in my heart who I wanted her to call, but I was afraid. They had already been through so much. Even so, God kept nudging me to do it.

I finally shared who was on my heart, “Please call Maria Whittaker. I really feel like I need her here if she’s available.”

Without hesitation, Lorie made the phone call, and Maria was there within the hour. Cody went and joined the search team our church had formed to help look for Chris. I think God was already preparing me for the news I would get hours later about Chris. He knew I needed them at this time.

When I think back to the moment when I learned of Chris’ death. It wasn’t when my friend and pastor actually uttered the words that I knew. Granted, that was the moment it was confirmed and the fact that it was death by suicide (of which I was completely shocked about). However, it was when the group walked in my front door, and I saw Cody standing there, and the look in his eyes told me Chris was gone. I had seen that look before…just three months before, as he said a temporary goodbye to Susana.

While much of that evening lies hidden in the recesses of my memory, I still remember some things very vividly. I remember Maria weeping with me, as I lay on the floor deeply in grief over the tragedy of what I just learned. I remember her speaking truth over me and comforting me with the comfort she had received just those short few months prior. I remember Cody helping to haul some things out of the house that very night that I just couldn’t have near me any longer.

I remember sharing an evening with them in the days that followed.

I remember them sitting in Chris’ celebration of life service worshiping as they listened to the very song that Cody played/sang at Susana’s service.

The tragedies of what we both went through and the bond that we now share, coupled with the bond that we share in Christ, has created a common cord  that will forever bind us together.

“Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” ~Ecclesiastes 4:11-12

And, I love how The Message translates these verses:

“Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.