Stories of God's Goodness, Love, Hope and Faith.

Dare We Ask Why, of God
 

The Christmas Trip we didn't make!  Do we dare ask God why! !
 

  I had to go to the west coast and see some property, and look into some other rendering business.  My daughter wanted to go, and the only time she was able to leave, was during the Christmas school break.  She has three boys, which are a handful, but a great family support system to assist when needed. 
 

   So all our plans were made, flights, motels, rental car, everything that was needed.  So off we started at 10:30 PM Christmas night, for Boston, where we were to catch our plane, at 5:40 AM. 

Just over an hour out of town, with the outside temperature being 1 degree, and a wind chill of 19 below 0, I lost the heat in my car.  We were about 14 miles from the nearest town, and of course we headed on down the road, and turned into the all night Mobile station, to cool the car down and add some antifreeze. 
At the time we thought that it was just low on coolant, but when we looked under the hood, I realized I had a greater problem. 

   The bottom line to this part of the story is that she called her husband to come and pick us up.  I knew we couldn't chance 5 or 6 hours more of driving in the life or death, weather conditions. 
 

   In the conversation with her husband, he informed her that his mother, who was recovering from pneumonia, had suddenly gone into a coma.  So there was now, no question of us returning home, and cancelling our trip. 

By the time we arrived home, at 1:30 AM in the morning, 
  he had heard word that the doctors were hopeful of her recovery, 
but by 7:00 AM she had died, suddenly and unexpectedly.  By 9:00 AM my daughter and her three boys and husband were on their way to Connecticut, 
to meet with all the extended family.
 

   Now, just before we left, my son-in-law showed concern for our safety, 
I asked him, to pray for our return trip.  They asked me why, for our return; 
and I said, because I know what the weather is for our leaving, 
and it's good, but I don't know what it is going to be on our return. 
At this time we had no weather report for the first of January.
 

   Now as I write this on the 30th of December, 2000, I see all over the TV and Internet, warnings of a monster storm for the east coast, for this weekend.  Actually it is two large storms, colliding, into blizzard and ice conditions, with heavy snowfall, and it's predicted to be the worst storm, the eastern seaboard has seen, since 1996.
 

   I am in the process of rescheduling our trip for February, 
during the school spring break. 
To be really honest here, I had an uneasy feeling about this trip.  It's out of character for me to be concerned about flying, or traveling, 
and I've never before mentioned a desire for prayer, 
for travel safety, from those on my update mailing list. 
And I'm very appreciative of those who wrote to me, with prayers for my daughter and I,  as concerns this planned trip. 
 

   I write this to reinforce the faith we have in our loving and caring Lord. 
Before we even called her husband, but after I decided to turn back, 
I told Leah, that this was alright, things would work out.
 

   It is not for us to ask God why?  for anything we may encounter, even though we may be tempted.  It is useless, as Isaiah said in 55:9  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
 

   We were flying DELTA, and I read this, just this morning 12/30/00  on the Internet: 

  ``It's going to be ugly,'' Delta Air Lines spokesman Russ Williams said. 
  ``We're going to be taking down a significant portion of our
   schedule throughout the Northeast.'' 
 

   At the best, we would probably be horribly delayed, with so much rescheduling, and at worse,
well, God only knows. 

  Do we dare to ask God why?  My answer is no- based on several scriptures. 

Not only because of what Isaiah said, but there's:

Philippians 2:13 "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
and, 
1 Thessalonians 5:18  "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 

   This does not necessarily mean to thank God for all things,  but to thank Him 'in' all things, in every circumstance, for His divine love and mercy and goodness, and His higher way of working in us.
 

   I hope no one who ever misses an encounter with death, or tragedy, ever entertains the thought that it could be because they are extra special to God,
as we are all extra special to our God.

I'm sure we miss some close calls with death,
probably much more than we will ever know, 
until we meet Jesus face to face.

 If God intervenes on our behalf, we can only, thankfully, know that
His ways and His purpose is so high, that we will never be able
to understand all of it, in this world. 

We can only trust Him to know best, for all the giant ripples, 
that extend out to life, from each of our lives. 
We couldn't begin to know or see these ripple effects 
that may flow through our lives, 
and what effects they may be causing, but God does. 
And as Paul said, so honestly: 

Philippians 1:21  ¶For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

So why should we count our life more important then we should, anyway !  
God knows when we will meet Him, and that's good enough for me.
 

My daughter and her family, are driving home as I write this story,
about fours ahead of the coming storm.    They are doing fine. 
She was able to be a great source of strength and help, to the whole family, not to mention her husband. I know the prayers for us, went to her strength.
 

THIS BOY'S HEART
 

The  surgeon sat beside the boy's bed;
the boy's parents sat across from him.

  "Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began,
"I'll open up your heart..."

 "You'll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted.
 The surgeon looked up, annoyed.

 "I'll cut your heart open," he continued,
"to see how much damage has been done..."

  "But when you open up my heart, you'll find Jesus in there."

  The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly.
  "When I see how  much damage has been done,
I'll sew your heart and chest back up
and I'll plan what to do next."

  "But you'll find Jesus in my heart. 
The Bible says He lives there.
 The hymns all say He lives there. 
You'll find Him in my heart."

  The surgeon had had enough.  "I'll tell you what
 I'll find in your heart.

  I'll find damaged muscle, low blood supply,
and weakened vessels.
 And
  I'll find out if I can make you well."

  "You'll find Jesus there too.  He lives there." 
The surgeon left.

  The surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery.
  "...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration.
No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. 
Therapy: painkillers and bed rest. Prognosis:,
" here he  paused, "
death within one year." 

He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said.

  "Why?" he asked aloud. "Why did You do this?
 You've put him here;

The surgeon's tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. 
"You created that boy, and You created that heart. 
He'll be dead in months.
 Why?"

  The Lord answered, "The boy, My lamb, shall return to My flock, 
for he has done his duty: I did not put My lamb with your
 flock to lose him,
but to retrieve another lost lamb."

  The surgeon pondered what he had just heard. 
Could it be possible that
  the boy was born in such a condition to reach him?

 He  bowed his head, and wept.

 The surgeon sat beside the boy's bed;
the boy's parents sat across from him.

  The boy awoke and whispered,
"Did you cut open my heart?"

  "Yes," said the surgeon.

  "What did you find?" asked the boy.

   "I found Jesus there," said the surgeon.

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the
way,
she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for
a
new sibling.  They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl,
and
day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in Mommy's
tummy.  He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he
even met her.
The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen.  In time, the labor pains
came.
Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious
complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of
labor.  Would a Cesarean be required?  Finally, after a long struggle,
Michael's little sister was born.  But she was in very serious
condition.
With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to
the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's hospital, Knoxville,
Tennessee.
The days inched by.  The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to
tell
the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst".
Karen
and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot.  They
had
fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby, but now they
found themselves having to plan for a funeral.
Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister.
"I
want to sing to her", he kept saying.  Week two in intensive care
looked as
if a funeral would come before the week was over.  Michael kept nagging
about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive
Care.
Karen made up her mind, though.  She would take Michael whether they
liked
it or not!  If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see
her
alive.  She dressed him in an oversizes scrub suit and marched him into
ICU.
He looked like a walking laundry basket.  But the head nurse recognized
him
as a child and bellowed, "Get that kid out of here now!  No children
are
allowed".  The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually
mild-mannered
lady glared steel right into the head nurse's face, lips in a firm
line.
"He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"  Karen towed Michael
to
his sister's bedside.  He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to
live.  After a moment, he began to sing.  In the pure-hearted voice of a
3-year-old, Michael sang:  "You are
my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are
gray---"
Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond.  The pulse rate began to
calm
down and become steady.  "Keep on singing, Michael," encouraged Karen
with
tears in her eyes.  "You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please
don't
take my sunshine away-".  As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's
ragged,
strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr. "Keep singing,
sweetheart!!!'  "The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamt I
held
you in my arms..."  Michael's little sister began to relax as rest,
healing
rest, seemed to sweep over her.  "Keep on singing, Michael."  Tears had
now
conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed.  "You are my
sunshine, my only sunshine.  Please don't take my sunshine away..."
The next day .. the very next day .. the little girl was well enough to
go
home!  Woman's Day Magazine called it "The Miracle of a Brother's
Song".
The medical staff just called it a miracle.  Karen called it a miracle
of God's love!
NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE.  LOVE IS SO
INCREDIBLY
POWERFUL!
  May you not forget the infinite
possibilities that are born of faith.  May you be
content knowing that you are a child of God.  Let His presence settle
into
your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance and to bask
in the Son.
It is there for each and every one of you!  God bless!
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