Yearly Archives: 2011

Special Delivery

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During the 6 weeks when Nate had cancer, we made almost daily visits to one pharmacy or another in an effort to secure the many drugs prescribed for him.

As the days passed, we sat in pharmacy drive-through windows longer and longer, arguing with insurance companies through pharmacy employees. “They said no more of these pills and only half of those.” As part of the larger health war we were fighting, these smaller skirmishes were necessary but draining, especially for Nate, who was often in the car feeling bad about  it all.

After Hospice entered the picture, they took our place on the front lines of all pharmaceutical battles, allowing us to step away, a tremendous gift. The drugs they prescribed came directly to our front door via FedEx’s daily visit. All the way to Nate’s last peaceful breath, the deliveries were always one step ahead of his need.

Jack, our usually-silent dog, always announced FedEx’s arrival with rude barking, so others in the family routinely beat me to the door to receive Nate’s prescriptions. But one day I made an effort to get there fist, wanting to apologize to the woman driver for Jack’s bad-mannered greeting.

“I’m sorry,” I told the tall, blond driver. “We’ve got a difficult situation inside, and the dog’s just nervous about everything.”

“Oh, that’s no problem,” she said. “I love dogs. And really, he’s right. I’m not supposed to be in front of your house or even on your street.”

“What do you mean?”

“My instructions are to leave all FedEx deliveries at the mail house by the entrance to your subdivision where they sign for them, and that’s what I’ve always done for other people. But you really need what I’m delivering, and you’ve got better things to do than run up to the mail house. So here I am.”

I was astounded this young woman would take such a risk for us, maybe even jeopardizing her job. Her thoughtfulness impacted me deeply.

This morning as I sat in a prayer group of 4 ladies, I looked at the empty chair in our circle trying to picture the Lord in it, because of course he was. Much like the FedEx driver, he comes all the way to us, knowing we are in need of what he’s equipped to deliver. He goes the extra mile for us, aware that we’re often too depleted to even meet him half way.

Better than that, though, he can deliver a custom-made remedy for everything that ails us, from disease to debts, infections to infractions, sickness to sins. The FedEx lady could deliver only what she had in her truck; God can deliver the gamut, because he owns the whole warehouse.

And boy, can he can deliver!

“He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.” (Psalm 72:12)

Happy Healing

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I became a widow at 64, and in the 22 months since then, it seems there have been endless new beginnings. It’s likely the first 64 years held more firsts than the last 2, but during early widowhood, everything seems problematically new.

Last week I got my first flu shot. I hadn’t planned on it, but the pharmacist was available, no one was waiting, and he advised me to take advantage of the protection. It was one more “new thing” without Nate. Had he been with me, we would have been doing it together.

As I left the pharmacy, I thought about the many vaccinations available these days, beginning with 6 week old babies. My children got more injections than I ever did, but as a result they didn’t have to suffer through mumps and several kinds of measles like my generation did. They also escaped more serious health issues like diphtheria, whooping cough, and polio. My grandchildren won’t even have to experience chicken pox.

These days adults can be vaccinated against pneumonia, shingles, hepatitis and the human papilloma virus. And I’m sure scientists are on the hunt for vaccines to prevent every ailment known to man. Too bad laboratories can’t come up with a hypodermic fix for the emotional ills of life. That’s almost certainly what the drug epidemic is about, an effort to inoculate against painful feelings.

Many of us would choose a bout with mumps or measles rather than suffer the sting of battered emotions. In taking a small survey of which psychological troubles people want most to be vaccinated against, fear was #1, because fear can precede all of the others: fear of heartbreak, fear of rejection, accidents, failure, sadness and many more. Fearing the unknown can be a disease, too,  assuming negative possibilities over positive. We’re all good at that.

Widowhood and fear go hand-in-hand, evidenced by our quick participation in the what-if game. What if I run out of money? What if I can’t get a job? What if I collapse and no one knows about it? What if there’s a break-in? No vaccination exists that can immunize us from these mental barbs, but we actually do have a remedy.

It’s a Someone.

God is the ultimate vaccinator. He can cure physical diseases when he so desires and also heal emotional malfunctions. With a thorough knowledge of our bodies, especially our minds, he’s a champion of understanding. His Rx is his Word, source of supernatural provision and endurance through everything that ails us. Scripture also includes prevention for much of it.

Just before I got my flu shot, the pharmacist handed me a pile of papers entitled, “What you need to know about the influenza vaccine, 2011-12.” Forewarned is forearmed. And in the case of emotional health, forearming ourselves with the instruction of the Word of God is the best prevention of all.

“For you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.” (Malachi 4:2a)

In the Baby Business

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Today I’ve had babies on the brain, probably because one of mine had a birthday today. It may also be because another of mine is soon to deliver a new grandbaby. Mostly, though, I think it’s just because I love babies.

Each birth is a miracle, not a single one “unwanted” or “unplanned” by God. Every child is born for lofty divine purposes, equipped with a soul that will live throughout eternity.

God wouldn’t have had to propagate the human race by bringing miniature people to earth through direct participation of a man and a woman. He could have brought smaller adult-lookalike “children” to the families of his choice just like he brought Eve to Adam, arriving with a new addition and saying, “This one’s yours.”

Instead he designed people to come from their mothers’ bodies in miniature, endowed with tiny fingers and toes, chubby arms and legs, and incredible cheeks. I can’t wait to talk to Eve one day and ask her what she thought when she was holding newborn Cain, the very first baby. She referred to him as a “man”, probably meaning “human”. Surely she was in awe of his soft skin and sweet scent, wondering if and how he would some day morph into a person like the adult Adam.

God surprised us by arranging for new human beings to arrive on the earth in a clever way wrapped in adorable bodies, but he’s been delivering surprises in many categories ever since. We can listen to “Science Friday” on public radio or watch “Nova” on TV or read any source that investigates God’s creation, both macro and micro, and see there’s no end-point to what he’s made and the ideas he’s come up with. The more new things science discovers, the more reasons we have to stand amazed.

Today as I talked with birthday “boy” Hans, I had the pleasure of participating by phone, from 4000 miles away, in the bath routine of my 3 British grandchildren. “Mee Mee’s going to come upstairs with us tonight,” he said, “so we can have bath time together!”

Their squeals of excitement came back through my speaker phone. “Shirts are coming off now,” Hans said, “and now the nappies. Oh what a big tummy you have!” (Katy’s giggles came over the air waves, too, as she joined in the fun.)

I could just “see” their pudgy toddler bodies lined up in the tub, “…like the three stooges,” Hans said. Hearing them splash, and listening to these young parents laugh with their children again and again was a gift my son gave to me on his own birthday.

Babies bring enthusiasm, cuteness and joy into our world. When God decided to get into the baby business, it was a spectacular idea. And even Jesus enjoyed handling them.

“People were bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.’” (Luke 18:15, Mark 9:37)