Week 5 - Rachell Bramlett - A Testimony

Rachell, shares her testimony, focusing on a time in May 2021 when her mother was transitioning due to Alzheimer's and dementia. She describes the period as a season of life when she asked God, "Where are you?” (a reference to last week’s devo).

• Monday, May 17, 2021: Rachel was at work when hospice called, informing her that her mother was starting the transition and her body was shutting down. Rachel drove about an hour and a half from work to Denton, Alabama, while praying and listening to praise and worship music. Upon arriving at her brother's house, Rachel was confused because her mother was awake, speaking, and even wanted to exercise and walk. A sibling explained that her mother was truly "in a state of transition".

• Tuesday: Her mother was no longer capable of moving and was "pretty stationary".

• Wednesday: Her mother stopped talking, and Rachel began to feel troubled, unprepared for the time it was taking and the impending loss.

• Thursday: Her mother closed her eyes and was no longer opening them.

• Friday: Rachel started to panic as her mother was not moving, talking, or opening her eyes, although she was still breathing. Rachel, a believer, was troubled, especially because her brother, Scott, had "strayed from the faith" and was frustrated watching their mother with Alzheimer's and dementia. Rachel went outside to pray, asking God for comfort, a specific word, and to know that "this is you". When she returned inside, she told her family she was "asking for a word from my heavenly father" and "some peace spoken into my heart". Relatives heard and began calling, sharing scripture, which Rachel appreciated, but she felt it wasn't the specific word she was seeking.

• Saturday: As the immediate family—Rachel, her brother Scott, and her sister-in-law—sat around her mother's bedside (a time when only immediate family could visit due to COVID-19), her brother asked how she felt. Rachel replied that she was sad her mother was transitioning and couldn't reply, but she was "okay" because her mother knows Jesus. She felt she had "become at peace". Her cell phone, which usually didn't have service because her brother Tracy lived "in the middle of nowhere," rang. After being urged by her brother Scott to answer, she answered the call from an unknown number in Decatur, Alabama, which she first suspected was a solicitor. The person on the other end was a stranger who introduced herself as being with a "particular group" and said they understood that many people feel lonely and isolated during COVID-19. The stranger asked if Rachel would allow her to share scripture for encouragement.

• The Scripture: The stranger shared Revelation 21:4, which says, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who has set he who has seated on the throne said I am making everything new. Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' He said to me, 'It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To him who is thirsty, I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life".

• Conclusion: Rachel asked the stranger to repeat the scripture, knowing "at that moment that is exactly what I needed to hear from my heavenly father". She realized her mother was going to a place "where there was no more death, no more pain," and this was when God "showed up" for her. Her mother passed the following day, on Sunday, and the peace of God was present. Rachel concludes by encouraging the listener that it's "okay to ask God where are you," because "He is here". God answered her prayer for a word and peace through a stranger's phone call.