They Brought A Carseat - God Is So Good

Welcome to my Wednesday feature God is So Good. Here I will share stories - true and fiction, mine and others' - of the Lord's presence in the midst of trials, struggles, and difficulties.

 In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33b

I'm an optimist. If you don't know that about me yet, it won't take long for you to figure out. I see the silver lining on every cloud (or almost every one, anyhow). I've been called "annoyingly optimistic." God made me this way. It's not that I don't get frustrated, or mad, or weary. I just seem to have an uncanny way of spotting the blessings in trials. Like this one day, at the very beginning of my husband's health struggles...

 It had been a very tough week. My husband Marc had been experiencing a migraine for several days, with no relief, other than a brief reprieve thanks to a shot of medication at a doctor's visit a couple days before. And now it was Friday.

A weekend of excruciating pain didn't sound fun, so we went back to the doc again, hoping for some help. Of course, we brought our 2 1/2 year old Andrew along, since there was nowhere to leave him. Oh - and did I mention I was six months pregnant at the time?

ANYhow, the doc recommended we go to the ER for a CAT scan. So my aching husband, my squirrely toddler, and prego me got in the car and headed over there. NOT my favorite outing ever. Of course we waited (that's why they call it the waiting room, right?), and I got the presence of mind to call church and ask for prayer.

We got in the exam room. And waited some more. Andrew tried to climb my husband's legs and got whiny. He started playing with implements that are NOT meant as playthings. He got clingy. And bored. And even more bored.

We got a quick change of scenery when Marc went for the CAT scan, as we went into that waiting room. But still, Andrew was NOT happy. I began to wonder how much my unhappy son (and his hormone-crazed mother) could take. (Not to mention my poor husband with the migraine!)

And that's when an orderly came in. "Your pastor and his wife are here. Can they come in?"

Oh yeah. And the best part? They didn't just pray. THEY BROUGHT A CARSEAT. They gave the two of us a reprieve from a hyper, energetic, bored boy and allowed us to focus on one another, and what the doctor was going to tell us.

I didn't ask them to come, but they did. I didn't ask that they take Andrew with them and watch him while we dealt with this. But they did. They listened to our request, saw what they could do, and made a HUGE difference. God used them to help us. He is SO good.

Do you have a story you'd like to share about God's goodness in your struggles? Drop me an email and we can talk!

Traveling Rough Roads With God's Strength