At the Whisper of His Name

Just the other day...I had every intention of having my husband walk in from a long trip to a clean house, kids that were bathed and ready for bed, and a wife that was ready to hang on his every word.

That is far from what happened.

The house was fairly clean.

The kids were in the process of bathing.

Then it all took a turn for the worst.

Princess #2 had turned the water off after her shower and realized that she didn't have her towel. She had begged to take a shower in my bathroom instead of hers and neither one of us had remembered to get it. I walked quickly to the other bathroom to get the towel and got back just in time to see her jump up, trying to clean off all the condensation that had formed on the inside of our shower door.

On the way back down, she let out a yell and I immediately saw the cut made in her fragile skin from the door handle.

It was deep and would need stitches, no doubt!

Immediately, we applied pressure and thank the Lord, it was not bleeding very much.

My mind raced..."Do I even know where the hospital is yet?" (We had moved into our house exactly 3 weeks prior.) More thoughts..."She is soaking wet and it's freezing outside. I have to find her warm clothes, fast. I have another child in the bathtub. How am I going to get her out also and all three loaded into the car? Is there anyone I know who can help me?"

"Jesus," I whispered.

I immediately thought of the neighbor I had met a few days prior and called her. No answer. Then it occurred to me, my sister in law just moved to the next town over! I called her and she was instantly on her way. While talking to her, I remembered having a conversation with another neighbor behind us about a nurse that lives in the neighborhood. "Maybe she could help," I thought.

I put my oldest in charge of watching the other two and promised to be back in just a minute.

I flew out our back door and was banging on the neighbor's back door in a matter of seconds. I'm sure they must think I'm nuts as I have no clue what I even said, but bless them, they immediately offered assistance (the neighbor that is a nurse was not home). My sweet new friend said she would be over in minutes to watch the other girls until my sister-in-law got to the house. They also told me about an urgent care place that was just minutes away and that they thought it was open 24 hours.

During the run back to my house, I whispered His name again, "Jesus".

My precious neighbor did arrive, just minutes later, telling me that she had already called the urgent care place to make sure they were open and that they could do stitches. What an angel! I had managed by this time to throw mismatched clothes on Princess #2 and dry her hair just a tiny bit, so out the door we flew.

On the way, we prayed, thanking the Lord for His provision already and then asking that He would help the doctors and nurses know exactly what to do. We also prayed for Him to help my sweet girl to endure the stitches without much pain.

Right after we arrived at the medical center, two people from our church showed up. I can't tell you what that meant to us to have them there! It helped to take our minds off of everything. And, not too much time passed before my husband was walking in the door, having returned from his first big trip with our church's youth group.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Princess #2 ended up with three stitches, put in place by the most wonderful doctor. The entire time, she did not cry or even whimper. What an answer to prayer! All she asked was that I keep my hand up close by her face so she wouldn't be tempted to look, so that's just what I did. She made me so proud!

And God? He made me even prouder, coming to our rescue as He did.

Sometimes, as Christians, we can be tempted to believe, "I have to pray elaborate, lengthy prayers before the Lord will listen to me or answer me."

What a lie!!!

I literally only had time to whisper His name and He faithfully worked on our behalf. He knew exactly what that word conveyed.

One of my favorite passages from Psalms says this:

"You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord." 139: 2 - 4

God was well aware of what was happening, and not just aware in the sense that He "knew"...He was so aware that, I believe, He was already lining up the exact people that I would need to help me. In the same way that I was busy caring for my little girl, He was busy caring for us!

Why? Because He loves His children, all of us, that much. He who is always with us is always ready to help us, so faithful in our time of need. He is our ever-present help...our constant, consistent, doting Father...

...the One Who comes to our aid even at the very whisper of His name.

For His glory,