One of the reasons why I love what I do is because I have the opportunity to see God’s hand in so many ways… His touch and provision in so many circumstances… It’s not that God’s hand isn’t everywhere… It’s just that sometimes when people are more “on the edge” and you see things come together, you know its because of God... and only God…
Because I work with people “on the edge” – who don’t have any “buffers”, personal savings or credit line to get them out of hard situations – I have the incredible privilege of seeing God at work… day after day… Sometimes when I get bogged down with “work” and “worries” I need to step back… and see what God is doing… He’s always there - I sometimes just have my eyes concentrating on something else… (I always tell my girls to keep their eyes on Christ… I need to take my own advice!)
God’s hand has been pretty easy to see in these last couple days… One major example is in Giovanna’s life… in the hospital… recovering from a successful brain surgery… (although we still don’t have the report whether the tumour was benign or malignant) The doctors say that Giovanna was without vital signs for five minutes – and when they thought there was nothing more they could do, she “came back”…
Family and friends spent their money on the tests, medicines, doctors’ visits before surgery (even the street kids and shoe shiners took up a collection) so when the hospital bill came to over 10,000 Bs. ($1445) there was no where to turn… Giovanna’s dad request for a bank loan was rejected because he was “too old”… She was “discharged” 6 days ago but can’t leave until the bill is paid…
On Friday evening I got an e-mail saying “I have a bit of extra money this month so I’m sending $…” Wow…
The hospital’s social worker doesn’t work weekends… so no one was around to authorize a discount… This morning that was done… and the donation was enough to cover it… and everything is paid (but they still won’t let Giovanna go because she needs 4 units of blood to replace what was used in her surgery!!!)… Hopefully later or at latest, tomorrow, she’ll be out of the hospital…
Could you see God’s hand there?
2:30 p.m. I JUST got a phone call from Giovanna… she is on her way out of the hospital!!!… She wants to say thank you to all who prayed for her and helped her… She wanted to go home, take a shower and come back to my Bible study this afternoon… but it is in half an hour so I told her to come by tomorrow…
Thank YOU! – on behalf of Giovanna…
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Something else happened last week… A popular restaurant called us to pick up some donations… We always groan a bit when they call because it’s usually when they need more space in their freezer and we get frozen bits of “stuff” – duck necks, soup bones, gizzards, bits of scraps etc…
I sometimes feel bad giving out scraps to the girls… (especially knowing that I can go to the market/supermarket and choose what groceries/food to buy). This donation included bits of fish, pieces of blood sausage, chicken wing tips, chicken feet, duck necks and gizzards… Wilma and I were on our way to a neighbourhood where quite a few of our girls live so we took the bags of scraps with us to hand out…
In two cases, the girls weren’t there but we left them a “variety pack”… a bit of everything…
The next time Jenny came to class she said… Thank you so much for the meat you dropped off for us… it was right when we needed it… She had been “watching cars” downtown… her 4 kids were at home waiting for their dad because he was supposed to get paid… and take some groceries home…
In the end, Raúl didn’t get paid… so Jenny told them to just make “tea” for supper… When Jenny got home, her kids were so excited that they had meat for supper!!! She couldn’t believe how God had provided when they didn’t have anything in the house to eat…
María Luisa’s home was another place where we left bags of “treats”… Money has been tight for them lately, her father-in-law has cirrhosis of the liver and the family has had to cover a lot of extra costs – special diet, medications etc… One day when there wasn’t money for food, she told her kids to gather up all the clothes and shoes that didn’t fit them anymore, and took them to the nearest market to sell… Since then, she’s been selling used clothes in the afternoons when her kids are in school…
With 7 kids at home, they don’t get many treats…
Maria Luisa got home to her husband frying up something that apparently was “DELICIOUS!!!!” (I never found out what exactly it was… but I got a big hug, Maria Luisa was so excited about it when she was telling me…) She went on to tell me that there was enough food that the next night they invited two neighbour families in for supper… Maria Luisa’s boys’ apparently couldn’t stop staring at their plates because they had so many different things on it… they didn’t know where to start!!! The blood sausage was Maria Luisa’s favourite… Yum…
“Thank you... and thank God for the food you brought by… God provided for us… but there was also enough to bless other families that needed it too…”
…so… did you see God’s hand in Jenny and Maria Luisa’s homes? - God caring about the empty food cupboard… providing them with special “treats”… exactly when needed.
Which shows God’s hand more amazingly??? - a large donation to cover a brain surgery… food exactly in time for a family that wasn’t expecting anything more than tea for supper… or blood sausage – a girl’s favourite – when there wasn’t anything to cook with???
It doesn’t really matter… God’s hand is seen incredibly – whether in providing for the “impossible” OR in His awareness of the small details…
Isn’t it wonderful to see these glimpses of God? He is truly worthy of praise…
Corina… (for Marco and Keiden too…)