This past week I saw God's love in
action. I was in
Mississippi and went to the hospital everyday with a dear lady who has
Alzheimer's Disease. Her daughter, Leisa, and I sat with her in ICU
while
she waited to visit her husband for a few minutes every few hours.
Margarett is
in the early part of the second stage of this terrible disease. She
can't
remember many things like what she has just done, but can focus in on
the love
of her life, Hudson, who waits in ICU for her visits. She can also
remember
Scripture, and still prays powerful prayers. She told me one of her
favorite verses, Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through Christ
who
strengthens me," she said again and again. Throughout draining days,
even for
someone without dementia, she proved it again and again.
Hudson fell in physical therapy
and hit his head. Almost a week ago he had brain surgery to remove a
blood
clot, and it is a miracle that he lived through the ordeal of surgery.
Each day
he fights to survive in ICU. He can't speak, and is unable to eat. He is
hooked
up to everything possible except a ventilator. He is unresponsive to the
doctors
or the nurses, but when Margarett arrives, he comes to life. She rolls
into
his cubicle in her wheelchair, and for the whole visit stands by his bed
telling
him how much she loves him. She strokes his face and kisses him. He
opens his
eyes and reaches for her to hug him. She does, and he comes to life in
her
embrace.
This is just like the love of
God. He gives HIs love in the most horrible of circumstances. His
presence
brings us peace even when there appears to be no hope. HIs embrace gives
His
strength to enable us to survive all things. He is with us not just in
"some"
things, but in "all" things. This is just as Margarett's favorite
Scripture
tells her. She sees this promise everytime she sees her dear husband in
ICU. But not only that! She experiences it herself in the midst of
her own disease. Her mind settles as
she
hugs her husband. Because it is not just Hudson and Margaret in that
embrace. It
is the Holy Spirit doring as He promised. Working His miracle, and
providing
strength for the road ahead.
Lynn Lacher