On November 1, 1955, the first act of sabotage against a U.S. commercial aircraft took place over Longmont, CO.United Flight #629 blew up shortly after take-off from Denver, CO when a bomb--planted in a woman's suitcase--detonated.But in the midst of this tragedy, another more beautiful event was unfolding.This same night, Joel, a 20-year-old pool shark, was heading home late with his best friend Bob, when they spotted three young women walking down the sidewalk.Bob said, "Let's offer them a ride, Joel." Joel was dead tired and just wanted to go home and sleep.But Bob was persistent."Come on, Joel.It's cold outside.We'll take them right home and then you can go home and sleep."So Joel pulled over to the curb while Bob leaned out the window and engaged the three women in conversation.Before Joel knew it, all five of them were soon at a diner, drinking coffee and getting to know each other.Earlier in the evening the three women had had dates with air force officers, but the men had become drunk, so they had left their dates to walk home.One of the young women was named Alice.And as Joel gazed at her, he knew that not only did he want her phone number, but that he also might be falling in love with her.

That was fifty years ago.Joel and Alice did fall in love, married, and raised three beautiful children.Over the years, one of their favorite places to vacation was on the East Cape of Southern Baja.So after Joel's retirement, they decided to buy a home in Mexico and live there permanently.This led to them finding a house in La Paz.Eventually, they also found Crossroads Christian Fellowship, and that's how we met them and began a beautiful friendship.

This past summer while visiting their kids in Oregon, Alice went for a doctor's check up.Several years back she had hip replacement surgery, and she went in to talk about some pain and discomfort she'd been experiencing.As a result of those tests, it was discovered that Alice had a type of bone cancer.It was a total and unexpected shock.And she and Joel struggled to decide what to do next.After seeing several specialists, Alice decided to move in with her daughter and to begin radiation treatments.In the meantime, Joel had to schedule a return trip to La Paz to make arrangements about their home and household employees.The Crossroads community reached out to Joel, supporting him with visits and phone calls.And last week, we also had Joel over for lunch.

Joel shared with us that when their daughter left an abusive marriage which resulted in a stressful child-custody case, he and Alice had sat at their kitchen table and prayed.And they had said to each other, "God's going to win this one."Joel says, "And that was our prayer during the difficulties of life.God's going to win this one.And as I reflect on what's happening now, I know God's going to win this one too."Joel related more stories of his life with Alice and we were struck by his honesty and deep faith.He was not afraid to admit that this cancer scared him, and that he felt moments of intense anger at the entire situation.But there was joy there too.A deep abiding joy of sharing a life-time with a woman whose faith had grounded him and had saved him from himself.

"My parents divorced when I was 16.I ended up living with another family during that turbulent time.When I graduated from high school, I struck out on my own.I'd accepted Christ, but hadn't really integrated that decision into my lifestyle.And then I met Alice.She came from a stable family with Christian roots.I know that was part of the reason I was attracted to her.She could offer me something that I was searching for; and she did.She's been my rock all these years.I'm more of a black and white person when it comes to viewing the world.But Alice is always saying to me ‘Have you considered this, Joel?'And usually, I hadn't!She's helped me to grow in ways I could have never imagined."

This past Sunday, Joel shared a testimony during the prayer time.He said that Alice was at peace with whatever happened next.They had decided that God was going to be glorified through this illness no matter how the future unfolded.Until God took Alice home, whether soon or twenty years down the road, their aim was to glorify God in all they said and did.

Is God going to win this one?We believe God already has.