You Know It when you Receive It

Care.
You know it when you receive it. Some 10 weeks ago my wife was mugged downtown. Her world was shaken significantly, and what could be trusted and enjoyed one day was threatening and anything but reliable the next. There was the police report and the ER visit to deal with a significant concussion and some very bruised ribs. Then the task of getting some "normalcy" back into life began. Well, just eight days later a fellow commuter sandwiched her compact car between the driver's SUV and another SUV. That's a lot of trauma for one person in little over a week, and her GI tract, which doesn't function perfectly when everything is at peace, spiraled out of control. We have not been in a hospital for almost two weeks now, and boy, are we grateful. But there were five hospitalizations, seven ER visits, and one ambulance ride. The fog is finally lifting enough to see more clearly the care that was all around.

Care. You know it when you receive it, and we sure have. There's been card after card arriving expressing concern and willingness to help. There's been more calories given in the form of hot meals than I want to acknowledge, at least on a scale. There's been friends who ventured out to visit at the hospital, friends who picked up the boys and got them where they needed to be and shuttled them home when done. There's been encouraging texts, and emails, and phone messages. There's been employers who have demonstrated true graciousness when we could not be anywhere near the top of our game in the areas we were hired to perform.

Care. You know it when you receive it. You know it, too, when God begins to answer it. You see, countless people held us up in prayer time and time again. Healing was slow in coming from our perspective, but it continues to take place remarkably well. Over and over I thanked people for praying telling them, "We really appreciate that. We value prayer very much." We were so encouraged by each prayer. It's an awesome thing for others to continuously place you in the might hands of God. Family and friends have truly come through surrounding us with relationship and caring for us physically and spiritually. We experienced God's care through the hearts, hands, meals, texts, emails, phone calls, visits, rides, prayers, cards, help with cleaning, counsel in getting the best from medical care provider ....so many ways. Our many friends and family members have shown us God's fingerprints, and those fingerprints are beautiful!