Happy Easter!

Last weekend, I attended my Church's Women's Retreat. The speaker was Shannon Ethridge, author of the best selling Every Woman's Battle Series and book Completely His. I had not read any of her books before, so I had no idea what she would be like. Her story absolutely floored me and I was glad to have heard it for the first time from her lips. Here are a few excerpts from her story, which she tells in the book Completely His.

I can still remember getting ready the morning of August 29, 1984, slipping on my new jeans and jelly sandals, grabbing my books and pompoms and kissing my mom good-bye. As I came over the hill, I remembered that I still needed to put lipstick on. I adjusted my rear view mirror for a quick application. As my eyes returned to the road, I caught a glimpse of something moving, then felt my car jolt suddenly. In a split second it occurred to me that I had hit something. My initial thought was perhaps it was a farm animal out of it's pasture, but I had a sinking feeling that it as something much worse. As I unlatched my seat belt, flung open the car door, and ran back several yards to see what I had hit, my sinking feeling was confirmed. I stood trembling in shock over the body of a curly-headed woman lying face down in the grass next to a mangled bicycle. It took 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. When a paramedic finally examined the woman, he coldly explained that we would have to call a funeral home because there was nothing he could do.

Later that day I received a phone call from a man calling to inform me that the woman's name was Marjorie Jarstfer and that he was her neighbor. The caller continued, "Shannon, I want you to know that her husband Gary's immediate response was, "How is the girl? Was she hurt? Does she know it's not her fault?" I couldn't believe that this man's first response to such devastating news was concern for me, the one responsible for his pain. I was more stunned when the caller said Gary wanted me to come to his home the night before the funeral to meet his family.

As I entered the house, I looked down the entry corridor to see a big, burly middle-aged man coming toward me, not with animosity in his eyes, but with his arms open wide. Gary Jarstfer scooped me up in the warmest embrace, and the tears that I had been fighting back were now flowing freely onto his flannel shirt.

To me this story is an amazing picture of forgiveness, much like the forgiveness that Jesus Christ gives, it's unconditional. Shannon said in one of her talks that "Gary Jarstfer was Jesus in a flannel shirt". What is so encouraging is that this type of love and forgiveness is available to everyone because of the sacrifice that Jesus made by giving His life on the cross. So be encouraged as we head into the Easter weekend, God loves you and wants nothing more than to hold you in His arms and have you feel that forgiveness and love!

For more info on Shannon and her books check out, http://www.shannonethridge.com/