Hands-On

God is evident. He is not a removed, dispassionate Creator who started the universe spinning only to wander off to observe us on occasion from the sidelines. This morning I was sending out the latest update on Ralph Adler who remains hospitalized far from home today. Two of Ralph's daughters are part of the Operation: Prayer SURGE! team (We are headed for Poland in six weeks to pray!). I was wondering as I sent the e-mail if people were seriously praying for Ralph and his family or if I was simply sending out e-mails that "kept people in the loop". It was not a particularly encouraging moment. I proceeded to pray for Ralph, but today I decided to type my prayer into an e-mail to send to Shelley. I sent the e-mail, and my inbox gave a "ding" to indicate an incoming message at the same time.
I have incorporated Shelley's e-mail recipients from an early e-mail regarding her Dad's health into the updates that I send out on the family's status. In my inbox was a message from "Amy" who is a total stranger to me, but a friend of Shelley's who stated that she has been praying for Ralph, Shelley, and the whole family throughout their ordeal. I thought that was pretty cool, so I proceeded to e-mail several other people to share how quickly God had bolstered my waning commitment and encouraged me to continue serving in a communication capacity as part of the prayer chain lifting up the Adler family. As I sent that message, the inbox went ping yet again. This time, the message was from a woman who attends our former church home, but who I have not met in person, saying simply that she is praying with us.
I love it when God shows his hand so clearly upon us. The real wonder came hours later. I was at church when my phone rang. I saw that it was Don, and I answered hoping that he was not calling with bad news about Ralph's condition. Ha! Well, me of little faith! Don was calling to tell me that my inbox had again signalled a new message. This one was of the wonderful news that Ralph's body temperature is normal and the family is waiting for a doctor's report to give more information on his amazing rally from this morning's low with a resistant staph infection that had him wrapped in warming blankets because his body temperature was only 94 degrees or the previous report of a sky-rocketing temperature over 103! Whatever news comes next, I am thankful for a hands-on, involved God who truly knows every hair on my head and Ralph's.