[UPDATE on this post 11-21-08. Please pray for the family of Dr. Leckman. He passed away yesterday. That is the reason my husband must find a new doctor.]
Simply shrugging my shoulders and saying "that's life", is rather defeatist. In the face of lions, Daniel didn't say "that's life". He said, "My God has sent His angel and has shut the lions' mouths so that they have not hurt me..." Daniel 6:22 He went willingly into that den and spent the night, trusting His God to protect him.
Ever feel like the whole world is a den of lions? Wherever you turn, a mouth sits ready to devour you? A group of satraps and presidents lie in wait to entrap you, to accuse where no accusation can rest? And often all you can do is walk behind them and let them lead you into whatever peril awaits, while trusting in the Lord with all your heart and leaning not unto your own understanding?
Yeah, "that's the life" I'm talking about.
Every day brings its own supply of trials. I don't know why I couldn't sleep last night but I literally didn't sleep one minute. I wrote some, I posted some things on ebay, and I thought about how I meant to call my dad yesterday. I planned my day for today with that being a top priority. I read some scriptures. Finally at 6 a.m. I pushed the coffee button and turned on Fox'N'Friends for company.
At 7:45 I got a call from Daddy's wife. Dad was moved to the hospital last night. Pneumonia, kidney problems, and a urinary tract infection. Not good news. I just talked to daddy last week. He was singing songs. I had to laugh. All the prayers of all my blogging friends and church friends had been answered. He had adjusted really well to his new nursing home. Ya see, Daddy doesn't sing. And he made up the songs as he went along. I listened about an hour to his less than amateurish attempt at rhymning words and creating lyrics to make sense. It was rather funny. I had to smile for the blessing of praise in his life for his Lord. In between verses, he told me that the doctor said only one artery in his heart was open now. The others were all but closed off. "One more, baby and I'll be outta here," he quipped. He wasn't the least bit worried. He sounded rip-roarin'-ready to meet Jesus. And if I didn't know how terminal his condition was, I might have thought he'd was gonna live for years. Then today I hear how badly he's doing. "That's life" in a decaying world.
Then I was lying back trying to take a nap this afternoon. The phone rang and I vaguely heard the answering-machine's recording a message to my husband. "Dr. Leckman has had an emergency and will no longer be servicing patients. You need to come in and pick up your records. We'll give you names of other doctors." I sat there thinking, Not again. There are no other doctors.
For those of you who don't remember we just finally got this doctor last August. It took us forever to find one who would accept my husband's medicare. The VA had previously canceled two appointments in a year due to a doctor's "emergency" and my husband's thyroid was dangerously low (actually non-existent). With congestive heart disease, that is critical. Then our previous civilian doctor, also had canceled appointments and finally closed his practice--which left my husband destitute for medical care. Now it is happening all over again. Sounds a bit like Bill Murray's GROUNDHOG DAY movie, doesn't it? So "that's life" in the world of American medical care these days in Lawton, Oklahoma.
There's more, but I won't belabor the difficulties we face. I don't feel all that bad at the moment. This morning--before the phone calls--I praised God for all the trials he has put us through in the past 5 years. I praised Him for His watchcare and all the provision through so many of His children here in Lawton. I praised Him that I had a computer to type on because of a generous blogger who I'd only knew a couple of months. I praised Him for another blogger who shared our financial difficulties with Sagemont Church in Houston, who then met the need we had so we could continue our internet connection and phone service. I praised Him for blogging friends on the internet who had prayed for me over and over again these years and especially the past few months.
I praised Him because in the midst of these lions of oppression, depression and healthcare problems, that He was still God. And I praised Him because He'd answered the prayers of His people and I felt so wonderful inside due to His grace and comfort. I truly did.
Well, the devil must have heard me praising, because he was crouched and ready to pounce today. But God is in the details, my friends. Life is in His care. And I am grateful for all of you who continually lift me up. I am stronger today for your prayers. I am still praising my Lord. No defeatist sitting here today. If God can shut the lions' mouths for Daniel, he can open the doors of circumstance for me. "That's the Life" I'm talking about. selahV
[© SelahV Today,hariette petersen, 2008]