I woke up that morning with an overwhelming sense of
sadness. It was one of the lowest points in my life. What on earth had happened
and how on earth did it happen? I had no answers.
I’ve never actually thought of it this way before but from
the time I received Jesus in my life until this point my experience could have
been described as a “Cinderella Salvation.” I didn’t just get saved; I got
Blessed with a capital B. My life was one blessing, one miracle, and one
testimony of God’s goodness after another. Sure, I experienced some rough times
but my hope in the Lord never waned.
But now I felt so weak. I remember pleading to the Lord one
day on my way to work to please hold on to me because I didn’t know if I could
hold on to Him. There really wasn’t anywhere to turn. Everything I had believed
in was shaken. I was discouraged, disappointed and dismayed by the things
happening around me.
On top of my life support system (spiritually speaking)
failing by the day I was dealing with the death of my father from cancer. If
that wasn’t enough my mom was recovering from a brain tumor the size of a
softball. My parents were both diagnosed in the same week and I left for North
Carolina. We had recently received notice that the house we were renting at the
time had been sold and we had to move. Moving day was the same day I was
leaving for North Carolina. I felt abandoned (not by God,) at a point when I
desperately needed support.
So on this particular morning as I was talking to God on my
to work as I usually do, I just simply said, “You know Lord, I just wish you
could give me a hug.” It was just a simple prayer, no crying, no pleading, no
if you don’t I can’t make it. Just simply, I could sure use a hug.
I forgot to mention that I was going through something else
at this time. I was getting a lot of work done at the dentist. Now I don’t know
about you but if you are like me that in itself is enough trauma. I had a great
dentist but still it’s the dentist, if you know what I mean. They were always
very kind knowing what I was going through with my parents. I had to call and
put the work on hold telling them I would be going out of town and would
reschedule when I returned.
So back to story…I got to work and in the business of the
day I forgot about my conversation with the Lord that morning. About mid
morning the receptionist buzzed me to say I had a delivery at the front desk.
Hmmm, I thought, wonder what it is? I wasn’t expecting anything and certainly
not what was there. Sitting on the counter was one of the most gorgeous flower
arrangements I’d ever seen. My first thought was that my hubby must have sent
me flowers and my second thought was we can’t afford it. I thanked her and took
them back to my desk before looking at the card. Imagine my surprise when I
opened the card. It read, “We thought you might need a little encouragement
today. Thinking of you. Dr. Batton and staff.”
I remember saying out loud…Dr. Batton! My dentist! My
dentist office sent me flowers! My co-workers were looking at me kind of weird.
I’m not sure what they were thinking but from the looks on their faces my guess
would be they had never gotten flowers from their dentist either.
I sat the flowers on my desk. They were beautiful and
smelled wonderful. Every time I looked at them it warmed my heart and it felt
like…you guessed it! It felt like a little hug. And then the Lord spoke to my
heart. You asked me for a hug today and I used your dentist to send one your
way.
I don’t know what you are experiencing today. We all go
through those times when we just need a little hug. I encourage you today to
ask the Lord for one. He loves you and wants to reveal His love to you. It
might come in an unusual way but it will come. There is always hope in God.
Psalm 86:17 Give me a sign of
your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
