Breath Prayers for Major Wenstrup

A few years ago I pulled a little pink paper heart off of a bulletin board at Shiloh church. It was to remind me to think of the person whose name was printed on it in my prayers - someone who was serving overseas during the heat of the war with Iraq. The name on my heart was Dr. Brad Wenstrup. I taped it to the dashboard of my car and it stayed there for a year or so. I thought of this person - who I'd never met - when I'd glance at his name as I was driving or getting into my car.  And I would say a short breath prayer. "God bless Brad" or "Be with Brad". I confess I am not gifted in deep intercessory prayer. My prayers for him were short and sometimes I didn't pray, but would look at the name and wonder who this person was, what he looked like, did he go to my church or was he a friend of someone who went there? What was his job in Iraq? I wondered if I would ever meet him. I hoped that I would, or at least know that he was OK.

One afternoon during lunch when I worked at the Health Alliance, I was reading the paper. There was an article about some local doctors who were nominated in a "Dr. McDreamy" contest. One of the names was Dr. Brad Wenstrup. Not always being the sharpest knife in the drawer, it took me a second to remember why that name sounded familiar (couldn't be because it sat in front of me for at least an hour each day as I drove to and from work!). I was so excited that I went around and showed everyone, "Hey - look! This is the soldier I have been praying for! He's back home!"....I wrote a note to Dr. Wenstrup, took the heart off my dashboard and placed it in with the note to send to him....But I never really knew where to send it...All I knew was that he worked for Wellington as a podiatrist. I never did send the card. Maybe I was afraid he'd think it strange that some random chick was sending him his name on a heart. Maybe it was a different Brad Wenstrup. Who knows. Whatever the reason, it was lame.  The next time I 'saw' him was when he ran for mayor of Cincinnati. I agreed with much of his platform so I was happy to get to vote for him, but I still thought it would be neat to be able to meet him and tell him I was glad he was home safe.

I was finally able to do that yesterday. Shiloh had a special Memorial Day service. When I saw during worship team planning that our guest speaker was Major Brad Wenstrup I was elated. Before the service, I saw him come into the room and seized the opportunity.

"Dr. Wenstrup," I said, "my name is Helen. I had your name taped to my dashboard for a long time while you were in the war...I prayed for you and thought of you whenever I saw it. I am very glad to meet you."

"Wow...Thank you," he replied, "I appreciate that you did that..."

I said, "It's good to put a face with the name."

Then Major Wenstrup paused. His eyes filled with tears as he looked at me earnestly and said,

"you got me home."

I teared up too. I never thought I did all that much. I always thought that the poor guy could have been picked by a better "prayer warrior", someone with a prayer closet full of names and a well thought out intercession strategy for each.

There in that moment with my new friend, whose name looked at me for so long, I learned that every prayer matters. Even the little short ones. Even just taking a second to remember a stranger who might be in harm's way.

He said that I should have called him when he got home. I explained that I didn't know he'd returned until I had seen his picture in the paper - all we had been given was a name.

As much as I regret that I don't have that heart anymore (I lost the card I was going to send), I am glad that I was able to meet him face-to-face. Nothing could replace shaking his hand and knowing that I really had made a difference for him.

Thank you, Major Wenstrup for making the choices you did to serve so many other people. You are a blessing to this nation and to the world.