Lord, Save Me!

Psalm 116:3-4
The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD:
"Lord, save me!"

Recently, my mother-in-law, Mimi, gave us the scare of a lifetime. Danny, my husband, had just visited with her on Thursday and all was well, but he felt an inexplicable urgency on Monday to call her from his work. He tried three times before she finally answered. It was then he learned his mother had been vomiting all weekend and hadn't told a soul, thinking, somehow, it would all just go away. Immediately, Danny dropped everything and raced to her home. After some tough-love convincing regarding her need to be in the hospital, Mimi finally relented; Danny bundled her into the car and rushed her to the emergency room. It wasn't a moment too soon.

Mimi was dehydrated and on the brink of kidney failure when she was admitted to the hospital that Monday. It wasn't until Saturday that the doctors felt she was stable enough for the surgery they needed to perform to repair a hernia obstructing her lower intestine. Seeing this feisty, strong-willed woman laying like a frail, wilted flower in her bed, piteously suffering, was almost more than we could bear. "Lord, heal her, save her!" We prayed over and over for a miracle and asked our friend and relatives to do the same. I added Mimi's name to multiple prayer chains and kept everyone updated on her progress which was painfully slow until after her surgery. The cards were stacked so high against this 80-year-old with heart problems and COPD, but knowing that so many were praying for her gave us a tremendous sense of peace and hope.

The good Lord decided it wasn't time to call Mimi just yet. To our amazement and delight, we watched her make huge strides each day after her surgery until, by Thursday, she was deemed well enough to be allowed to go home with conditional arrangements for home health care. What a relief it was to see her beaming face at this news, to hear the child-like excitement in her voice at the prospect of going home, to know that she and we were witnesses to a miracle of healing. God untangled the cords of death which snared her and blessed her with new life. Thanks be to God!

Readings
Psalms 20, 21:1-7 (8-14) or 110:1-5 (6-7), 116, 117
1 Kings 7:51-8:21
Acts 28:17-31
Mark 14:43-52