Cherie Gray

Today I was watching a YouTube clip where two ministers from Australia who travel together regularly were speaking in Dallas. The man who introduced them said how much it meant to see ministers actually working in tandem - like Paul and Barnabas. Suddenly I was gripped with grief as I realised that was what God had given me in Cherie - and now its only a vast spectrum of memories. Of course she and I were no way near Paul and Barnabas (LOL!) but our teamwork and commaraderie could only have come from God. It was incredible to have a friend who was so in sync with one's calling and passion - and to travel together to inform, recruit, train and activate others - it was truly like living a dream. From the first text Cherie sent saying she suspected a cancer diagnosis, I was in denial. It couldn't be real - it couldn't truly take her out. We agonised together over her taking chemo - I voiced my opinion, but - as always - we highly respected each other's decisions and supported them, whether we agreed with them or not. When she stopped chemo, I was even more hopeful for a spontaneous remission - a miraculous answer to prayer. And to those of us who were a bit removed by distance and did not see her slowly fading, it seemed she was maintaining her strength. Cherie's passing is like a time-release capsule - that just gets stronger and more potent as the clock keeps ticking. That beautiful, joyful, passionate, opinionated, understanding, adventuresome, perfectionist gal is gone. The weird, hard part of this is that Cherie is the one I would have called right now to help me process this grief. Man, was she good at processing!! She would examine a situation from so many angles - speculating and hypothesising, meditating and postulating, and drawing so many life lessons from the experience - making sure she drank to the dregs before moving on. She grieved the passing of her precious grandmother (with whom she's probably having tea), and mourned the demise of her dogs. She felt things deeply. When my Dad passed, she sent me the MOST heartfelt letter of sympathy I have EVER read - it is a cherished keepsake. Now, she is not here to help me mourn HER. I'm just grappling with that today again. No one to call or text - no one to meet up for lunch - pancakes with peaches and cream (her favourite) at Cracker Barrel in Casa Grande - where we could make a cup of coffee last for hours as we talked out the important things and the minutia. Well, I noticed that no one seems to be posting here, so this seems like a safe place to ramble on with my feelings. It's the closest I'll get to her now. Thank You God for the miracle of Cherie - the miracle of her friendship - the miracle that we will meet againg - and the miracle of Your comfort in the meantime.