Minnie Goes to Heaven (61)

(a novel continued)

On December 21, the fourth Friday in December, Minnie and John were ready to visit their pastor. They had prayed to Jesus to reveal the exact timing and at 11 o’clock that morning they knew the hour had come. John phoned Rev. Peters. “We have something we want to run past you,” John said into the phone.

Pastor Peters said there was no time like the present and invited them to meet him in his study at the church. He would be there until noon.

John and Minnie drove over to the church in silence. When they pulled into the parking lot, Minnie wondered out loud how they were going to approach the subject. “Do we tell him about my extraordinary visit to heaven and let him draw his own conclusions?”

“I think we should let the Lord handle this one.” John said. “He knows Pastor Peters better than we do. The man prayed that the doctors would use wisdom in bringing you out of the coma and for God to guide their hands. He visited you several times during your stay in the hospital and always spoke comforting words to me. He had me think about preparing for your possible death. I honestly don’t know if he will find your heavenly visit plausible.”

“Okay,” Minnie said, “We will only do what we see the Father doing and only say what we hear Him saying—it worked for Jesus, it should work for us. He did say we would do far greater things than He did.”

They prayed quietly in their hearts as Pastor Peters escorted them into his study. “Good to see you doing so well,” Pastor Peters said to Minnie. He motioned them to sit in two chairs arranged in front of his desk. “Now, what can I do for you?”

Minnie and John listened quietly with their spirits. The Lord surprised them with their request.

“I am so grateful to be alive,” Minnie said, “that I want to have a special service, a sort of celebration, a thank you for healing me.”

“You know,” Paster Peters said, “that would be a fine idea, but with Christmas and New Year’s coming we really don’t need any more special services. Look at this schedule. He pointed to an erasable appointment calendar on the wall beside him. Sunday morning, Sunday evening, a Christmas Eve service on Monday, Tuesday we have a Christmas morning service and  then the following weekend Sunday morning, Sunday evening, a special New Year’s Eve service on Monday and finally New Year’s morning. Eight services in two weeks.” 

Minnie and John nodded. 
“I don’t think we would get more than a handful of people out for an extra service on top of all that,” Pastor Peters said. “And, I’m leaving for a few weeks in January for a scheduled holiday.”

Minnie and John heard the Lord say, “Wait.”

Pastor Peters stood up. Minnie and John sat glued to their chairs.

“I’ll tell you what,” the pastor said as he moved toward the door. “In February people are ready for some kind of celebration. We could even work in a Valentine’s theme—sending a love note to the Lord.”

Minnie heard a ‘yes’ in her heart. “That would be just right,” she said.

“We can work out the details later,” Pastor Peter said.