Life can change in a minute.

Life can change in a matter of minutes.  We all know that.  We just never really expect it to.  It just seems more like a phrase we randomly throw out. Great words of advice we give.  "Make the most of your life because it can change on a dime."

I spent the past weekend at a retreat with some ladies from my church.  I got to hear three amazing women speak about Grace, Hope, and Love.  A part of me will be forever changed by this retreat.  Some things will change by the words spoken by these three ladies, but mostly God talked to me through circumstances of the weekend.  

Our first speaker on Friday night was LaDonne.  She gave an excellent session on Grace.  She is an avid knitter and tied her whole session around knitting.  She talked first about how God knits all of us together in our mother's wombs.  She then talked about how God knits all the things that happen in our lives to form our stories. Then she talked about how our lives and stories are then knit together with others around us to create our life.

Then less than two hours later LaDonne was in an ambulance headed to the hospital unable to feel her feet or legs.  Life CAN change in a matter of minutes.

LaDonne is still in the hospital, they are running numerous tests, she has been through one surgery already, and as of now she still has no feeling from the chest down.  

I am praying for a miracle, but more than praying I am BELIEVING in a miracle.  LaDonne has some other unique and rare medical conditions, and I know God has already performed miracles in her life. In fact, it is probably a miracle that she is even still here. I usually pray KNOWING God CAN do a miracle, but allowing him the out of "if it is your will."  Actually that out really isn't for God, he doesn't need an out he is God.  The out is really for me.  So that if I pray for a miracle, and the specific miracle isn't answered my way, then I am not hurt or disappointed in God.  Then I am not questioning why isn't my faith enough to move mountains?

I listened to LaDonne on Friday night talk about another unrelated health issue they had just discovered, and she said, "but, even if he doesn't,(talking about healing), I am still excited to see what this next chapter holds.  I know this woman has the faith and strength and trust in God to love and serve her God no matter the outcome.  I also know whether LaDonne walks out of that hospital or is wheeled out God is still going to use her.

I am praying for that miracle of complete recovery.  But if it were not to happen, LaDonne would still reflect who God is.  We would see it in her life, and her actions, her love for those around her.  God would still use her, God would not have forgotten her.  Some things about her life might change and be different but her purpose, to reflect God would still be the same.  

Jeremiah 32:27 "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for me?"