Recently I have been reminded of how miraculous it is that when BJ was most contagious and around others, absolutely no one else took ill.

As we have shared before, doctors believe he contracted the Bubonic Plague. When they began (shortly after arriving at the hospital) to view this as the likely disease, they put him in isolation. Most of the belongings he came with were destroyed. Some of them were not his but mine, but understandably, fear caused them to eliminate the items.

They did not immediately share with us their belief. Still we had to adorn protective garb, and go through ceremonial steps of dressing and undressing to protect ourselves and others. The interesting thing was that we did not know for a while the reasons for such caution.

Once we were made aware, my mind began to fill to overflowing with possibilities of other likely infected people. I feared for others safety and made a rather impassioned plea with one of the doctors to be able to share with those BJ had touched or spoken to. BJ's close proximity to friends and family members during his most highly contagious hours were of grave concern.

I was told to keep the information to myself, that they had a plan (if it turned out to be Plague). I did not become aware of the number of conversations he had that were in close settings until reading through some of the interviews for the book.

Historically, this disease infected so many countless people through casual contact. With all of the people he had interacted with in the last few days and weeks, the potential for a serious outbreak seemed very likely.

All we could do was pray, and ask God for protection.

Graciously, God protected all those BJ had been around. Not one other person came down with his disease. It claimed his life.

It claimed his life, because our God had a plan to bring others to Himself. He had a plan to raise up people to serve Him. His plan includes having the affected people share life and death information with those they come in contact with.

While the doctors tried to protect the public from panic over BJ's likely diagnosis, it was God who took a grave situation and turned it for His glory.

Let us not similarly sit on information that can save lives. The enemy would have us believe that there is always more time. That God will save them through other means, and we need not be involved.

If we do not get involved, how will they know? We need to be willing to risk tarnishing our reputations for a cause greater than who we are as individuals.

BJ said it best, "to get our feet dirty, we must first Go."

dad