R.A.T.

Rude. Abrasive. Tyrant. That spells R.A.T., right? Yes, my boss Mr.
Palmer was all of those things, every day. And during staff meetings he
just beamed with power and control over all us--especially me, his lowly
Administrative Assistant.

During one of Mr. Palmer's rants at our weekly Friday morning
conference, there was particular memorable meeting moment: he was
talking about a deadline for a "power point" he needed and, of course,
he neglected to tell anyone until the last minute. Something someone
said during the meeting reminded him and he said, "And, Mary, I will
need this done by COB [close of business] today."

Immediately my face turned red, as I thought "But Mr. Palmer it's Friday
and I planned to leave early today to take my daughter out for a special
night, and then we're all going to have a fun weekend--" ..but I humbly
nodded and calmly said, "Yes we'll get it done." Silently, right there,
I prayed for him, as I did every morning, that God would continue to
draw Mr. Palmer, by His Spirit, to Jesus. For-whatever-reason, that day
I whispered, "in Jesus' Name".

"What Mary? Did you have anything to add?"

"No sir." I answered, smiling....knowing that God was working on this
man. Deep-down I just knew that Mr. Palmer was just another Saul--a
very rough man, who will be knocked off his "high horse" some day, and
meet Jesus face-to-face. Saul became Paul, who became one of the
greatest men in the Bible!

So I prayed, and waited, and prayed some more.

That day I worked through my lunch. Sitting at my computer, I prayed
again...and I felt the calming peace of God come over me like still
waters...no wind...no noise really, just the fans and humming of my
computer and the one next to me. I opened the Powerpoint program, and faced the blank page. I started to pray some more, but God interrupted me, and said, "Fear not, I AM with you." I just whispered, "Thank You, Jesus..."

It was as if I was working in a bubble. I call it my "Holy Ghost
bubble"....I know it's silly, but it's the only way I can describe it.
Miraculously, I had the project over 90% done before Mr. Palmer returned from his long Friday lunch. I e-mailed it to him just as he was walking into his office. I turned and watched him, waiting for his response, smiling.

"Thank You Jesus..." I whispered again.

He opened the e-mail, then opened the attachment. It took a few seconds to come up. After quickly going through the slides, he turned and smiled. Mr. Palmer smiled!? That is a miracle in itself!

"Thank you Mary. This is a great start."

I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded, as I turned back to my
computer. I started crying, "Thank You Jesus, Thank You Jesus."
This man who is such a 'Hitler', has a heart! I just know it.

"God has a way of getting your attention" I always hear it preached, and
that weekend was no exception. Mr. Palmer had a Harley-Davidson
motorcycle (it matched his rough character, I suppose), and he went for
a drive in the country. As he was driving, he saw a man waving for help
on the road ahead. As he got closer to the man, he could see that there
was a scared little girl hiding behind him, and there had been a bad
accident. The man and his daughter were on one motorcycle, and his wife
was on the other motorcycle; apparently when they went around the curve in the road, a deer jumped in front of his wife.

Normally Mr. Palmer would have just driven by, and waved. He never told
anyone this but, he would always call for help from afar. This time was
different. Something told him to slow down this time and stop.

The man was understandably upset. Grabbing his cell phone, Mr. Palmer
went to the man's wife, and knelt down closer to see if she was still
breathing.

"911 Dispatch"

"Yes, there's been an accident out here on County Road P, about 10 miles
from the main highway." Mr. Palmer looked closely at her, "A woman--
oh-my-God--"

"Sir, what are you seeing? Can you describe--"

"This is Mary. I work with her--she's my Assistant.." There was a long
pause. Mr. Palmer bowed his head and he started to cry.

"Sir, are you still there?"

"Yes, she's hurt pretty bad. She was on a motorcycle and hit a deer."

"Is she still breathing? Are her eyes open?"

"Yes, thank God... she's still breathing...but her eyes are closed."

"Help is on the way...they should be there in just a few minutes."

Siren sounds could be heard off in the distance, toward the highway.
Now over the initial shock, Mary's husband went to Mr. Palmer, knelt
down, put his arm around his shoulders.

"Lord, we know that all things work together for good. Thank You for
sending this man to help us. We know You are in control. Please Lord
Jesus, please heal Mary. In Jesus' Name."

Mary opened her eyes. Just then, there was a sound like a heavy sigh,
and the deer lept up and ran off into the woods.

"Look at the deer, Daddy!" exclaimed the daughter.

Mr. Palmer began to sob, his heart was so touched by the scene. Soon
the paramedics came, and transported Mary to the nearest hospital.

In the Emergency Department waiting room, Mr. Palmer offered to get his
truck and pick up the mangled motorcycle, get it repaired. Then, Mary's
husband invited Mr. Palmer in to see Mary. She was awake!

"You don't look so good." Mr. Palmer said, in a calm voice.

"You don't look so good, neither." Mary half-whispered back, then she
said, "Hey, I need to ask you something."

"What's that, Mary? Anything. Whatever it takes."

"Can you please go to church tomorrow with my husband and my daughter?
Looks like I'm gonna be tied up for a couple of days."

"Oh sure, no problem. No problem at all."

"And, can I please take Monday off, too?" Mary asked, tenderly smiling.

"You can have the week off!" answered Mr. Palmer, smiling, wiping tears
away. "I'm just so happy you are okay. Thank God."

"Thank God, indeed." Mary said, weakly, and nodded off to sleep.

Respectful. Attentive. Tears.

Even a R.A.T. can be born again!
 

--bro. tim pickl
Saturday, September 15, 2007 A.D.

ALSO SEE:  http://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-level1-previous.php?id=18444

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