INUNDATED WITH BLESSINGS--EVEN ON CRUTCHES

Something cool happened last night, Night #3 after surgery, as I got up in the dark and grabbed my crutches to use the bathroom.  I was in a fair amount of pain and didn’t want to wake my hubby who had served me so much since the surgery. 

As I hobbled out of the bathroom, grimacing in pain, I suddenly had a realization.  It was like a landslide of recollections of where everything came from—like one of those back-to-basics talks we often have around the holidays about how every good gift we have comes from God.

Starting with those crutches that held me up.  I recalled Alison, the campus nurse, meeting me after hours in the health clinic to secure those for me, having already positioned them to my height.  She got me the wheelchair as well, even though I didn’t have my checkbook on me for the $100 deposit.  It would have been OK if that hadn’t worked out because my neighbor, Ralph, called to offer his wheelchair, having seen Randy’s post on our in-house website. When I pondered how many people had gone out of their way just for my equipment, I  pictured the text that had arrived that day from David, a guy on our campus who had had a foot procedure days earlier from the same podiatrist.  He was just checking in with me, making sure I was recovering OK. 

Speaking of that podiatrist… Dr. Mark Senft, is a renowned foot doctor, who happened to have gone to the same high school as my dad and who was recommended by two other friends.  That’s not normal to have an excellent specialist in any medical area on this island.   Other than an occasional cast or baby delivery, most people go to Oahu for advanced health care.  But I didn’t have to.  God provided that.   As I rounded the corner on my crutches I glanced at the huge tropical bouquet that my sister in-law and mom had picked out, full of my favorite flowers. There was also a basket on the floor of  fresh fruit and chocolates from my friend Ingrid who’d stopped by hours earlier to show some Aloha. 

I resolved to shift my perspective from how-hard-this-is to how-good-God-is. 

It is He that provides all that I need in the easy times and through the hard times.  It is He that has given grace to my husband and boys to tirelessly serve Mom, bringing me water and pills, my phone for the hundredth time, or a blanket. 

A common phrase today is, “You got this!”  I say it to myself as I balance my cast on the waste basket each time I lower myself onto the toilet.  But I need to change my chant to “He’s got this!”  He has it, like cattle on a thousand hills, hand-picking just what I need from the hand-picked Bird of Paradise my mom got me, or the hand-picked muscle ointment my friend Dee delivered on Day 1.  God’s got this!

While I’m writing this, I am interrupted by a knock at the door.  Ingrid, my Norwegian downstairs neighbor, decided to deliver some freshly-baked raisin rolls.  Just what my queasy tummy needed from this pain medication!  God is good!  It occurs to me that He doesn’t just have it, he has it in the perfect timing! 

“My God shall supply all of your needs, according to His riches in heaven.”  Riches like steamy-warm rolls, and lovingly-scrawled cards, and hugs, and chick-flick movies from my hubby who would never watch “Moms’ Night Out.”  God has it. 

It reminded me of what happened when I was pregnant with Evan and needed to transform our office into a baby nursery after my brother in-law moved out when I was seven months along.  Only, Randy wouldn’t let his pregnant wife wield a paintbrush with strong paints that we were using to seal up the paneling. So, I had to trust God as he prompted friends to step up to get the job done.  I realized just before the baby arrived that something like 17 friends and family members had pitched in to help get the room completely ready.  It was a wild recollection!

Last week when I was preparing for surgery and really had no idea what to expect, a girlfriend from Portland called to fill me in on the O.R.  “It will be really cold, ‘cause they have to keep the machinery cool.  Oh yes, you don’t have to leave right away.  If you aren’t ready or feel  sick, request to stay longer.”  So I did.  These perfectly-placed pointers landed in my ears hours before surgery-time. 

Another insight came before surgery.  It was a “still small voice” over a couple days reminding me that my husband is absolutely worthy of my trust.  He is so strong in the laid-back and taking-care-of dept., that I can trust him when my own life seems out of control.  I just needed to recognize those little reminders from my Father, that Randy’s got this.  That God’s got it, working through my husband, and neighbors, and girlfriends, and family x a thousand hills.