Spiritual Hugs

Yesterday was a definitive reminder of Psalm 34:15, "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry." Caring for a loved one during and after surgery can be very stressful. When one becomes sleep-deprived, the flesh is weak and basically, "it ain't pretty." Suffice it to say, it was just a rough morning for me. God in His infinite mercy quickly turned it around through several individuals and situations.

When one has a teen who has back surgery, the day-to-day process like showering and so forth can become challenging. I called my friend Nicole and she bought some anti-bacterial shower gel which was like a huge blessing. Then Gerald and Hazel stopped by with some ice cream, some jewelry trinkets for Christine which encouraged both Christine and myself.

While these precious saints were here, Lee called and invited us to use their "sit-down," shower to bathe Christine and wash her hair. It's the little things that oftentimes trip us up. God had an answer to my prayers and all I had to do was to ask. Instead I wasted time fretting which is sin. Thankful for a long-suffering and patient Heavenly Father with abundance forgiveness.

Who would have thought, our first outing would be to take care of Christine's hygiene? God did and He provided over-the-top. Another blessing from our time with Lee and Beth was their family was scheduled to bring us a meal. By going over to their house, we were able to take a plate of food to Rob at the dealership. This is something we normally do, "take meals to Rob at the dealership." So this outing had many side benefits to it as well.

On the way to the dealership, Christine said to me, "This was fun and we can do more outings." Anyone who has had surgery, the normal tendency is to stop doing ones regular activities. I'm not speaking of the normal restrictions that come with surgery. What I'm speaking of is the reluctance to resume ones normal life again. Yesterday, was a benchmark for Christine in that she realized, "life goes on and she will be just fine."

Before our first outing, Christine received a sweet card from Charlotte and Jacob which she read to me and shared it made her smile. Todd, Debbie and Evan, dear friends of ours sent Christine a care package which had some neat items inside it. God used Debbie's card to convict and redirect my thinking pattern.

Caregivers get exhausted and I was and it was showing in many ways. God's grace was liberally poured out to me throughout the day and the night.

Last night we went for a 15 minute walk due to the lateness of the hour. We rejoiced that the weather a tad cooler. Christine doesn't like thunderstorms so she asked if she could sleep downstairs. She slept on the couch while I slept on the cot. When she woke up this morning, she said, "we both got a good night's sleep." I replied, "we sure did!."

My former pastor during my college and seminary years, Dr. John Bisagno taught me, "sometimes the most spiritual thing one can do is to rest." Isn't it amazing how rest refreshes us and our outlook changes?

My dearest friend, Leigh Brawner from Schenectady, NY and my "Mother Mentor," sent me a book the other day. It is entitled, "The Rainy Day Book, Pick Me UPs For When You're a Little Blue!" She and her family lost her precious husband to pancreatic cancer. She totally understands. One of the Bible verses in a paraphrase version reads as following, "People do what is right may have many problems, but the LORD will solve them all." - Psalm 34:19

In the NKJV it reads, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all." In my margin I had written, "Dealing with a 2 year old . . . Do You Need A Hug?" Apparently I wrote this when Christine was 2 years ago. God knew 11 years ago that I would need and read this verse. Isn't God gracious?

With hearts of gratitude and great praise!

Kathy, Rob & Christine
Psalm 62:8

(graphic courtesy: www.heartlight.com)

(Note: This entry comes from Christine Lundberg's Caring Bridge Page, August 12.)