I Think We've Turned a Corner

I have to share my joy this morning. My young friend, in the pit of despair, for whom I asked prayer a few weeks ago called me last evening. I usually call her but with a very busy weekend...marathon of people around me which continues....there was no private time for me to call so several days slipped by. She was on my mind in between the reality of my busyness but I didn't get to her. Young friend has not called me often and when she has she has been in the pit of despair and scared me to a shudder. She is so many miles from me so personal visits are not possible. I listened, searched my mind for appropriate Scriptures that would encourage her and then agonize in prayer with her for God to DO SOMETHING AND QUICK. My friend, in her early thirties, has been on a feeding tube for over two months. She could take nothing but a little water by mouth. The last time I dared ask, she was 90 pounds. The diagnosis was an eating disorder and post traumatic stress syndrome. My young friend has been through the loss of all but one family sibling in a war so the diagnosis was not surprising. As time wore on and we confered on nearly a daily basis, I learned that wasn't all the destruction in her young life. All of this was not a shock to me but more of an explanation about where this had taken her. This girl had reached out to me about two months ago with her first desperate phone call. The only thing I had to offer her was my God who is the restorer of all things broken. I must admit that over and over after our conversations, I felt totally helpless. That's becaue I was. Only God can heal the brokenhearted. He uses us as tools and instruments but the power is in His hand and timing. Isn't it interesting how these things pop up in our lives without any logical explanation and we are left to struggle with a challenge for which we didn't ask.

Young friend's voice was different when she called last evening. I heard a lilt. She shared with me that her little girl had passed an entrance test for kindergarten. It was so clear to me that that concern had weighed heavy on her heart. We rejoiced together and thanked God for His answer to our prayer over that. Then she told me that the doctors had started to wean her off the feeding tube. At this point, she is eighteen hours on and the rest off. She is beginning to sense a desire for food....a bit of an appetite! Thank you, Jesus. She told of how she visited a health food store and had such a desire for fresh coconut juice and the owner prepared some for her which she drank and kept down. Such a little thing when one is healthy and such a monumentous feat when so sick one can't take nourishment. Her GI track is now accepting small amounts of anti depressant medicine. She has an appointment tomorrow to begin work with a Christian counselor. I sigh with relief as I see God finally moving for her healing. I praise God.

I'm not sure which of us is learning the most from this experience. Well, perhaps I do know.....but I can confess that I am learning tons through this. Young friend and I celebrated in our prayers of thanksgiving last night. My friend is the sweetest thing.....always has been....... is a follower of Jesus since her early teens.....she confesses to learning so much about being a child of God through this experience. I praise Him for saving an eternal soul but also praise Him for saving her from an early death. She has so much to live for and has God's plan for her life to fulfill. Lift a prayer of thanksgiving with me today and ask for God's continued healing in her life in all three dimensions; physically, emotionally and spiritually.