God Whispers

It was a quiet, hot day, almost mesmeric. Cheryll and I were on holidays at Coolum.   We’d driven to Lake Cootharaba, hired a little motorboat and crossed the lake to the other side. There we walked along a narrow track leading to the coloured sands.  I was completely absorbed in the beautiful sunlit scenery as I followed Cheryll along the track.  My thoughts began to drift while I enjoyed the shimmering hot countryside covered with a profusion of wildflowers – mauve, white and yellow. Suddenly Cheryll leapt backwards and grabbed my hand, saying, ‘Nettie! Nettie! A snake!’ I looked down and sure enough, a huge, long brown snake opened its oh-so-wide jaw about six centimetres from my ankle and hissed. There was no doubt about its intentions. My mind froze. Time stopped. Random, illogical ideas filled my thoughts. Cheryll must be scared. She’s holding my hand. This seemed to last for ages. It must really

‘I’ll have to go up and visit Jenny,’ I told my sister. ‘She’s been in a hospice for a while now and I haven’t been to see her since she moved there.’ Jenny had had several strokes which had left her with numerous serious health issues. Her best friend told me she had not long to live. It was hard to believe – bright little Jenny with her blond hair and impish jokes; all the fun we’d had together. She was a sincere Christian too. With a childlike faith, she’d say, as we’d set out for a day at the beach under a grey cloudy sky, ‘Let’s just thank God for that patch of blue sky, Nettie.’ We did, and God swept the clouds away. Jen and I had many happy days out together, often characterised by our having to ask God to intervene and seeing Him move on our behalf. She was also part of our miracle-sparkling New Zealand holiday. The thought had been nagging at my mind. I needed to see Jenny now. I’d put it off, as I was busy teaching speech and drama and running a prayer group.