Keith Hulen is the worship leader at Christ for the Nations Institute where my wife and I both attended.  On November 26, 1999 Keith's wife, Kerrie, passed away from cancer.  The following is a portion of Keith's address tothe student body shortly afterwards as quoted from the March 2000 issue of Christ for the Nations Magazine:

 

When Kerrie passed on, my thoughts turned toward my two small children, Dutch (7 years) and Taylor (5 years).  How would they cope with this tremendous loss?  I didn't take long for God to reveal Himself.

 

Before Kerrie's memorial service, I arrived early to make sure the casket and flowers were positioned correctly.  I met my secretary in the sanctuary where she handed me a note from a Christ for the Nations student who felt it was a WORD FROM THE LORD for me.  I glanced at the note but became distracted by other things.

 

After meeting briefly with the funeral director, I went into the speaker's chamber in the prayer room.  I once again glanced at the note.  It didn't seem to make sense to me, so I simply laid it on the end table.  Pastor Randy arrived and we began to discuss the service.  We then left the room to pray with the family and begin the service. The note remained in the prayer room.

 

In the middle of the service, my son, Dutch, needed to use the rest room.  My mother took him.  When he was finished, he didn't want to go back into the service, so they went into the prayer room.  He began to open up and express his feelings.

 

"Nanna," he said, "I wish I had a telephone that could reach all the way to heaven so I could talk to Mommy.  I miss her so much.  I know that now I have to speak to her in my heart, but I need to know, CAN MOMMY SEE ME?  And does she know where I am and how I feel?"

 

The question was loaded.  My mother began to try to answer as they sat down in the speaker's chamber.  Dutch's eyes fell upon the note sitting on the end table and noticed his mother's name had been written on it.  He picked up the note and said, "Nanna, would you read me this note that has Mommy's name on it?"

 

The note said, "KERRI WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS 'YES', SHE CAN SEE YOU, AND TO TELL HER SON THAT SHE LOVES HIM VERY MUCH!"

 

Dutch's eyes lit up as he embraced the message in the note.  His Mommy could see him and did love him!  It was a defining moment for Dutch and something I will never forget.  God proved to me, at that moment, that He was still big enough to hold us all in the palm of His hand.  He is indeed a good God.

 

The gift of God was activated in someone's heart and used by the Holy Spirit to communicate God's heart to a seven year old boy who had just lost his mother.  He reigns magnificently!

 

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“Can Mommy See Me?”