Marcus Redding Falls Asleep

He said goodbye to his folks and put his guitar back into the case. It was 10:00 so he turned on ESPN. He watched SportsCenter with Lauren every Sunday night before they went to bed. He propped up on one end of the couch with his feet toward the middle. She propped up on the other end of the couch with her feet toward the middle. They watched football highlights (the punter hit the scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium…again!), the baseball highlights (Rangers won, Mariners lost), and talked about the upcoming week during commercials. They usually turned off the TV and went to bed right after the Top Ten Plays of the Week.

But this time Marcus didn’t make it to 10:45, he nodded off to sleep around 10:30. Lauren got up and turned off the TV. She got tomorrow’s lunch ready for Marcus and dropped a SHMILY note into the brown paper bag. As she brushed her teeth she turned off all the lights, except the lamp on the table next to the couch where Marcus was asleep. She moved a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer so Marcus could have his work clothes ready in the morning. As she was stuffing socks and T-shirts into the dryer something fell out of Marcus’s work pants and clanged on the tile floor, landing in the little space between the washer and the dryer. She couldn’t reach in to pick it up so she had to shove the washer over a few inches. When she looked down she smiled.

It was a small metal-rimmed picture frame, maybe a couple inches square, with thick plastic on both sides. She picked it up and turned it over a couple times in her hands. On one side was a little photo of 15 year old Marcus and his dad at Lake Padden. They were soaking wet and they had their arms around each other, big smiles on their faces. On the other side was a little photo of Marcus and her in front of a waterfall at a park in Arkansas. They had backpacks on and walking sticks in their hands. She squeezed it in her hand and started the dryer.

She went back out into the kitchen and sat at their kitchen/card table, set the little picture frame next to her computer, and opened up her laptop. She typed Marcus a note…

“I found this when I was doing the laundry last night. I didn’t know you still carried it around, but it reminded me how much I love you. I love this picture of you and your dad after your baptism. It reminds me of how you were buried with Jesus into death and raised to walk in a new life. And I love the picture of you and me at the waterfall. It reminds me of how Jesus said ‘they are no longer two but one.’ The fact that you carry it around shows that you love God and you love me.

Marcus, you always give me credit for helping you regain your faith. But all I did was turn you around and point you back to Jesus. You took the first steps. God saw you a long way off and ran and embraced you and kissed you. You have a good and honest heart. I’m so happy to be your wife. I’m so proud of you. I love you, Marcus.”

She printed out the letter and took it over to the couch where he was sleeping, half-snoring by now. She left the note on his stomach and put the picture frame on top of it. She kissed his forehead and went to bed.

When Lauren got up in the morning Marcus had already gone to work. He left a note on the counter that said, “James 5:19-20. I love you.”

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.