Settling In

Rejoice in the Lord

God never moves without purpose or plan

When trying His servant and molding a man.

Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long;

In darkness He giveth a song.

Chorus:

O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake.

He knoweth the end of each path that I take.

For when I am tried and purified, I shall come forth as gold.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;

So I looked at the cross of my Saviour instead.

I bowed to the will of the Master that day;

Then peace came and tears fled away.

Now I can see testing comes from above;

God strengthens His children and purges in love.

My father knows best, and I trust in His care

Through purging much fruit I will bear.

Ron Hamilton

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

It was about 12:30 when I was brought to my room. The nurses were so helpful. Nurse Ashley went over to the OB department and got bottles, formula and blankets for Michael. She also  brought in an electric breast pump and helped me with that. Of course all the milk had to be dumped because of the strong meds they were giving me. I still had hopes that I would be able to nurse again, so I wanted to keep up my supply of milk. Dr. Prya was in and out all afternoon. My gums were bleeding a little. She seemed concerned about that. I guess with such strong blood thinners they have to keep an eye on things like that. They also kept checking my arm where they had gone in with the catheter. Since they went directly into the artery they had to watch for bleeding. A very tight band was around my wrist. As the day went on they started loosening it. It was very sore. I was told to use that arm like a broken arm. Sometime in the afternoon I overheard Ashley telling Edward it's good we went to the hospital right away because it would have been lethal... I felt completely helpless. My head was still throbbing. Everything was spinning out of my control. I could do NOTHING to help myself. I was flat on my back, not even allowed to get up to use the rest room. Of course we are never in control of our lives, but when everything is going well it sure seems like we're in control. That realization was driven home like never before. My heart might do anything - like stop or whatever - and I could do NOTHING about it. It was such a helpless feeling. All I could do was lean on the Lord. That was when the CD that was given to Irene became such a blessing. You know how songs sometimes get stuck in your brain? Well, the phrase that was stuck in mine and was going over and over was "O rejoice in the Lord He makes no mistake". We were in shock, but God was not surprised. This was no mistake or surprise on His part. He has a reason for allowing everything that happens. We just are not able to see or understand all of it. I think of a song an older preacher used to quote.

1. Not now, but in the coming years,
   It may be in the better land,
   We’ll read the meaning of our tears,
   And there, sometime, we’ll understand.
• Refrain:
  Then trust in God through all the days;
  Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand;
  Though dark thy way, still sing and praise,
  Sometime, sometime we’ll understand.

Edward called our parents in PA to tell them what had happened. He was also in contact with Dave Grices who were overseeing the rest of the children. They came to the hospital that afternoon bringing Irene with them. She would stay with me overnight. We had decided it would be best for Edward to spend the night at home with the children rather than with me in the hospital. It would bring some normalcy to their lives. Dave shared some scripture with us and prayed before they left. That meant so much.

And what was happening with the seven children we left at home when we rushed to the emergency room? I will let Irene do the next post about that.