My reading on June 4 was Isaiah 58. I wrote:
I love verse 11: "The LORD will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land..." It feels like all of us, not just Dad, are in a desert right now. And I find myself thinking of a verse in Jeremiah. "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." During Dad's illness I've often found myself, shovel in hand, trying to make things "work." Some days I tried to trust God and accept His daily grace as sufficient. Other days I picked up my spade and kept digging, intent on what I wanted, what I thought was best. But just recently, God reminded me of Jesus' words in John 7:37. "On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.'" Tonight, I need to come to Him, put down my shovel, and just drink of the goodness of the LORD, the One who satisfies our needs in a sun-scorched land. And I need to trust that God will keep this promise for Dad, too.
Now that Dad could talk, things were so much better! And I was able to call him around 6:30 every evening--after his supper but before he went to sleep. Those phone calls were such a sweet blessing after weeks of talking on the phone without knowing whether Dad could even hear me.
The first week at rehab, they didn’t have Dad doing too much. He told me that at first, he could barely roll over in bed, he was so weak. It was discouraging for him to think about how much he would have to relearn and strengthen, but on June 9, God gave me Isaiah 35 “Strengthen the feeble hands; steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear, your God will come.’” It felt like those verses were meant just for Dad and when I read them to him on the phone and said I was praying them for him he was grateful.
And God did indeed answer! That day he felt less winded than the week before. The next day they allowed him to go to the bathroom alone. The day after that he walked 200 feet! During this time, poor Dad was dealing with all of the emotions of realizing what had happened and what he needed to do to get home. He was coming to terms with his post-COVID limitations and a body that was so easily out of breath. When I told him how many people were reading my daily e-mails and praying for him, he was filled with gratitude. In fact, I would usually close our phone calls with “What do you want me to have them pray for tonight?" And he became more and more willing to tell me something. One night he even called me back and asked me to post another prayer request. He began to receive cards from our faithful prayer warriors, too, including my dear church and Bible study friends who didn't even know him! Just as I had found such peace in knowing we were being covered in prayer, now Dad was able to enjoy and lean on the prayers of the dear people who were still praying fervently for him!
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