So here we were in September of 2021 overjoyed with the prospects of seeing our granddaughters every day and taking our dog for long walks along the peaceful shores of the lake. Never mind the unpacked boxes that filled every conceivable nook and cranny. That’s when just days after our big move the pain in Mike’s left jaw that we assumed must be coming from an abscessed tooth suddenly became excruciating.
We hurried back to our dentist in Hickory just so we could be seen faster and were told that Mike’s pain was definitely not coming from a bad tooth. We were advised to see an ENT specialist immediately. And thus began our downward spiral into biopsies and a malignant tumor that grew to the size of an orange in just a matter of weeks.
Our wise and loving God surely had been calling us to Cornelius but not for any reason that we could have imagined. All along we thought we were coming to support our kids in balancing parenting with their very demanding careers as engineers. But God knew that we were soon going to need our kids’ love and support to help us do battle with cancer.
I shudder to imagine how we could have coped with all that lay ahead of us without our kids practically being within shouting distance of us. It was their first bitter taste of the inevitable role reversal of their parents being the ones who needed help rather than the other way around, but they worked tirelessly to help us get back on our feet with a grace that was profoundly touching and incredibly humbling.
But I suppose with God the best is always yet to be. Even though many churches were finally rediscovering the joys of in-person worship, we still faced many long months of isolation while Mike recovered from the radiation treatments that had severely compromised his health. We were still worshipping via livestream with our church family back in Hickory, but Colin and Myra never gave up on us. “Just come and visit Bethel whenever Mike gets strong enough,” they always said.
What can I say? By simply letting go and trusting God to lead us, Bethel quickly became the arms that opened wide to welcome these two weary warriors and to embrace them in a love that simply defies description. We had finally found our way to the glorious new church family that had been right here waiting for us all along. God’s richest blessings really are worth waiting for!
When I reflect on how easily a lack of trust in God’s plan for our lives could have cost us the whole Bethel experience tears start to flow. Had we leaned on our own imperfect understanding rather than on God’s perfect understanding we would have completely missed out on the amazing gift of Bethel that God had tucked away just waiting for us to find and to joyously tear open. And had we missed out on Bethel, Dear Friends, that would have been a tragedy of epic proportions.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, help me to remember that the center of Your will for my life is always the safest place for me to be. May my trust in You never falter even when I don’t completely understand where You might be leading me.
