You've heard the saying that goes "Bad things come in threes", right?
Hold on while I google where that came from...
nevermind, what I read doesn't make much sense except to say that
human kind has alot of ridiculous superstitions and this is one of them.
Still.
We hit #3 this week.
I as waiting for something else to happen--
it's weird, I know this.
A defeatist, pessimistic view
no doubt.
But, I was indeed waiting for #3,
holding my breath if you will.
On Monday night,
the phone rang and there it was:
our missionary daughter, Diana,
who is just SIX weeks away from coming home,
had spent the entire day in the ER
far away in New York.
She'd been sick since Thanksgiving--
vomitting to the point of dehydration and malnourishment
and passed out at home.
Her companion, unable to revive Diana,
called 911 and she went via ambulance to the hospital.
They gave her an IV of fluids and anti-nausea meds,
ran some tests, an EKG,
and sent her home.
The Mission President's wife came to the hospital,
as well as other local missionaries,
to be with her and help her along.
We didn't get the message until later that evening
of the days' events.
When the call came,
I felt dazed.
Overwhelmed.
"Is this really my life?"--
we've had three children taken via ambulance to the hospital--
for different reasons--
in as many weeks.
What the heck is going on?
We were told by the Mission Nurse that they'd follow-up Tuesday with me.
I didn't sleep well that night, as you can imagine.
I woke up at 2:30am and didn't go back to sleep.
The sun was a welcome break.
But then something clicked while getting dressed for work--
"That's number three. We'll be good for awhile."
I felt relief.
There it was.
One, two, three.
Dean, Ari, Diana.
Dean passed out from seizures at the restaurant,
Arianna had such a bad migraine at school,
lost vision in one eye, numbness/ weakness on the left side of her body,
slurred speech and awful pain,
that the EMTs were called and we were told she had symptoms of a stroke!
And now Diana.
It seemed alot to take in, honestly.
I've since been in touch with lovely, caring members of the church there
that are watching out for our girl in NY
and she's doing better.
Homemade soup, gluten-free cookies, warm fuzzy socks,
and a sofa to nap on while her companions continue to work.
I couldn't ask for more.
But.
Another sad thing happened that I didn't see coming at all.
A very sweet blogger-friend,
whom I had the chance to meet in real life,
lost her six-month battle with cancer.
I will write more about her when my brain can fully wrap around that.
So, no, bad things don't happen in threes at all.
They just happen.
Whenever.
And right about now,
I'm at a loss to see a pattern or explanation of God's Timing.
Ever feel like He has more confidence in your strengths than you do?
Yeah. That's where I'm at.
I know things will work out--
I believe things happen for a reason.
And having faith in God includes having faith in His timing...
so I can be patient.
I can wait to see where all this goes--
imagining that I'm floating
with the river
instead of trying to walk
against the flow of it.
I can be patient and try to figure out what is to be learned from this chaos.
So far,
what I've learned is I'm not alone in it.
That's what gives me courage to hang on--
and to be OK should #5 come along.
