God-Prints

Last week, during Share, I had the opportunity to call a listener and pray with her over the phone. She was going through a rough time, and one thing I specifically prayed was that God would provide for her immediate needs and that she would recognize each provision as coming from His hand, not just as a coincidence. I hope she has...and I know I have seen it in my own life these last couple of weeks. Sometimes I think it does a soul good just to hear when God's been moving, so I wanted to share this with you, both as a way to praise God for what He has done and also {hopefully} to encourage your walk!

Before I launch in, you should know that back in 2000, right after I graduated from college, I went through a significant bout of pain. Two trips to two emergency rooms...a visit to the doctor...and one wishy-washy diagnosis of a possible ulcer later, I was sent away with a prescription for Prevacid and an admonition to give up Mountain Dew, lemonade, and anything else particularly acidic. I haven't really had a big issue with the pain again {random bouts of it, but nothing major or long-lasting} until 2 weeks ago. It hit me at 8:15 on Thursday morning, right in the middle of an Egg McMuffin. {Which, for the record, I never eat, but I got a free one that day. Also for the record, I regularly eat things much worse than that.} Within minutes, the pain was so severe that I couldn't stand up straight, talk well, or breathe with ease. Lynne immediately sent me home, thus bringing about my first ever time to miss BLT.

And here begins the record of the God-prints.

* My friend Marie was home that day and she kept me company on the phone while I commuted home - a trip that took probably an hour and a half. I was in so much pain, I was hunched over the steering wheel, and my hands and lips had gone numb from the pain. She prayed aloud constantly and read Scripture to me as I drove. Any other given day, she probably would have been busy or gone at that hour, but that day she was home with time to spare and she prayed me home.

* Ryan, whose schedule is always full WEEKS in advance, happened to have a slow day that day and was able to leave work at noon. This is quite literally NEVER an option for him. EVER. Not only that, but he had a student doing a clinical rotation with him, and that meant even more than usual, he shouldn't have been able to leave work, but God had that all worked out.

* Lynne called me after the show and told me she did not want to see me again until I'd been checked out, which IS the only reason I got immediate testing. It wasn't like I could skip going back to work for the rest of eternity.

* Ryan took me to an emergency room out of town {at my request} and I was pretty nervous about heading in during the height of flu season. But we walked in the door and were taken back immediately and were out in less than an hour. Pretty sure that never happens this time of year. I had absolutely no contact with any other patients. Every person I saw in that ER was ridiculously nice. No one weighed me {you girls understand that this fact in and of itself is a praise}, the person who took my blood got the vein in one try and did not leave a bruise, and they were all careful to not order tests that might be costly if I could wait to get them at a better rate later. AND the ER called me the next day to ask after my health. Nice.

* We had no plans at all that weekend - other than Ryan's plan to work on Saturday, which meant I could rest. And one of his co-workers called and offered to sub for him on Saturday so he could stay home with me. That meant EVERYTHING to me. He has the best co-workers. Other than mine. Mine really are the best of the best.

* Monday was the start of Share week, and that is the kind of week that you just DO NOT MISS at work. Period. And we were already down one employee, since Lynne's dad died over the weekend. I was so nervous about being sick and ruining Share. But Ross, our director, literally met me at the door on Monday, looked me straight in the eye, and said "You do what YOU have to do this week to be okay. You get whatever tests you need whenever you need them and you don't worry about us. Do you understand?" Wow.

* One of the big issues with this whole thing is that I live in one town and have insurance in another town. Oh. And I don't have a doctor. So, although the diagnosis at the ER was again that I had an ulcer, thy did urge me to find a doctor, get an order for an ultrasound, and have my gallbladder checked just to be sure. That was a daunting task. I knew many doctors in Fort Wayne weren't even taking new patients. Fortunately, Ryan works at a hospital {in yet ANOTHER town} and a doctor there was willing to take pity on a poor sick wife and help her get an ultrasound ordered. I got that on Monday.

* At FOUR O'CLOCK on Monday afternoon, I blindly called an office in Fort Wayne to ask about an ultrasound. They were booked for weeks out, but the nice lady gave me another number to try. I called at 4:15 and they could get me in at 7:30 in the morning THE NEXT DAY. That meant I didn't have to fast all day, I could get the test out of the way before work, and I was only late by a half hour. The ultrasound was completely painless, too, which was a bonus. AND - one more thing. It was one of the few days that week when weather was not an issue in the morning. I was able to drive up the interstate with no snow or ice.

* My co-workers urged me to be as careful as I could all week. We had long hours and a lousy diet {for someone with issues like mine. The food was VERY good...but it was pizza...and Mexican...and all kinds of stuff I Probably shouldn't have} and all week long, they asked and asked how I was doing. I did great all week until Friday.

* Friday morning at 9:00, another attack of pain began. I asked for time to sit in my office and breathe. My parents were praying, Ryan was praying, and I asked my co-worker, Amy, to come back and pray over me in person. She came back at 9:45, and I was sweatin' it. I was supposed to be on air at 10:00 and the pain was so bad, I couldn't speak above a whisper. I leaned against the wall in my office while she prayed aloud for my relief. She specifically prayed that all pain would vanish when I opened my mouth to speak on the air. She got done and I looked at her and said, "That's 15 minutes away. Seriously? You couldn't pray for faster than that?" LOL!! We were joking, but you guys? I hobbled down to the studio at 10, sat in the chair with my pants unbuttoned, because the pain was too much, and the minute I opened my mouth to speak, it left. For. The. Day.

* Ryan texted me Friday afternoon and said the doctor had told him he never got the results from the hospital. They were supposed to be to him within 24 hours. I called and got right through {again, at 4 pm on a Friday} and they got them sent right over. That's when we learned my gallbladder was full of stones and needed to be removed immediately. The doctor was so upset that the results were delayed in getting to him. He said he would have had me in the hospital that week to have surgery. I told Ryan that I was firmly convinced that delay was God-ordained. I do not, for one minute, believe I had any kind of life-altering impact on the outcome of Share 2015, but I do believe, with all my heart, that in Lynne's absence, I was needed in that station. I can't be Lynne and I wasn't trying to be Lynne. But I needed to help. They needed me and I needed that time of faith-boosting. I didn't need surgery as much as I needed to be there.

* We weren't able to make any headway on this over the weekend, but when we started the process up Monday morning, we learned that the hospital Ryan wanted me to be in actually was covered in our insurance {we didn't think it would be}, so we're able to get in there for the surgery!

* The first "hiccup" was in the date - which is a week from yesterday. It was much farther out than I wanted, but I am choosing to believe it's right for reasons I don't know! It did allow me to return to work and get things done ahead for Lynne. I'd felt so horrible for leaving her with so much to do.

Excited to see what God does now!