One Turned Back: Diane Thompson

She asked if she could help at just the right moment. We had attended Northbrook for almost a year, but had been very guarded in our relationships there. We weren’t sure we wanted to trust this group of believers with our hearts. But here we were two months into official membership, and we were in the middle of the greatest storm our marriage had ever faced. The truth was I desperately needed help, and while she was basically a stranger I was forced to say, “yes.”

Chad had shattered his femur and hip. He couldn’t get out of bed, let alone take care of three boys, one who still needed diaper changes. He was in excruciating physical pain. That was the surface wound of our marriage. The deep one involved financial deception, loss of trust, and a forty-thousand dollars of unknown debt revealed. It involved dealing with a spending addiction, conflict avoidance, and shame. It involved the process of forgiveness.

 needed to go back to work. Two days a week I worked as a tutor and I needed child care. We had used up so many favors and I could tell my family and friends were growing fatigued, but we still needed help. So when Diane asked if there was something she could do to help, I said, “If you really mean it. I really need someone to watch my children while I work.” She didn’t know the backstory, but she said yes. I was a stranger, but she stood in the gap for me when I was about to fall apart.

That was the beginning of our friendship. I have found that Diane is admirable in every sense of the word. Diane is a bringer of life and joy wherever she goes. She is a party maker. She is the mom who hosts over fifty children for a birthday party and gives them blue and yellow paint to shoot at each other through water guns. She is a woman who teaches groups of children how to bake and weaves a biblical principle throughout her teaching. She is a woman who elevates the room’s mood when she enters.

She connects people together and initiates friendships. She has invited me to tea at the coffee shop where I’ve met other creative people. She has challenged me to take time for the activities that feed my soul, like painting or writing. She has invited me and others to explore scripture through art. She has listened to my story and told her own.

Diane is a deep thinker. If you listen long enough, you can see how deep her thoughts go. She will find a small nugget of truth and then circle around the idea, until finally you see the truth so clearly that it knocks you down. I love this style of communication.

Diane’s heart is on fire for Jesus. She serves, loves, and uses her diverse talents as an act of worship. I am encouraged in my walk by her faithfulness.

I know this type of sisterly love seems strange to some of you. Perhaps you haven’t experienced a healthy church experience, but this is what the body of Christ does for each other. We help carry one another’s burdens and point each other to Christ. We can’t do it perfectly because we are imperfect, but God can bridge over those weaknesses. Other Christians, can I use Diane’s offer of help as a challenge? Are there strangers that visit our churches that desperately need someone to stand in the gap? Could you be that person?