I wrote this short story back in 2000 and somehow it when I was looking through my old stuff today it just jumped out. I hope you enjoy it.

The Diagnoses
By Patrick R. Aquilone

The doctor entered the room. There was a silence as Joe and Nancy had been waiting, praying that the results would be good. They had been through so much. They had plans for the future for their family. They had hopes of growing old hopes of being there for all the good and bad. All that they had been or would be came down to this moment. It would either change everything or offer a sigh of relief.

“Joe, Nancy,” spoke the doctor. He smiled and then it faded to a frown. The doctor had been there through it all for them. Through the cyst, the gal bladder, the pregnancy with all there problems, and much more. He had helped them struggle through everything, but this time would be different. “I am afraid that I have bad news. The test came back.” The doctor hung is head down. He knew how they would receive the news. “It’s cancer.”

Joe’s mouth dropped to the floor. His wife had cancer. He could not believe what he was hearing. He almost began to cry, but stopped himself. His heart had dropped. His face had dropped and his shock shown on his face.

Nancy turned and looked at Joe. In an instant, she knew all that he was thinking, feeling. She had been with him for so long that she did not need words. It was all there in his face. It was written like a book for her to read. She knew he was feeling her pain. She knew there was nothing she could do.

“What now?” Asked Nancy after a long pause.

“Well, we could try chemo,” the doctor placed the file on the counter. “But honestly, you don’t have long. Personally, I would make the best of what time you have.”

Joe could not believe his ears. His worst nightmare was coming true. It had taken him what he thought was an eternity to find Nancy and now she was going away. Not by choice or in an ill manner, but going away nonetheless.

“How long?” Joe barely managed to get the words out.

“If her body puts up a fight, maybe six months no more.” The room fell silent as the doctor spoke those fatal and final words on the subject. There was nothing more he could do.

Nancy could feel the warmth of the love in the room. She began to feel at peace. It was not the love of her husband or the doctor although both did love her. She felt the love of God. She knew it was all right. She did not know if she would be healed or taken to heaven. All she knew is that she was not alone. That God was with her and her family.

She looked at Joe who had hung his head and the smile grew bigger. “It’s alright.”

Joe raised his head. He was not sure he heard what he heard. He was not sure if this was just a ploy by his wife to make him feel strong and secure through this time. He was not sure of just about anything anymore.

“It’s alright,” Nancy reiterated. “God is with us.”

Joe managed to smile and as he did he could feel the love in the room. He too began to have that peace that passes understanding. He began to understand why Nancy was smiling. He too was not sure what was going to happen, but he knew that God was there. And he knew that no matter what happened, God would be there.

They left the doctor’s office holding hands Nancy, Joe and God.

I thought I would post a short story that I wrote some time ago. It is a bit rough around the edges as far as grammar goes, but I think it is good elsewise. Let me know what you think.

Soldier in the Army
By Patrick R. Aquilone

A man named Bob died and went to heaven.

After a short while, Bob was instructed by Jesus to go and speak with the Archangel Michael. Bob was a little confused at first, but he knew that he should follow what Jesus told him to do. So, Bob set off down the main street of heaven looking for the Michael’s office. As he walked down the gold covered street he saw several buildings of all shapes and sizes and representing all different styles of office functions. There was “Peter’s Rock” foundational office. There was “Jonah’s Dive” for the learning of how God has worked in your earthly life. Office after office he pasted as he walked down the street.

As he approached the end of the street, he found Michael’s office. The sign outside read “Michael’s Military Coordination.” Bob was puzzled by the sign, but quickly climbed the steps and entered the building. Once inside, he found himself in a great hall with only two doors the one he came in and the other he presumed was Michael’s office. He slowly walked down the hall admiring all the artwork on the wall. There was a great many paintings. Many of them seemed familiar, but there was something he noticed that was different about them. In all of the pictures, there was what looked like angels upon angels. The angels appeared to be helping the individuals in the picture. One picture he took special attention to. It was a portrait of Billy Graham, a man he recognized. However, Billy was only in the center of the picture. Behind him stood a great multitude of angels. He stopped and stared for a moment at the picture. Row after row of angels.

He stood for what seemed like an hour and then remembered why he had come into the building. He walked up to the door at the end of the hall and was about to knock when the door suddenly opened. A voice from inside the room spoke, “Come on in, Bob.” Bob took a small step back and then slowly entered the office.

The office was rather plain. It had a small desk with a chair on either side. There was no painting in this office, because most of the walls were glass or something like that. He looked around and then his focus came upon a rather average looking man he presumed to be the archangel Michael. Michael stood and smiled. “Please have a seat,” Michael spoke as he motioned to the empty chair on the opposite side of the desk.

Bob walked over and took a seat. He was not sure exactly what would be proper etiquette when meeting an archangel, but he basically managed to smile and say hello. Bob was a little bit nervous, but he was not scared. He knew that he was in good hands. He just didn’t know what exactly this meeting was going to be about.

“Bob,” Michael began, “Why don’t we start with you sharing your testimony?”

Bob looked a little bit puzzled. “I am sorry, but I am not sure what you are asking for.”

Michael let out a little laugh. “I am sorry,” Michael apologized. “I forgot. You were saved just hours before passing into eternity, correct?”

“Yes,” Bob spoke relaxing a bit. “A long time neighbor of mine, John Smith, came to my hospital room and shared the Gospel with me. I had heard it all before, but somehow it was different this time.” Bob began to speak with his hands and sound excited. “This time I really understood what he was saying and it made so much sense that I gave my life over right there, and a good thing too. I died that night.”

“Ah yes, John Smith.” Michael’s smile broadened and he spoke with a genuine enthusiasm. “I just love Christians like him.”

Bob was a bit confused by what Michael was saying. “Excuse my ignorance, but I thought you would have loved all Christians?”

“Yes, I do,” Michael responded. “Just some Christians make our job a lot easier.”

“Job? Easier?”

“Allow me to explain.” Michael stood up and walked around to the front of the desk settling down and sitting on a corner. “I am in charge of God’s army of angels. Our job is to protect people from the God’s enemy, Satan. We assign at least a legion of angels to every person on the planet. Once a person takes the step in faith to become a Christian they immediate receive additional legions of angels. Up to twenty legions can be on any one Christian at any one time. Anyway, these angels receive their orders from God through the chain of command and do whatever it takes to complete their mission and protect the person they are assigned.”

Michael stopped as he could see that Bob was getting confused. Bob took advantage of a pause in the conversation. “I do not understand. If there are angels protecting people that are not Christians, why is the world so bad?”

“That is a good question,” responded Michael. “It all comes down to free will. God gave everyone the free will to choose to believe or not believe in Him. If a person does not believe in Him or does not believe correctly in Him, that person is not a Christian. If he is not a Christian, that person is not asking for God’s direct protection on their life; however, that does not mean that God abandons them. God still assigns angels to keep that person from certain things happening in their life.”

“Certain things?” Bob questioned.

“Certain things vary from person to person, but it is whatever God tells us. Also, there are a lot of Christians out there that pray for those who are not Christians. Those prayers provide protection for those people even if they are still choosing to not believe in God.”

“Wow, I never realized that prayer was that effective,” Bob spoke amazed.

“Most people don’t. As a matter of fact, your friend John has been sending up prayers for you for the last five years. There are a great many things that you have been protected from because of his prayers.”

“Really!?!?” Bob was amazed.

“Yes,” Michael responded. “Do you remember about a year ago when you had some trouble walking into your bank.”

“Yes, I do,” Bob sat up in his seat. “I went up to the door and could not open it. I tried and tried, but it would not budge. I remember trying every door. I could even see people inside, but I was not able to get in. So, I went to the ATM and went about my business. Later that day, I discovered the bank was held up. I was really lucky.” Bob’s face suddenly changed as if a light bulb went on inside. “No, I was not lucky. I was being protected.”

“Correct,” Michael responded. “You see John was praying that God protect you in your ignorance towards God. Well, if you had walked into that office at that moment, you would have walked in behind one of the soon to be bank robbers and surprised him with just your presence. Satan’s plan was that that robber was to turn around and pull his weapon and shoot you. Instead, you were prevented from entering the bank and no one was hurt in the robbery.”

“And all that happened because John was praying?” Questioned Bob.

“Yes, it did, but it still did not override your free will. You could have chosen to keep trying and eventually you would have entered the bank and been shot. You just decided to go to the ATM instead. So, the prayers allowed us to kind of help you change your mind about entering the bank.”

“And I am glad it did.” Bob spoke matter of factly. “So, why do you love Christians like John more if they give you extra work because of their prayers?”

“Another good question.” Michael returned to his seat as he spoke and sat down. “You see we do not mind work at all. Christians like John are great because of two things. First, their resistance to Satan and his attacks allows us to free up legions of angels to go on emergency squads.”

“Emergency squads?”

“Yes, God knows everything so the sound is a bit misleading, but basically they are floating legions that can be easily moved from one assignment to another as God’s work in different people changes. Anyway, the second reason for loving Christians like John comes from his love of the lost people on the earth. He not only prays, but also goes out into his area of the world and will thwart Satan’s plans left and right by calling on the name of Jesus in the most desperate of areas. I love working overtime to stop one of Satan’s plans. So, that is the main reasons why I love Christians like John.”

“I never knew that John did all that.” Bob spoke a bit shocked.

“Oh yes, John has really shown the love of God through his life to many people in your town.” Michael clasped his hands. “Which brings me to why you are here. You are here to receive your assignment in God’s Army.”

“I don’t understand,” Bob spoke. “I am no soldier.”

“Everyone who is in Christ is a soldier in His army. Just some are soldiers here and some are soldiers back on earth.”

“I apologize for my ignorance again, but why would you need me as a soldier? It would seem to me that the angels that have been doing this would be much better at this then someone like me.”

“You see, the angels are great workers for God, but they lack one very important thing.” Michael pointed toward Bob. “None of us no what it is like to chose to not serve God. You see we have been with God since the beginning. We have always seen His glory and felt His love. We have no frame of reference for understand what it is like to live your life on earth not having those benefits. That is why it is hard for most angels to understand why people chose to not follow and serve God. So, we need the benefit of someone who has lived down there to help lead us.”

“Wait a minute,” Bob almost began to sound a bit scared. “Did you say lead?”

“Yes.”

“I have never been a leader. I have always been the follower type of guy.”

“That is what you were when you were on earth. You are no longer that person. Right now you are filled with the glory of God’s. You can be anything that God wants you to be, and he wants you to be in charge of a legion of angels.”

Bob swallowed hard. “Well, if that is what God wants I will give it a try.”

“Great,” a big smile came across Michael’s face. “Now, Peter has assigned you to legion 777074.”

“Peter?”

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you one more thing.” Michael stood up. “I am in charge of all the angels that battle for God and His will. I am like a Master Sergeant to put it in common terms for you. Christians who have stepped into eternity and now are in God’s army are all officers.”

“Why?”

“That is the way God set things up. He loves those who have had the ability to choose to love or not to love Him and yet chose to love Him over the angels who had no choice. It is all right because all of us angels completely understand and have no trouble following God’s plan for us. Peter, who was an apostle of Jesus Christ, is in charge of all the Christians in God’s army. He is like a General.”

“So, I am like a?”

“Lieutenant.”

“Wow!” Bob was surprised at what he was hearing. “So, what legion do I have again?”

“Legion 777074 which happens to be one of the five legions assigned to your neighbor John Smith.” Michael smiled. Suddenly an alert began to sound. Michael checked his desk and looked up.

“Something wrong?”

“Yes and no. Your new assignment is about to share the Gospel with someone you know and we are sending all the emergency squads in for support. If there is one thing that Satan hates is a believer sharing his faith. This could prove to be a good experience for you.” Michael motioned as he began to head to the door. “Let’s go.”

They both left the office and were off to hopefully see another person birthed into being a Christian.

INTRODUCTION

Inspiritional stories whether fictional or true can so touch us and help us realize just how much God loves us and the world. Today, I am presenting an inspirational story that my wife was sent this in an email (author unknown and modified by me) and I thought it was a great depiction of our God and his son Jesus. So, I am posting it here for all.

THE MYSTERY VIRUS

The day is over, you are driving home listening to your radio when the news comes on. You hear a little blurb about tribal a village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a virus that has never been seen before. It’s not influenza, but three or four people are dead, and it’s kind of interesting, and they’re sending some doctors over there to investigate it.

You don’t think much about it, but on Sunday, coming home from church, you hear another radio spot. Only this time, they are saying it is not three villagers, its 30,000 villagers somewhere is the back hills of India. The story hits the television news that night. CNN runs a short story on it; people are heading there from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before.

By Monday morning when you get up, it’s the lead story. For it’s not just in India, but also in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. You’re hearing this story everywhere you go and they have coined it now as “the mystery virus”. The President has made some comment that he and everyone is praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering and talking about it. The most dominant topic is how are we going to contain it?

That night the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen. And that’s why that night you are watching CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when they are interviewing a weeping French woman who describes a man lying in a hospital in Paris that has contracted the virus. It has come to Europe, and panic strikes.

As best as they can tell, once you get the virus, you have it for about a week before you know discover it. After that you have four days of unbelievable symptoms, and then you die.

Tuesday morning brings the news that Britain has closed its borders, but it’s too late. Cases have already been reported in Southampton and Liverpool. The President of the United States makes an announcement, “In light of the rapid spread of the Mystery Virus, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If you have loved ones that are overseas, our thoughts and prayers are with them. However, until a cure for this virus is found, they cannot return home.”

Within four days the United States is plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are selling surgical masks by the truckload. Talk heard at work, the grocery store, the schools and everywhere is else, is “What if it comes to this country.” Some televangelists are calling the virus, “The Scourge of God” that is supposedly cleansing the heathen world. And everyone is walking around on pins and needles.

Monday night, you are at a special church prayer meeting that is interrupted with someone running in from the parking lot and shouting, “Turn on a radio, turn on a radio.” While the church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made that two women are lying in a Long Island hospital dying from the mystery virus.

Within hours it seems, this thing sweeps across the country. People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote, but nothing is working. From New York to California through Oregon and Arizona from Florida and Massachusetts, reports are flooding in of people infected. It is as if nothing can stop or halts the virus’s relentless progress.

Suddenly there is hope on the evening news. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made and all it will take is the blood of someone who has not been infected. The Emergency Broadcast system is enacted and everyone is asked to go to their local hospital and have a blood sample taken. That is when you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, emergency vehicles in conjunction with the National Guard and military are going up and down the streets escorting everyone quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals.

When you and your family get down to the hospital on late Monday night, there is a long line. They’ve got nurses and doctors coming out, pricking fingers, taking blood and putting labels on it. Your wife and your kids are with you as they take a sample of each of yours blood and say, “Wait here in the parking lot and if we don’t call your name in an hour, you can go home.” You stand around scared and anxious at the same time. You see your neighbors, and have a small chat about whether or not this is the end of the world.

Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He’s yelling a name and waving a clipboard. You can’t hear him over the sounds of the crowd stirred from his abrupt arrival. He yells it again, and your son tugs on your jacket and says, “Daddy, that’s me.”

Before you know it, they grab your boy. “Wait a minute. Hold on!”

The man and the small group the accompanied him say, “It’s okay, your son’s blood is clean or at least we are pretty sure. We want to take him inside and run another test to be sure he doesn’t have the disease. But we think he is the one we have been looking for.”

Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another – some are even laughing. It’s the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor who you notice is not smiling, laughing or hugging anyone walks up to you and says, “Thank you, sir. Your son’s blood is perfect. It’s clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine.”

Word begins to spread rapidly across the parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying.

The gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, “May we see you for a moment? We didn’t realize that the donor would be a minor and we need…” He pauses as he is regaining his composure and fear strikes you like it has never struck you before. “We need you to sign a consent form.”

You take the clipboard and are just about to sign when you notice that this would give permission for them to take all of your son’s blood. “You can’t be serious!”

The old doctor looks down and adds, “We had no idea it would be a little child.”

“Yes, my son.”

“We were expecting an adult and we,” the doctor continued, “We just weren’t prepared. I am truly sorry, but we need all of you sons blood.”

“But-but … You don’t understand.”

The doctor raised his head to look you in the eye. “We are talking about the world here. Please sign. You son is our only hope!”

“But can’t you give him a transfusion?”

“If we had clean blood we would. Now, please sign the form so we can get started? “

In a small corner of a crowded parking lot with a great sea of noise, a silence falls upon your soul and for a long moment you just stand there. What choice do you have? If you don’t sign, then everyone in the world dies. On the other hand, how could you sign your only son’s life away. A numbness overtakes your heart as you finally and reluctantly sign the form.

The doctor asks, “Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?”

You walk back to the room where your son sits on the stretcher. You walk in and sit down next to him.

“Daddy? Mommy? What’s going on?”

You take your son’s hand and choking back the tears as best as you can say, “Son, you know that your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything, happen to you that didn’t just have to be. Do you understand that?”

The doctor comes into the room and says, “I’m sorry, we’ve got to get started. People all over the world are dying.”

You stay as long as you can bear to take. However, as you leave the room, you here the frail thin voice of you son cries out, “Dad? Mom? Dad? Why – why have you forsaken me?”

You rush back into the room, but it is too late. Your son has past away giving his blood to save the world.

The following week, they have a ceremony to honor your son. Some of the folks sleep through it because they don’t see it as important. Some folks don’t come because they would prefer to go to the lake, and some folks come wearing a pretentious smile and just pretend to care.

In the middle of the ceremony, your heart is pounding. Your son gave everything for the world and so many didn’t seem to care. You want to jump up and yell, “MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON’T YOU CARE?”

SCRIPTURE

Isn’t that what GOD wants to say? “MY SON DIED FOR YOU. DON’T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?”

How much love did it take for God to watch his son be beaten suffer and die for us. How much love does it take for him to continually be putting his hands out and calling for us to receive Jesus’s gift at the cross. God loves us to much there really is no earthly way to measure it.

CONCLUSION

If you have never taken a moment to call on the SON who gave his life for you, please do so now (you can go to http://www.fireknights.net/ICB/index.php?arena=jesusfreaks&page=jesus and read about how to become saved by Jesus the Son).

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.