It’s the phone call that no mother wants to get.
In my case, being 4000 miles away, it was a Facebook message at 2:00 AM. Just a picture.
“Call. Hurry.” The message said.
I didn’t receive the message until I woke up several hours later. My stomach fell. I called.
Her voice on the other end of the phone. Groggy and weak, she answered right away. “I am in hospital. My appendix.” And she broke down. “I need you.”
I was her first call, her first message.
She was so scared. She was all alone. She just woke up and she hurt, and I wasn’t there. She needed me, and a week was too long to wait to see me. And also, she slurred, she wanted a burger very badly.
Oh, this girl.
It is hard when someone you love is sick; it’s terrible when they are so far away you can’t do anything. So we call and we talk and we speak our love. And we count up the answered prayers.
Listen.
She has known about having a problem with her appendix for almost a year now. She never wanted to go to the hospital. I kept asking her to go, to get surgery if needed. She had excuse after excuse. I kept praying she would take action. This could have been bad….really bad. This could have been weeks in the hospital. This could have been death. This was a quick outpatient surgery, because the doctors immediately recognized the problem and operated.
She was home in 24 hours.
She was worried about taking time off of work while we are there next week. She said she might not get the days off. She said she would do the best she could. My biggest prayer was to have her all to ourselves, to have our family all together again, to invest in her and love on her.
She can’t go back to work for two weeks. She is free to be with us.
She was concerned about taking time off of work because she needs the money. She didn’t want to lose her job. She still needed the cash. She has rent and responsibilities. This one I had been praying over a whole lot. How do I help her here? What should I offer? I had no answers.
She will be paid a portion of her wages during her medical leave.
She dropped out of her last semester of school in March. She couldn’t work and do school at the same time. She was overwhelmed, and in her frustration said she might not ever go back. She has lots of time to finish if decides she wants to. She is young and healthy and busy with other things. I have been praying for ways to encourage her to finish. While she may never want to study in America, it’s not even a possibility if she doesn’t graduate.
She told me she registered for classes earlier this week. Life is short.
She has been acting quite nonchalant about our coming. I think a lot of it had to do with simply not believing we would come. She has a life, she says. She will see what she can do, but she will be busy. I thought it might be a front, but wasn’t sure. I have been praying her heart would soften and she would take advantage of this time with us, and that truth would be spoken.
She told me yesterday, “This is what is true: my family comes to my city. I am so happy. I will show you and my brother all things. This is like the most wonderful vacation for all of us.”
This is not the way I would have seen these things resolving, but look and see. He is good. Every detail accounted for. Every desire heard.
In a few short days, we will be together. She will stay with us. I will make her soup and listen to her moan about her dietary restrictions. I will pick at her and let her sass at me. I will build what I can in the space and time we are given.
And I know she may wander away and not stay. This is, after all, her city and her life. I am preparing myself. I am trying to keep my expectations low. I promised I wouldn’t hug her too tight when I see her, “because ouch.” I won’t need to. I’ll simply cling to her with every single moment I have.
The gratefulness threatens to overwhelm me already.
Thank you for your prayers. And thank you for taking the time to marvel at the answers with me.
Because of the commission income she lost during this time, I would like to give Sunshine a monetary gift of $500 while she recovers to pay her rent for the month, to buy her groceries, and to buy her school supplies while I am there. I would prefer for the gift to come from a group of people as a one-time blessing rather than just me so that our relationship doesn’t begin to revolve around requests for money. I will put some of it in a get-well card and sign everyone’s name, and will help her make the appropriate purchases with the rest. If you would like to contribute to that gift, please contact me here or Paypal me at that address.
