Location, Location, Location

   Were it any other location an observer would have seen a couple, in a cozy booth, in a small cafe, on a rainy day and thought about a romantic Hallmark flick, but the location changed everything.  Pan out from the close up and you would have seen the location was a hospital campus and the couple was mid way through waiting on their son’s brain procedure and pushing themselves to eat.  Pan back in and that couple, me and my husband of almost 25 years, sat across from each other making small talk that would occasionally be interrupted by concern and tears.  Back to small talk and words of appreciation for one another.  At the beginning...at the I do’s couples say all the things: sickness, health, poverty, wealth, all with each other in mind.  It is a whole different challenge when you battle through your child’s sicknesses.

   There we were in our cozy booth, in a weird way we breathed a sigh of quiet relief.  Relief that we were in a quiet spot alone because alone time doesn’t happen a lot when you have a child (no matter the age) with a health condition. A relief that we had made the decision to have this procedure done, a relief that all the moving parts came together in record speed for this to even happen.  Just days prior I had been told this wouldn't happen, there was no way the insurance would approve it in time for the surgery date,  But God!

   As I sat there talking about this I saw it.  There it was:  my miracle moment.  I hadn’t seen it this way just yet.  Yes, I saw God moving mountains to get us here but I hadn’t seen how I needed the “no” first so I would accept the “yes”.  You see, I had prayed for weeks, really months about a clear answer to this new procedure, but even after getting input and reading all types of sources, I was still unsure. We were unsure, but as I shared in my last post (Between the Rock and the Hard Place) there were not really any options left.  So we moved forward and to my surprise, our insurance denied the first request.  Our insurance had never denied a doctor’s request for a procedure.  This put us on odds with our dates for surgery.  There would be weeks to wait and a board to face, etc.  So a lot of prayer came, I made a couple calls and was connected to an amazing lady who was an advocate for me at our insurance.  It “just so happened” she had gone through a child needing brain surgery and she understood my situation.  She promised to fight for us and she did!  Even she had thought the delay was still going to be inevitable though, there was no way that we would have an answer in two days.  I rested in the arms of my Heavenly Father, who says that even if a man being evil knows to be good to his children, how much more will He, being perfect give us 

good things when we ask?  I knew that if this were really the good thing, He would work it out.  He did and here we sat just a couple days later, on the original surgery date, waiting for Mason.  

There at the booth, with rain falling, I realized that I had to have that no from the insurance because had it not happened that way, I would still be doubting if we made the right decision for Mason. If the insurance had said yes like they normally did, I would have carried that question of “what if” in my heart and God knew that.  God knew that better than I did.  He knows me and loves me (and you) so much that He wanted me to have peace about this decision. Once the no came, I was willing to accept if the process was turned down again and again until all doors were closed, but I also knew that if a Yes came in a short time, it would be miraculous and take the burden off my human shoulders.  We are not in control. We have to come to terms with that and it is freeing!

So we sat, tears of stress, happy, sad, relief...emotional and physical exhaustion go hand in hand and so did we.  Our God, our Father, had made provision for our big situation and also this small lunch in a quiet cafe, on a rainy day, He provided a much needed quiet date for some middle aged love birds who never have time away together anymore.  Our God is a God of detail.  Big details, small details, He cares.  Take a moment to sit back and reminisce over your life and as Ravi Zacharias said, “The Grand Weaver” is at work!  No matter your location in life, literally or figuratively, He is there with you and can make any location you are traveling through prime real estate for miracles, just open your eyes!