Disbelief. That's how I would describe my conversation with my sister that night at the beginning of December. Evidently, my mom had double pneumonia, which turned into fungal meningitis. My sister said she might not make it through the night.
I flew out the next morning to help my family four states away, while leaving my own family behind.
I was there two-and-a-half weeks. During that time, they placed mom on a ventilator, then took her off and gave her a tracheostomy. Basically, that's a trach attached to a ventilator. My dad went to the emergency room two different times for two different reasons, and had surgery the next week. My sister was in one hospital with my mom, while I sat in the other hospital with my dad! I got sick and ended up having four shots and two rounds of antibiotics. My brother had a root canal. My other brother developed a nasty upper respiratory infection.
Let's see, the list could go on and on. Believe me. Did I mention that my older brother's house was almost burned down by a neighbor's out-of-control burn pile, and my dad's roof started leaking???
Still there's more, but I won't burden you with the details. : )
Yet, in the midst of it all, God was there. Seriously. He kept gently reminding me that I was not alone and that He was still in control. So, when the choir director asked me to play and sing last Sunday (my mom has played the piano there for over 40 years), I found the perfect song. It's a Christmas song with a beautiful message. It's not often sung or played. As a matter of fact, I've only heard it about 5 times in 10 years, but I happened to find it in a worship hymnal that belonged to my sister. The name of the song is "All is Well."
The first verse says, "All is well. All is well. Angels and men rejoice. For tonight, darkness fell, into the dawn of Love's light. Sing al-le. Sing alleluia!" The meaning behind it? ALL IS WELL, because of Jesus.
Because Jesus was born in a manger, grew to be a man, died on that cruel cross and rose again to conquer death, all is well. Period. He has the victory, not just over our sin, but over everything...over hospital rooms and doctors and fires out of control. He has it all wrapped up in His plan, for He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
So, during the special music portion of the service that morning, I sang. I sang that song as hard and as loud as I could, banging those keys into submission, as a tribute to the victory that I expected He would bring - no matter what. I prayed that He would allow that to be my testimony for all of the people in the congregation who needed to be reminded that ALL IS WELL, because of Jesus.
Fast forward to yesterday. I am back home, sitting in my own church. I'm glad to be home, but struggling, because part of me wanted to be there again, so I could help my sister - so, I could see my mom getting better - so I could bake biscuits, bacon and eggs for my dad.
That's when it happened.
The song service ended, and as the pianist began playing the offertory song, my heart heard a familiar tune...and I began to cry...not tears of grief or sadness - not tears of a burdened heart, but tears of appreciation for my God Who is gentle and so very personal.
Each chord of the song struck deep into my heart. I sung to myself, as she played: "All I well. All is well. Angels and men rejoice. For tonight, darkness fell into the dawn of Love's light. Sing al-le - sing alleluia!"
My sweet Father God was speaking...gently speaking, reminding me again that even though I was not beside my mom, that He was.
All is indeed, well, because of Jesus.
Maybe He did that just for me. Or, maybe He did that because I am not the only person in the world that needed to be reminded that all is well, because of Jesus. Maybe you do, too.
So, let me be the bearer of wonderful, comforting, glorious news - All is well, my friend. All is indeed, well.
Thank You, Father, for the way You speak. Thank You for whispering life into my heart in the strangest and most wonderful ways. You are God. You are in control. You are the Victor. All indeed, is well.
