No Wasted Words

I'm a little numb. This school year has been the "Year of Hospitals" for our family. Our son was in the hospital for three and a half weeks in the fall. My mother was in the hospital for three weeks in December. Then, she was very recently hospitalized again for a week and a half. A brief spell in the ER where she stopped breathing was quite sobering. She is now being treated for pneumonia and an as yet undetermined lung ailment.

My mother is not a Christian and I pray continually for her salvation. Every day that I have her in this world is a gift. She let me pray for her every night as I "tucked her in" before I left the hospital. I always reflected how inadequate were my prayers.

I recently read in Numbers about God giving Moses and Aaron the exact specifications regarding the arrangement of the tribal camps.

On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard.
Numbers 2:3a

I believe there are no wasted words in the Bible and that the Old Testament points toward our Savior far more often than we observe. Could God have been preparing the Israelites for the sunrise that would illuminate the empty tomb? May my own speech have no wasted words, and point towards my Savior.

Another Milestone

This isn't our son's, but the x-ray we saw at the doctor today was somewhat similar. There was notable bone growth visible! Praise God! We can see the steel plate (our son's is quite a bit longer than this) and the screws, but we also saw much more bone growth. Just as God knits us together in the womb, we have been able to see the same knitting together of our son's bone over the past few months as we view the x-rays.

Today the surgeon gave the go-ahead to put full weight on the broken leg. Such progress! When we got home, my tall twelve-year-old son took two steps without the walker and gave me a hug and a big smile.

It was far better than his first steps when he was a baby!

Lessons Learned

While our son was hospitalized for his broken leg and multiple surgeries, I learned a few lessons:

When you think you can take no more, you will be given more...

...but God is there to strengthen you.

When you are at your lowest point, the Deceiver will attack...

...but God is there to strengthen you and fight back.

When you realize you would willingly take every bit of your child's pain upon yourself...

...you comprehend just a wee bit more, the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

When the first people to provide you with food are the very families who can afford it the least...

...you thank God for them.

In the Blink of an Eye

In the blink of an eye, a new life is brought into this world. In the blink of an eye, a life enters into eternal rest. In the blink of an eye, a life changes.

There is much that leads up to this life altering event. There is much that follows in its wake. But, what is constant is that lives are forever changed.

One day after my last post, my son fell and broke his femur. He had surgery to repair the break, and during the long surgery, complications arose with his good leg. After a total of six surgeries, and three and a half weeks in the hospital, he came home to begin his slow and painful recovery in early October.

He has progressed from being wheelchair-bound to adding a walker and crutches to his arsenal of transportation methods. Just last week he was able to begin putting limited weight on his broken leg. After months of needing a wheelchair to attend church, today he entered church using a walker for the first time since he fell.

Praise and glory to God for His mighty power, mercy, and love!

(The above photograph is a close up of a bumblebee eye.)