$1.35

I've learned some important things in the past few days, but one of the most profound realizations that I've had is just how much God cares about $1.35. Let me explain: We've had family staying with us since December 23, visiting for the holidays. My wife's grandma, grandpa, and great-grandma made the trip from Georgia to share Christmas and New Years with us. Her great-grandma, everyone calls her Big Mama...she's the head of 5 generations, she's 90 and in failing health, but the doctors gave her the ok to make the trip. This past Saturday while she was sitting in the living room, her heart stopped. Everyone acted heroically, calling 911 and performing CPR until the EMT's arrived. They had to shock her heart three times and were finally able to revive her. She has been on the ventilator since that time, and has steadily showed signs of improvement. Whether she's able to recover from this point on or not is still very much a concern, but the circumstances leading up to this present state are what I want to focus on. In tragedy it's easy to focus on the negative, blaming God or someone else for the misfortune, and asking the tough, "Why God," questions seems to be natural in the greiving process. I can't help but see the hand of God in almost every facet of these circumstances. I think about how they were supposed to be heading to a remote part of Oklahoma to visit more family, but stayed and were able to have almost instant access to EMT's and the best hospitals in the area. I think about how Shannon and I made a "random" trip to Target with her little brothers just before the event, which I believe protected them from seeing the chaos and helped eliminate the possibility of added confusion. I think about how the EMT's were even able to resisitate her, allowing family more time to process the events and cope, rather than have the tragic end right there in the living room. There are so many little things that seemingly "fell" into place. Even if she isn't able to recover, I can still see God's goodness through all of the chaos. The most profound thing to me, again, is found in the tiny details. Shannon's grandma has been at the hospital day and night, not even leaving once. The first night we were at the hospital we hadn't had the opportunity yet to get any dollars for the vending machines, and she really wanted a soda to drink. None of us had any dollars or change, but she looked in her coin purse and she found exatly the $1.35 in change she needed for the vending machine. That spoke to me of the immense concern that God has for us, even in the details. His hand was so in control of the situation that He knew she'd need a drink, and it would cost $1.35, so He made sure she had it. Simple Application: Are you trusting God for the details? He is faithful and active in our lives, and many times we miss his loving care over us because we don't pay attention to the details!