Philippians 4:6-7
Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Our Christmas Eve meal was pretty well prepared and in the oven. We planned to eat at 3:30 p.m. My mother and her sister had picked up my grandmother at her assisted living facility, and I glanced up in time to see Mom’s Jeep pull into our driveway. Then I heard my mother yell for my husband to come quickly. My grandmother had fallen. I rushed outside to see her lying lifeless on the driveway. My husband rushed to call 911 as I hurried toward my Mam-ma. That’s when I saw the pool of blood forming under her head and trailing down our driveway.
I pressed a cloth tightly to her head, but the blood soaked through and poured on to the concrete underneath. The ambulance arrived, and my grandmother was transported to the hospital emergency room, where scans indicated no internal head or neck injury. Once the bandages were removed and everything was cleaned, she had a large hematoma (blood pocket) with a small puncture wound in the center. Her head was bandaged, and she was given pain medication, which made her woozy.
The doctor said there was no “medical justification” for admitting my grandmother to the hospital. I begged and pleaded, but he insisted he could not do this. I was at my wits’ end. I looked up and saw a sign beside a door where I was standing. It said “Chapel.” I stepped inside the chapel to call my husband and my mom. As we talked, I looked at plaques that hung on the wall. These contained scriptures, and the first thing I saw was Philippians 4:6-7. Then I read Lamentations 3:22-23, followed by Psalm 23, and finally... Jeremiah 29:11. I suggest you look these last three passages up and read them. I said a prayer before I left the chapel and asked God to handle this… to take my worries and fretting and give me peace about this situation.
When I stepped back into my grandmother’s exam room, I was visibly upset… and the nurse who had been treating my grandmother offered… “I can ask the ER doctor to call the doctor on duty upstairs and see if he will admit your grandmother - at least overnight.” She didn’t make any promises, but it was worth a shot. A few minutes later, the nurse returned to tell me that my grandmother was being admitted.
I cannot tell you the overwhelming peace and relief that flooded me when the nurse offered to talk with the doctors. I cannot begin to express how I felt when she returned to tell me that the doctor had agreed. I was so grateful to God for working out what I could not… and for directing me into that chapel for a few minutes. There, as I read those scripture passages, God gave me what I needed… peace and a sense of calmness, reassurance that He was in control… hope and love overflowing.
This is the gift of Christmas. It’s not found in the stockings, tinsel and beautifully wrapped packages. The love of our Heavenly Father, expressed by the birth, life and death of His only Son, surrounds us and meets our every need. All we have to do is open our heart and receive Him.
I was prepared to lose my grandmother on our driveway. I felt God’s peace and calm there in a way I cannot begin to describe. But I am grateful that He chose to wait for another place and time for this inevitable event. Meanwhile, I am reminded once again that God is in control… that I am His, and He blankets me with His love, grace and peace. My prayer for you this Christmas Day is that you feel His presence, too. I hope your holiday has been less “eventful,” and that you have celebrated the love of Christ with those most dear to you. Merry Christmas!
©2011 Debbie Robus
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