Encouragement
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In light of our recent experience with my brother Joel's emergency (a week that felt like a month long), I gained a wonderful insight on how intimately involved the Lord and His mercies are in our daily walk, all the time, even when we don't recognize it. If we ever doubted it, we now have added assurance that the Almighty is as near to us as our own breath. Here, by way of texts, Facebook posts and other reflections are the highlights.
Sunday, 6 December 2015:
"7 a.m. phone call, brother Joel via ambulance to hospital; suspected dissecting aorta, and/or massive heart attack, very sick and in pain....we were there to be with Patty by 7:45, joined by family and friends for the long day's wait."
Approximately eight hours later:
"Good report! Rejoicing! Heart valve okay, no need to repair/replace it; heart doing well once circulation improved; aorta repaired; now thanking the Lord for His mercies (I should start a list* of all we talked about while waiting) and continuing in prayer for good healing and restoration (surgeon said he'll need 2-3 days before he is out of the woods). Jesus said, 'Behold, I make all things new!'
"Heartfelt thanks to all friends and family we were able to reach for prayer support. It has been a long day, but one full of gratitude for Joel's life being spared. Thanks be to God!
Love, Eda"
* The list:
1. Joel and Patty had been working on their North Shore place; there would have been no nearby hospital capable of providing the needed intervention.
2. Instead of delaying travel back to their home in the city, they drove back on Saturday, through the wooded wilderness, on their own.
3. Their house in town is mere blocks from one of the 50 best hospitals in the nation. They awoke to prepare for Sunday.
Joel was building a fire in their fireplace, when he stood up to greet his wife with a good-morning bear hug. He doesn't remember any of this, but in the middle of that embrace he said, "Oh-oh – something just happened. Call 911." He sat down and began retching.
4. Being an early Sunday morning, traffic was nearly non-existent.
5. Sunday morning the hospital would have no surgery schedule to interrupt.
6. Patty told us, later, an ER nurse had confided to her that she didn't think Joel would make it. Then the on-call surgeon walked in. He said, "There are no guarantees, but the Lord is Sovereign." What a boost of encouragement! Jesus' hands would be working through the human hands of a man of God!
7. Oh, and the November weather could have been atrocious, but it wasn't. No snow to challenge drivers on the road. It felt more like Spring.
Then, as if we needed further assurance, Monday morning I awoke with the words "There's a new day dawning" welling up from my heart. Later, when I mentioned this to my sister Naomi on the phone, she told me that her daughter had that on her heart, too. Imagine our surprise, when Patty posted the following on Facebook, the next day, beneath a photo she'd just taken of the sunrise:
"The sun comes up
There's a new day dawning..
It's time to sing our song again..
Whatever happens..
Whatever lies before us
Let us be singing when the day is done" +
"Joel's favorite words to his favorite song to his favorite time of day. The sunrise on York Ave North. For you Joel!" (Patty)
With all their singing (they met in college choir), I had no idea this was my brother's favorite. The Creator thinks of everything, doesn't He? And, it's just what we need for comfort, for encouragement, and for our good pleasure. Hallelujah!
"A man’s steps are established by the LORD, and He takes pleasure in his way." –Psalm 37:23
" The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." –Psalm 28:7
p.s.
Sunday 13 December 2015:
One week later, our brother Paul stopped by the hospital for an afternoon visit and discovered that Joel had just been discharged to home! The wonder never ceases.
+ paraphrased from: 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord), by Matt Redman
Copyright 2015 by---Edy T Johnson---
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