Miracles

  Someone grabbed him and pulled him away from the man. He turned to find it was Karen. She glanced from side to side, as if he’d embarrassed her. “Andy, you’ve got to stop talking. They’re going to call security.”

  “But there are people who need to hear what happened to me, and I can’t stop speaking about what I have seen and heard. I think that’s a verse from Acts 4, when Peter and John were arrested and told not to speak anymore about Jesus, and they said they couldn’t stop speaking about what they’d seen and heard. I know exactly how they felt now, because as much as I’d like to, I can’t seem to stop talking about it.”

  He pulled away from her then and stopped a nurse coming his way. “Ma’am, do you understand how precious you are in God’s sight? Do you know that He knit you in your mother’s womb, and that He knew you even before the foundation of the earth was laid?”

  “Well . . . uh . . .”

  Karen’s husband, Ed, grabbed Andy’s arm and pulled him away. “Come on, bro. They’re going to admit you in the psychiatric ward if you don’t shut up right now.”

  Andy towered over his brother-in-law, but he allowed him to pull him from the building. “You’ve never told me to shut up in your life, Ed. What’s gotten into you?”

  “I’ve never had to tell you to shut up! You don’t talk much. It’s not your nature. You’re quiet and pensive and mutter a lot.”

  Karen grabbed his other arm. “Andy, I know you’re excited about being healed, but it wouldn’t hurt to rest your vocal cords to keep from straining them again.”

  “I’m fine.” They went down the front steps of the hospital and toward the parking lot. “I’m just realizing that when the Lord gives you a gift, you have to use it for His glory, and I’ve been given a gift. I’ve never thought of my voice as being a gift from God, but it is, Karen, and yours and Ed’s are too. Only I’ve had something so amazing happen that I can’t help feeling marked by God in some way, like He has a special plan for these vocal cords of mine, and if I’m quiet about it I’ll just be throwing that gift back in His face, and besides, I don’t think I could hush if I wanted to, because I just have all these words right on the tip of my tongue, and if I don’t let them roll off, I think I might wind up in that psych ward, after all.”

  They got into his sister’s car, and he ducked his massive frame into the backseat. “So where were you guys when the quake happened?”

  “We were both at home, thankfully,” Ed said. “It didn’t do too much damage in our part of town.”

  “Well, what if that had been different?” Andy leaned up on the seat. “What if you had been in a building that collapsed? Say you died. Do you think you would have gone to heaven?”

  “I don’t know if I believe in an afterlife,” Ed muttered.

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  Ed rolled his eyes. “Andy, I can’t deal with these hypo-theticals right now, okay? I’m just going to take you home.”

  Andy wasn’t daunted. “I’m serious, Ed. You need to think about that, you know. Everybody needs to think about it, especially in light of what just happened. I mean, if you don’t believe in an afterlife, you must have reasons for it. But one of us is wrong, and I think it’s you.”

  Ed chuckled. “Well, you’re entitled to your beliefs, and I’m entitled to mine.”

  “We’re going to find out someday, Ed. I mean, I survived this, but I’m going to die one day, and so are you.”

  “Not for a while, I hope.”

  “Could be today . . . or tomorrow. There could be another quake in the next few minutes, and the ground could swallow us up, and we could all be lying there dead.”

  Karen’s mouth fell open, and she gave him a disgusted look. “Andy!”

  “You can’t hold off death forever,” he went on. “That’s my point. There’s going to come a time when you’re going to find out for sure whether there’s a heaven or a hell. Now, while you can, you need to consider Jesus Christ, like it says in Hebrews 3:1. The Bible also says that broad is the way that leads to destruction. That the way to heaven is through a narrow door, and that door is Jesus Christ.”

  Ed just stared straight ahead as he navigated his way across town. “Whatever you say, Andy.”

  “I just challenge you to consider it, okay? It’s not God’s will that any should perish.”

  Ed pulled the car into Andy’s driveway. His small house looked unharmed. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that it could have been damaged in the quake.

  “Where’s your car, Andy?” Karen’s effort to change the subject was apparent.

  “I guess it was crushed in the quake. I’m not sure. The insurance will probably take care of it soon. Good thing we live in a small town. I can walk just about anywhere I need to go.”

  “Call us if you need a ride anywhere.”

  He nodded, but didn’t make a move to get out. “Will you both think about what I said? I could get you a Bible if you need it. I have a couple of extra ones.”

  “No thanks.” Ed was more than annoyed.

  Andy got out of the car and closed the door, then started to lean in the window to continue the conversation. Ed started pulling out before he could do that.

  Andy waved helplessly. “I don’t know why you won’t listen to me.” He knew they couldn’t hear, but he felt compelled to say it. “I’m just trying to tell you the greatest news in the world.”

  Slowly he walked into the house, dropped his keys on the table, and stared at the phone. He had to call someone. He still had a lot of talking to do. He sat down with his phone and the telephone book and started through his list of friends.

  He hoped they would listen.

  9

  THE BROTHERHOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH HAD suffered its own damage in the earthquake. The roof on the northeast corner of the building had caved in. While most of the building still stood, the damage was extensive enough that the leadership feared having the congregation meet in there for the Friday-evening service. Instead, they congregated in the fellowship hall to pray for those still buried in the rubble, for the rescue workers and medical personnel caring for the injured, and for all those grief-stricken people searching for their loved ones tonight.

  Bree arrived at the church with her mother and her children and greeted one of the deacons who stood at the door.

  Flash.

  She saw him as a younger man, walking through a jungle wearing combat fatigues, a gun slung from his shoulder. His face was painted in camouflage. His comrades walked in front of and beside him, listening, their guns poised to shoot.

  The sound of machine-gun fire startled them all. The young man next to him hit the ground . . . then another . . . and another, until he was left standing alone.

  A bullet ripped through his leg, and he fell, too, still firing at some invisible target.

  Flash.

  “Bree!” The deacon was speaking to her with a huge smile. “I heard you’d been injured in the crash. I didn’t expect to see you.”

  Shaken by the vision, she swallowed hard. “Uh . . . James, are you a veteran, by any chance?”

  His face changed, and that smile faded. “Well, yes. I fought in Vietnam.”

  Then the visions were true. She felt a little dizzy and reached out to steady herself.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I just . . . heard it somewhere. Come on, kids . . .”

  She took her children’s hands and escorted them past him. Tears came into her eyes, but she knew that if she started crying, she might not be able to stop. Something was wrong with her. Maybe it was a head injury. Maybe she did need to be back in the hospital.

  Quickly, she took a seat at the back of the room.

  Across the room she saw Carl coming in—and she stared. He looked perfectly healthy! The legs that she was sure would be paralyzed strode into the room. Carl didn’t even have a scratch on his face. She watched him walk the perimeter of the room, as if he was too fidgety to sit down.

  Then she saw Andy
filing in with a group of people. He was deep in conversation, and she wasn’t able to catch his eye. His voice seemed to be working now.

  The service began, and she tried to concentrate on praying. But the moment the service was over, she turned to her mother. “Mom, can you take the kids home? I need to talk to Carl and Andy.”

  “Sure. Do you want me to put them to bed?”

  “No, they can stay up. I’ll tuck them in when I get home.”

  Her mother and children scurried off, and Bree crossed the room to Carl. She hugged him. “Carl, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “You too, Bree. Man, I didn’t think so when I saw you after they pulled you out. How in the world can you look so good? Your face was cut all over and scraped and bloody, and your eyes were swollen shut.”

  “And you . . . how are you walking?”

  Carl shook his head. “It’s the weirdest thing.”

  “Man, I’ve got to talk to you two.” They both turned and saw Andy towering over them. “Do you have a minute? Something weird has been happening.”

  Bree frowned. “What do you mean, something weird? Andy, how are you talking?”

  “I’ve been healed—”

  “Me too!” Carl said. “Man, I woke up this morning as good as new, like yesterday hadn’t even happened.”

  Bree brought her hand to her face. “And you can see by my eyes that the same thing happened to me!”

  “But it’s more than that.” Andy looked from side to side, keeping his voice low. “Can we go somewhere private and talk?”

  Bree hesitated. Something weird, Andy said . . . Had he and Carl been seeing visions too? “Yeah. Let’s find a Sunday-school room.” She led them out of the fellowship hall and into the hallway.

  But Carl wasn’t following her lead. He’d turned to go the other way, into a group of people clustered near the exit. She tried to catch up with him, and Andy followed behind her. Carl stopped next to a woman who stood off by herself, listening to the chatter of the group.

  When she saw Carl standing beside her, looking as if he was waiting for something, she got an uncomfortable look on her face. “Can I help you?”

  He just stood there. “Uh . . . no.”

  Then Bree met her eyes.

  Flash.

  She saw her as a small child, maybe four or five, being dragged, kicking and screaming and crying, from her home and put into a human-services car. Her parents stood at the door cursing and screaming threats at the people who were taking her. She saw the child being belted into the backseat, heard her crying and wailing for her parents as the police snapped handcuffs on them—and dragged them away for drug charges.

  Flash.

  Bree broke out in a cold sweat as Andy came up behind them.

  “Man, there are people out there who need us. We’ve got to tell them about the Lord,” he said. “I mean, we can’t expect to just sit in here and have people come to us, you know. I know there were a few new faces in here tonight, but for the most part we’ve got to go minister to them where they are, because how can they know unless they are told, and how can they be told unless someone is sent, and how can they be sent unless—”

  Carl grabbed Andy and headed the other way up the hall. “Come with me.”

  Andy kept chattering as Carl led them to a room. Bree closed the door and switched on the light.

  “Something weird is happening,” Andy said again. “I think I’m losing my mind.”

  “Me too,” Carl said. “Don’t tell me. You feel like your feet are taking you all over the place, like they know things you don’t know, and you can’t be still no matter what you do?”

  Andy and Bree looked at each other. “That’s what’s happening to you?” Bree asked.

  “Yeah.” Carl kept pacing. “Ever since my legs were healed, it’s like they have a life of their own. If that’s not what you meant, then what’s happening to you?”

  “I can’t shut up,” Andy said. “I’ve been talking people to death. Everybody I see . . . witnessing and quoting Scripture like it’s my last day on earth or something. Like I have to cram a lifetime of lost opportunities into one minute.”

  Bree gaped at them both. “And I see things.”

  Both men turned to her. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve been having visions. I mean, really weird visions, like if I look somebody in the eye—not every time, but real often—if I look somebody in the eye I have this flash into his or her life. I see defining moments when something terrible happened. Like that girl outside, Carl, that you were just standing beside. Why did you take us up to her?”

  Carl shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s the weirdest thing. It’s like my feet are taking me places I don’t want to go, and when I get there I know somebody is in danger, and I feel this urgency. I led some firemen to some people buried under rubble today. How I knew they were there, I don’t know. Something supernatural is going on here. I can’t stop it, and now I’m walking up to people in crowds and just standing there. I know they need help. I know they’re in danger, but I can’t seem to figure out what it is I’m supposed to do next. And that girl out there, she was one of them. I just felt like walking up to her, and then I stood there and I didn’t know what to do.”

  “And then I saw a flash into her life,” Bree said. “That girl was taken from her parents when she was a tiny little girl. She saw the police arrest her mom and dad on drug charges.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I told you, it’s these visions. I just saw it. I’ve been seeing into people’s lives all day. It’s just bizarre, and it’s making me crazy.”

  “I know just what you mean.” Andy took her shoulders. “I’m chattering my head off and driving people away left and right, but I can’t seem to stop it. And the weird thing is I’m quoting Scripture that I didn’t know before.”

  Bree sat down. “You’ve only been a Christian for, what, a year?”

  “Yeah, and I’ve always had trouble memorizing. Now all of a sudden I’m quoting Scripture like crazy.”

  Carl frowned. “You don’t think we’ve been given some kind of supernatural gifts, do you? I mean, God spared our lives, but maybe he also had some wild purpose for our survival.”

  “It doesn’t feel like a special gift.” Bree hugged herself. “It feels kind of like a curse. I’m scared of it. I’m almost afraid to look into anybody’s eyes.”

  Andy bent down to her. “Well, why aren’t you seeing into my past? You’re looking in my eyes.”

  Bree shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t happen with everybody. I saw a lot of people when I came in here tonight, people greeting me and hugging me and telling me how glad they were that I was all right, and I didn’t have the flash then. I only had one flash then—it was of James Miller in Vietnam. But I sat down after that and didn’t look up until the service started.”

  Carl began to pace again. “So I felt an urgency to walk up to that girl, and then you saw a vision into her past.”

  Andy stared at the floor, as if piecing the puzzle together there. “Yeah, and then I opened my mouth and started rambling, only I didn’t know what she needed to hear.”

  Carl’s eyes widened. “Do you think maybe we’re supposed to be working together? I mean, I’ve been running all over town all day. It’s been so weird, and I’m exhausted, and I don’t feel very productive, except for that time that I showed the firemen where those people were trapped. Maybe if I had Bree to follow up with her visions into people’s lives, and you, Andy, to talk to them, it would make some kind of sense.”

  “I think you’re right.” Andy’s eyes rounded. “Maybe we’re supposed to work together to fill people’s spiritual needs and help them see that Christ is the answer. That’s the reason we’re here, isn’t it, to continue the work that Jesus started? Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. And what are those good works supposed to be?
Well, of course we’re supposed to tell people about Christ. I mean, that’s our main job as Christians, isn’t it?”

  Bree stared at the air. “You know, I’ve only shared Christ with two people in my entire life, and I’ve been a Christian for fifteen years. Those two people are my children.”

  “Well, that’s nothing to sneeze at,” Carl said.

  “It’s nothing to brag about either. I mean, I’ve always known I was supposed to bear fruit as a Christian, but I kind of adopted the attitude that people would know by my actions. I just haven’t been very proactive. Why in the world would God have chosen me to have a gift like this? Why would He trust me with something like that?”

  “I don’t know,” Carl said. “I don’t know why He would choose me, either. I mean, look at me, the short, skinny bald guy, all of a sudden running all over town like an Olympic athlete. You’d think I’d bust an artery or something. I haven’t gotten this much exercise in years.”

  “And me,” Andy said. “Quiet Andy. Too cool for conversation most of the time, and here I am, just overflowing with Scripture and wisdom that I don’t have.”

  “Okay, so let’s go over this again.” Carl walked to the front of the room and used his hands to sort it all out. “I know where to go, and Bree, you know what the problem is because you can see into people’s lives. And Andy, once you know the problem, you know what to say.”

  Andy started to laugh. “Maybe I’m not crazy. Maybe we’re all just anointed.”

  “Anointed?” Bree repeated. “Oh, boy. I’m scared. I’m not a very daring person.”

  “Well, all you have to do is see,” Carl said. “I’ll take you to the person; you see the need. Tell Andy what it is, and he’ll do the rest. I say we go out right now and test it.”

  10

  CARL, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO SLOW DOWN!”

  Bree struggled to keep up with his quick step as he led them blocks away from the church. Andy jogged along beside him, dripping in sweat.