I know

By Mary Spence


My husband suffered an unexpected medical problem this past holiday weekend. We had set the entire weekend aside to work on fixing our old kitchen floor which was falling in. We  spent the entire day pulling up the old floor and rebuilding it together. Our second day without water and inches from having it flowing again, and boom! Diversion. We spent the entire night in the emergency department. One procedure after another as the hours crept by until the decision was finally made to admit him to the hospital. By midday on Sunday he was tucked into his hospital room safely so I dragged myself home thinking only of a nap before heading back to the hospital. My beautiful daughter tucked me in for a few hours sleep. A few hours later we headed back to the hospital pausing on our way back to shower at church, thanking God for the blessing that our church building is.
After seeing that he was tucked in for the night under the watchful eye of a distantly related nurse we arrived at home and crawled under the covers. Monday morning he woke me up calling to say he couldn't eat or drink because he might be having surgery. Rushing to make a cup of coffee for the road,  I realized the milk was warm. When I opening the freezer I discovered everything was thawed out. Thinking quickly I transferred anything salvageable to our camper fridge and freezer with my daughter's help. Barely holding it together, I climbed into my car to rush back to the hospital. Tears started to flow as I tried to remind myself how strong and resilient I am. But then I remembered how loved I am. I cried out to the Lord, begging for help to get through the tidal wave of obstacles coming at us rapid fire.


One of my favorite lines from scripture is this: "But God... ". I walked through the doors of the hospital floor directly into the arms after a fellow daybreaker that God had placed directly in my path. By the time I reached the side of his bed, the urologist swept in to announce that he was going home that day.
Within hours  I got a call, our pastors had water restored at our house! My mother was on her way to order us a new fridge.  Each wall we came up against revealed a solution we could never have expected. Each trial I had tearfully handed over to Jesus that morning was knitted together to reveal a new direction. That night my mother wrote to me "Read Psalm 100 before you go to bed."
Psalms 100:1-5 NIV
[1] Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. [2] Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. [3] Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. [4] Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. [5] For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

I know whose I am. I know He is God. I am created by Him and we are His sheep. As a shepherd watches his sheep, He is watching over us. So I can give thanks to Him, even in these times of trial. ESPECIALLY in these time of trial.

So I am thankful for every hand and every voice who came out of the woodwork at just the right time this past week. For the texts and calls and those who came even when I i aisted I was ok. For the church building and the church family. My family. And for my Shepherd. Thank you.

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