Barbara Hawksford
12/13/2020

I have told you many times of the woman who came into my life and let me know how much God loves all people. That testimony caused me to seek the truth for myself, and because I prayed for God’ s help, I received a powerful gift of the Holy Spirit that was transformational for me. But that is the woman I want to talk with you about in a testimony of peace and reconciliation. As a result of my experience with her, and most particularly the gift of the Holy Spirit, I decided to be baptized. I was baptized in December of that year.
She was my mentor and friend all the days of my life but there were difficult times too. At one point, during a Reunion at Samish Island, my daughter told me that my friend was very hurt by something I did, and she didn’t want to be friends with me anymore. I did not know what it was that I had done, but I immediately went down to see her to see if somehow I could make amends for what I had done. (I had no idea what I had done, but it certainly had affected her badly.) While we were talking, I found myself on my knees asking her for forgiveness for what had happened. She did accept my apology so peace and reconciliation allowed us to restore our love for one another.
That was an important event for us, as in the days to come my dear friend had many moments of mental instability, but we were able to maintain our relationship with love and trust. That was very important to both of us and enabled me to act as her executor and protector in days to come as she needed to be in a care facility to receive proper care. I loved my friend and found myself able to maintain that love even though there were times when others I knew and loved were very hurt by her behavior. I was the executor of her estate and was able to solve some of the problems that had occurred during her final illness. In the end, this is the story of unconditional love and the power of the Holy Spirit to heal and reconcile.