When You Are Weak, I’m Praying For You

Becky quickly gathered her notepad and pen as she rushed out of her office to attend the 11 am meeting in the main building of her company. The distance to the main building was half a mile from the building where her office was, and she used opportunities like this to exercise on days she couldn’t make it to the gym. She had been working with Mason and Son’s manufacturing company for the past nine years. She started as a receptionist, and gradually grew to a Demand planner during her sixth year with the company. Being a people’s person, she found it easy to work with everyone and always made sure her best was put forth in her work. With her way of life and interaction, one could easily figure out she was a Christian as the word of God was not found lacking in her office decorations, and even in her compliments to fellow colleagues.

In the quiet city of Westford, Massachusetts, Becky, twenty-six years of age lived with her younger sister Maria, a twenty-three-year-old nurse and mom Louise, a pediatrician who just celebrated her gorgeous youthful age of fifty as a single mother. Becky was the only non-medical person in the family, even her father, while he was alive, was a veteran military doctor. They lived comfortably helping out each other in every possible way they could, and the two children were blessed with good paying jobs. Becky and her sister always wanted to be there for their mom especially after their dad passed away, so while waiting for their prince charming, they chose to continue living together as a family in the home their father had built after he retired from the army.

In another lovely family, Rachael and her veteran husband, Connor fell in love with a beautiful raised ranch home in downtown Westford where they began building their lives and making the most out of any little time Connor had on weekends. It was fun painting and decorating the entire house together, Connor leaving all the decorating decisions to Rachael. “Just tell me the color and designs you need and I will get it,” Connor said to his wife who has been spending time online comparing home decorations on Pinterest. He wasn’t about to meddle in this, considering his vague knowledge of combining colors or designs. Also, coupled with the fact that his colleagues had advised him to step aside and let the woman handle it to avoid making the house look like a shooting range. “Come on Man, we need a place to relax when we visit, not another ‘military zone,’ the only color you know is green.” they all laughed, making fun of Connor. ‘We are going to advise Rachael not to even let you decorate the garage.’ “Oh please, Connor replied, you don’t know what I’m capable of.” Looking mockingly at themselves, ‘Yea right, we don’t want to know,’ they continued teasing him.

With a touch of yellow in every room, Rachael turned the once empty house into a well-furnished home, making it quite a peaceful view to behold. ‘Yellow just makes everything look alive’ she smiled at Connor with a satisfying look of what she has accomplished in decorating their home. She placed artificial sunflower in the vases on the dining table and one on each of the side tables in the living room. She had carefully selected the lemon green curtains making sure they were thick enough to block out the sunlight when needed. They both took their time in getting to know their town and its surroundings, slowly taking in all they have been blessed with. Within six months of moving into Westford, everything felt absolutely complete, especially when Rachael discovered she was expecting a baby. What more could a loving couple ask for?

Rachael broke the news to her husband by preparing a surprise for him. She decorated the home right from the front porch entrance of the house with a door decoration that said WELCOME HOME DADDY. Connor looked a bit confused when he saw the door decoration. He assumed that might be his new nickname from Rachael, but he gathered more understanding when he walked up the stairs to the living room, and Rachael stood there with a banner that read YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST DAD EVER. Dropping his bags right there, he rushed to hug his wife. ‘we are having a baby’ Rachael said excitedly, “O thank God, Connor filled with the same happiness looked up like he could see God right there and kept saying, thank you so much, thank you.” They were so excited and used the few weeks Connor was home to start planning for their lives ahead.

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On most days after work, when everyone was home, Becky, her sister Maria and their mum Louise would sit around the Island that was centered in the middle of the kitchen area to eat dinner and share the day’s experience with each other. Every last Friday of the month is always a pizza day at Becky’s workplace and there is always so much to eat and left over. As a senior employee, she was always given one large pack pizza to take home. It’s always a happy moment whenever they decided to eat something different from what’s being cooked in the house, as no one would have to scramble around to get grocery or spend the time to prepare the meal.

On this particular Friday evening, Becky was so excited, it was finally weekend, a time for her to relax and unwind from the busy week. Her Mom had already sent a message on their WhatsApp family page, ‘hello ladies, I will be home late and I’m too tired to stop by the grocery store. So, either gear up for Becky’s pizza or find your dinner, Ciao.’ Just like every other last weekend of the month, the ladies enjoyed the Veggie Pizza Becky brought home with a bottle of non-alcoholic wine while watching a new release movie. The ladies were having the time of their lives as they all giggled and commented on scenes of the movie, “Men, why must they always do this?” Becky said looking all disappointed at the screen. “Well, it just shows you how hard one has to work when married…, Maria responded stretching her legs on the couch. Especially women, we have to pray, pray and pray to keep everything and everyone in check” shaking her head as it seemed like a load of work for her.

During the commercials, Maria had a quick idea based on the advertised home security system, ‘I think we will need this home security system, Franklin our neighbor informed me that package thieves were in the neighborhood last week, and this is getting everyone on edge.’ ‘This is hardly heard of in this area of town, Becky responded in agreement with her sister’s suggestion, I will look into it and have one installed so we have peace of mind.’ Shaking her head, Louise responded to the conversation between her daughters. ‘oh, you two… why waste your money on all these, we have the ultimate security and we are hiding under the shadow of his wings, Louise quoted Psalm 91 for her daughters. Please give me the money so I can pick a few things on sale at the mall this weekend.’ Maria and Becky looked at themselves and laughed at their mom’s suggestion, putting more consideration on what they were talking about which was more important to them. ‘Mama, shopping and home security…which is more important?’ Becky asked her mom. ‘The commercial is over,’ Maria cut in and everyone’s attention was focused back on the movie they were watching.

That same Friday evening was different for Rachael, she was expecting Connor home for the weekend. The last time she spoke with him was 7:15 am when he called to check on her, ‘when I’m about leaving, I will let you know he had said before ending the call. She expected him to either call or text before leaving at 5 pm, but she didn’t get anything. She started getting very worried, if something came up at work which is normal, he would have texted at least. At 8 pm, there was a knock on the door, slowly getting up with her growing bump, she thought within herself, perfect Connor, no call or text from you, then you just show up at the door…just perfect. She immediately froze when she opened the door. A sharp pain in her chest convinced her she was still alive as she beheld the two dressed army people at the door, a man and a woman. This couldn’t be happening, these were the ‘bad news messengers’ as she usually called them. Something has happened to Connor.

The man introduced himself as Sargent Gardner and the Woman as Sargent Copper. Sargent Copper asked, ‘Ma’am can we come in?’ Racheal stepped aside nodding her head in approval. Sitting down in the living room, Sargent Copper acknowledged the reason for their visit, “The commandant of the Marine Corps has entrusted me to express his deep regret that your spouse, Connor died two miles from the National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, Hanscom AFB, this evening from a car accident. The Commandant extends his deepest sympathy to you and your family for your loss.” Rachael’s hands were shaking like she would go into shock anytime, she knew what they were coming to do from when they climbed the stairs towards the living room. “No, no, no, Connor can’t die, I just spoke with him this morning. He was supposed to call me. We have plans for this weekend, how can he die? Take me to him, he must be alive… please take me to him.’’ Getting up to sit beside her, Sargent Copper put her hands on Rachael’s shoulder and said, ‘yes we will, please take it easy, don’t forget the baby’. Like she didn’t hear one word the lady said, Rachael with tears screamed, “take me to my husband… take me out of here.”

At Andrew’s memorial hospital, Rachael wept over the body of her loving husband, “oh Connor why, why have you done this to me, leaving me here alone. We had plans, we had everything mapped out. Oh God… please, let Connor wake up, please do a miracle, I need my husband back…” With no way of comforting her, Connor’s colleagues called Rachael’s family who came to be with her.

Both Connor and Rachael’s families were there for her throughout the days that followed, helping her with the funeral and keeping her company. They all took turns to be with her and monitor how she and the baby were doing. Connor was laid to rest a week after his passing, and within this week, Rachael felt everything they built together was shattered, God why did you allow this happen, why didn’t you keep Connor alive, why do I have to do this alone, she wept silently with all unanswered questions on her mind. She refused to eat as she would, she wouldn’t stop crying and had a hard time sleeping. The only assurance she had about life was when her baby kicked in her womb, that was her only source of comfort. When it seemed, all hope was lost and her faith in God was far from her mind, the baby’s kick would remind her that she was not alone and that a part of Connor lives in her.

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Maria and Becky had the security system installed a week after their discussion about getting the security system. When Louise got back from work, she noticed that the girls were fidgeting with their phones as they were excitedly checking out how the home security alert works on their mobile phones. ‘I like this Becky,’ Maria said excitedly, smacking her sister’s hand with an Hi-5. ‘Now we can see everything going on around the house, and you know, this will be so convenient for us because we will be able to speak with the delivery guys from anywhere,’ Becky said, already being satisfied with the added benefit of a two-way audio from the security system. ‘For me, well… if they throw my package carelessly, I will be on to them.’ Maria replied, with a game plan in mind for her own use of the system. Louise pretended not to understand what was going on and went to her bedroom to rest from the long day at work. The girls spent most of the evening testing their newly acquired technology to ensure it was working well in and around the house.

Home felt safer for Becky and Maria after the security system got installed. One fateful day, while at work, Becky got a notification from the home security system on her phone ‘motion detected at the door’, that was to inform her someone was at the back of the house. When she lifted up the phone to look more closely, she couldn’t believe her eyes, it felt like a bucket of cold water was just poured over her. Three men with masks were trying to break into the house and then she quickly recalled, this was the day her mom and sister took a day off from work to rest at home. Oh no, her family were inside the house and someone was trying to break in, she has to do something, she thought.

Becky immediately pressed the two-way audio button on her screen to threaten the men, but it turned out she only spoke in vain, they didn’t move a muscle to her voice meaning the two-way audio wasn’t functioning. Oh Jesus, what do I do? She paced up and down her office for a moment not knowing what next to do. Her colleague Gabby who heard her scream at someone on the phone rushed to her office and closed the door behind her, “what’s wrong Becky, who are you threatening?” Becky showed her the on-going recording and Gabby immediately handed her phone over to Becky, “come on, call your mom and sister to get out of the house or hide or call the cops.” Yes…yes, that’s what I should do, Gabby’s suggestion shined a light on Becky who used Gabby’s phone to call her sister so she could continue watching the video on her phone. Maria didn’t answer her phone, so she tried her mom. Oh, come one, please pick up the phone, Becky waited anxiously for the call to be answered, but the same thing happened, her mum didn’t pick up.

Tears were rolling down Becky’s eyes when she looked at the phone as the guys were now pushing harder on the door which was now almost giving way. Ok, I need to call the cops…she picked up Gabby’s phone and began dialing 911. ‘Does the security camera have an audio?’ Gabby asked. ‘Yes, I tried using it but something is wrong, looks like they couldn’t hear me’ Becky replied just before the 911 operator responded, ‘’911, what’s your emergency?’’ ‘Hi, please I need help, someone is trying to break into our house… my mom and sister are at home, please send the police now.’ ‘Ok Ma’am, are you in the house right now?’ The 911 operator asked. ‘’No, I’m watching from my home security system on my phone’’ Becky replied wondering in her heart how long it will take the cops to reach the house. ‘Alright, could you give me the address of the house please?’ came the next question and Becky provided the house address. ‘Please stay on the line and tell me what’s going on from the video you are seeing.’

Becky broke down in tears when she took a look at her phone again, the men had finally broken down the door and were inside. “Oh, my goodness, they have gone inside the house now, please where are the cops? Becky asked in between tears, please, I don’t want my mom and sister hurt…you have to help them.” ‘Stay calm ma’am, the cops will soon be there,’ the operator encouraged her. Becky all confused wondered what she could do to help, should she rush to the house now? No, that will take about twenty minutes, what could she do by herself when she gets there. There, her mom’s words of faith came to her.

“The lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear.’’ (Psalm 27:1), “The name of the lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). Confidence came flowing in full force as the words ministered deep within her. She dropped both phones she was holding and began reciting the bible chapter her family prays every night, Psalm 91. She was now filled with so much strength and faith, Becky began praying that God in his mercies would show himself strong and mighty concerning the intruders that just broke into their house. She went into full war-mode-prayer and continued in praise and worship to God.

Gabby was now in control of the phones and kept speaking with the 911 operator. Suddenly, Gabby looked very confused and tapped Becky on the shoulder to get her attention to what the operator just told her. Becky opened her eyes and Gabby broke the news to her, ‘there’s no break in at your house, your mom and sister are doing ok. They were resting when the police got there.’

‘Wait… what… No break in?’ Becky got her phone from Gabby and looked at the video again and all she could see was two cops moving around the backyard. One on the deck by the back door, and the other taking a look around the fenced area. She took Gabby’s phone to speak with the operator herself, what’s going on, what happened? She asked. ‘Hi Becky, the operator responded, the cops arrived at your house but there was no break in, I don’t understand the situation either, but nothing happened at your house, and your family is fine.’ ‘That’s just unbelievable, I saw everything on my phone, Becky said in total disbelieve. I need to go home and see for myself…thank you.’ And she hung up the call. Gabby, could you please come with me? she asked her friend and colleague.

Becky reached the house to meet the cops who were still there like they were waiting for her. She was so happy to see her mom and sister and immediately rushed to hug both of them. Gabby had been excused from work to go with Becky to keep her in check. Becky, can I have a word with you? Becky turned her attention to the cop who looked just like Lionel Messi. My name is Ben he reached out to shake her hand and beckoned on her to join him on the couch. ‘Can you tell me what happened today concerning the supposed break in? and if I may see your phone to play back the saved notification you got earlier,’ he asked as he stretched out his hand to get her phone.

Carefully reviewing the recorded video after listening to Becky narrate the whole incident, Ben looked carefully at the video, giving a confused facial expression as he drew the phone closer to his face as if he wasn’t seeing clearly. Handing the phone back to Becky, he asked, ‘can you confirm if that backyard deck is the same as yours?’ This was the first time Becky paid close attention to the surroundings of the video, “Oh my goodness, this isn’t our house, that’s not how our backyard deck looks… I mean it’s similar, but that for sure isn’t our house.” I don’t understand this… she questioned the new discovery; how come I got this notification if this isn’t my house on this video? Ben shrugged, this is something we have to take up with the security company, if this break-in wasn’t at your house, then it must have been somewhere else, maybe it was a glitch in connection. Getting up to leave, ‘I’m glad your family is ok, please call me if you need anything as he handed her his card.’

#

Another 911 call helped Ben’s department put another piece of the puzzle together. Rachael, who was eight months pregnant called the law enforcement to help figure out why three intruders were lying helpless in her kitchen. She had spent the afternoon alone at home resting, only to wake up to meet the scene in her kitchen. Ben and his team responded to the call to meet the three men laying crippled in Rachael’s house. They dressed and looked exactly the same as the men in Becky’s video. Becky and Rachael were invited to the station to meet in Ben’s office and narrate the whole situation to each other’s understanding.

“Today has been very tough for me, sadness filled the face of beautifully pregnant Rachael as she started narrating the event leading to the whole chaos of finding the men in the kitchen. Today is my… my wedding anniversary, but… he is not here with me, tears rolled down her cheeks. We were supposed to do this together, looking up at Ben, I lost my husband three months ago.” Exhaling deeply, “I have been struggling a lot lately and I just decided to rest at home today as it’s not a day of celebration as it should be. I was just laying in the living room pouring my heart out and sort of asking God why he didn’t let my husband survive that accident and while there, I fell asleep.”

Waking up after a few hours later, I headed to the kitchen to make some tea, only to meet with three helpless men on my kitchen floor. I almost jumped out of my skin as the kitchen door was wide open too. I knew they were burglars because they still had the black mask over their head. That’s when I called 911. ‘Interesting, Ben said analyzing Rachael’s side of the story. Do you have any camera around the house?’ Ben questioned Rachael. ‘Yes, I do, my husband installed one of these home security systems, but I haven’t checked on it since…’ ‘oh ok, Ben cut in as she found it difficult to say the last word. Becky, can you show the recording on your phone to Rachel, turning to Rachel as she got Becky’s phone, can you confirm if that’s your house in the video.’ Looking carefully at the video, she exclaimed, “wow!… yea, this is my house. How did you get the video?”

A clear understanding dawned on Becky who has listened to Rachael’s explanation of the day’s event. Her mom had always taught them on the great and mighty things God can do and on how he can do things in mysterious ways just for his name to be glorified. Becky understood at this point, from Rachael’s situation, God did something great and she just had a great lesson to learn from this. Sitting forward in her chair, Becky turned to speak with Rachael. “Hey Rachel, I know we haven’t met before, and I’m so sorry about what you’ve been through in the past few months, but I think I know why I got your house notification on my phone. It’s a very difficult time for you and you feel that God doesn’t care about you for allowing your husband to die, leaving you and your unborn baby. At the point when you were weak, someone somewhere who doesn’t know you was praying, standing in the gap for you and interceding concerning what was going on in your house. I think this is just a way for God to show you that He cares about you and He can do just anything to make sure you and your baby are ok. God would have still delivered you from the plans of the burglars, but He wanted to give you a sign to encourage you.”

Taking Rachael’s hand into hers, “Today, God has given you a new family that cares about you already, if you will have me, I want to be there for you from now on, even as we get to know each other.” Thank you Becky, she said. Rachael accepted a new friendship, feeling too tired to cry as she would have wanted to for this great love God had shown to her. ‘God must be recklessly in love with me to create this whole drama just to show how much he loves me,’ the two ladies giggled at each other. Rachael still maintaining a grasp of Becky’s hands admitted, it’s been difficult with me, but this is a special way God used to give me peace and assurance and also preserve my life. The two ladies hugged each other with so much peace within. All Ben could do was relax in his chair and watch this beautiful scene, now this is going to make one awesome police report, he thought to himself smiling.

Rachael had a full support system for the remaining months of her pregnancy till she welcomed her sweet little boy named after her husband- Connor Jr.