I tried to prepare ahead of time, but it just wasn’t coming
together. My boss had asked me to share a devotional with our staff that
morning and here I was sitting at my desk 10 minutes before our meeting with
nothing to share. It’s not that I hadn’t thought about it. Many ideas had
floated in and out of my brain in the past 24 hours, but nothing seemed to
stick.
And then I saw it. Of all things, it was a mug I had
received from the fireman who had just visited our program to talk to the kids
about fire safety. It had railroad tracks on it along with the phrases “Always
expect a train” and “Any time is train time.” That was it. This was the message
God had for me to share.
I headed upstairs with my new mug in hand. When it was my
turn to share I held up the mug and announced… “Always expect a trial. Any time
is trial time.” I used John 16:33 to share the good news, bad news message with
the women. In a nutshell, I reminded everyone that we live in a fallen and
sinful world, so trials in our lives are guaranteed. The good news… we can
count on the One who has overcome the world. In the meantime, we need to
prepare. It is crucial that we are spending time in God’s Word and in prayer.
We need to be ready because… “any time is trial time.”
In this world
you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33
I learned a lot from the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4 (see previous post), but then I discovered that she makes headlines again in 2 Kings 8. Here it is in NIV…
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king to beg for her house and land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.
Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”
I was so excited when I read this! That horrible experience that the Shunammite woman went through was more than just a heart check. God redeemed that tragic incident in her life and used it for her good—to bless her and her family abundantly at just the right time! I guess I knew that, but to see it played out in Scripture reminded me of God’s love and goodness and grace.
To the God of grace who redeems our broken dreams and is working in ways we can not even fathom, to Him be all the glory and honor and praise forever, Amen!
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
I recently read through 2 Kings for my Bible study. I was excited to revisit the story of the Shunammite woman that was first brought to my attention by Phil Vischer creator of Veggie Tales in his autobiography Me, Myself & Bob.
2 Kings 4:8-37 tells the story of a woman from the Biblical city of Shunem. We know that she was “well-to-do” with a knack for hospitality. Upon recognizing that Elisha was a “holy man of God,” she and her aged husband built a room on their roof for the prophet to stay whenever he came.
To thank the woman, Elisha announced that she would have a son. The woman objected, not because she didn’t want a child, but because she did not want to get her hopes up. She had given up this dream years ago.
Fast forward one year and, just as Elisha said, the woman was holding a newborn son in her arms. Her dream had come true. Now, fast forward a few more years… the child goes out to his father in the field and tells him that he has a headache. He is taken to his mother and ends up dying in her arms.
Was this some sort of cruel joke? Why would God allow her dream of having a child to come true and then snatch her dream away? This is the question Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer was asking in Me, Myself & Bob. God had given him a big dream. He wanted to do big things for God through media. He aspired to be the Christian Walt Disney. It looked like he was on his way to achieving this dream. God was doing amazing things as Veggie Tales exploded in popularity. Then it all fell apart. Eventually, Phil Vischer lost everything. His company went bankrupt and all he had worked so hard for was gone. What was God doing?
We know that God does not look at what man looks at. God looks at the heart. Perhaps God was looking into the hearts of the Shunammite woman and Phil Vischer to determine who or what they loved the most—God or their dream? When we suffer the loss of a dream, we have the opportunity to declare our allegiance. Who or what matters most to us? Will we cling to our dreams or will we hold fast to our God?
So, how does the story end? As Phil Vischer suggests, sometimes God gives us our dream back and sometimes he doesn’t… and that’s okay. The Shunammite quickly heads out to find Elisha who returns to Shunem with the woman and does a miracle. The boy’s life is restored. As for Phil Vischer, Big Idea and Veggie Tales are gone, but he is currently creating for his new company Jellyfish Labs. Perhaps God is giving him new dreams. The lesson we can learn in all this is that God plus nothing is enough. There is no dream, no ministry, no achievement that can add to who God is in our lives. He is enough… He is everything!
As important as this lesson has been in my life, I am so excited about what God taught me a few chapters later through this same woman. I’ll post again soon with the amazing sequel of the Shunammite’s story!
I rung in the new year reading Phil Vischer’s book Me, Myself & Bob. It was all about our hopes and dreams and what happens when we lose them. If you want the Cliff’s Notes version check out Phil Vischer speaking on iTunesU.
January 5th
Our first appointment with a fertility doctor. We spent 2 hours with the doctor reviewing our history and determining a plan, which included several tests and possible treatment.
February
Interview and accept a position with the Mom’s Day Out program at the church to begin the next school year.
February 12th
Brandon organizes an amazing conference for teens and their parents called Uncomplicated.
February 23rd
Positive pregnancy test.
March
Attend Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Chicago. Brandon did a great job as a presenter and I learned a ton at the many sessions I was able to attend.
April
Lots of doctor appointments and not feeling well at all.
May 10th
Voted in as PTO secretary for Owen’s school.
May 18th
Move up to high school ministry after 11 years serving in junior high. No more sitting on the floor!
June
Head to Kentucky for the junior high missions trip. VBS was all about the Bible this year.
July 3rd
Miles turns 4! We partied with our family and cousins at Monkey Joes.
July 6th
Head to Galena with my friend Jessi to kick off a new Bible study that will take us through the entire
Bible.
July 22nd
Memorial service for Grandma Schmidt in Celina. Brandon led the outdoor service.
July 25th
My first official job event for MDO. I organized a workshop in which my mom was the featured speaker. She did great!
July 30th
Brandon officiates his first wedding for the Carlsons. It was a beautiful day!
August 6-13th
Family vacation in Door County. We rented a cottage on Lake Michigan for the week. The boys loved playing on the beach even if there were dead fish everywhere!
August 24th
Owen starts 1st grade with Mrs. Welden who was also his kindergarten teacher.
September 10th
Head to Lake Geneva for a day with my mom and grandma along with Jody and June. We took a boat ride and went out for lunch.
October 2nd
Brandon speaks at Walk to Remember, a special memorial for families who have lost children through miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death.
October 21-23rd
Senior High fall retreat in Lake Geneva. I was able to go for the day on Saturday.
October 26th
Samuel Brandon Early born at 3:46pm weighing 7lbs 13oz and 21 inches long. I ended up having an emergency c-section.
November 23-26th
Head to Ohio for Thanksgiving. It was quite an interesting car trip with our family of 5!
November 24th
Owen turns 7! He had chosen a birthday dinner at JMK Nippon a few days earlier.
December
Christmas parties and lots of family time. The boys enjoyed reading Jotham’s Journey for advent this year. We also made our birthday cake for Jesus. I think Samuel enjoyed his first Christmas!
As I was driving home the other day, I spotted a big, fat squirrel sitting under a tree having a nice little snack. What a lazy little guy I thought. Must be nice to just sit around all day and eat. Then I realized that this fat squirrel was not so lazy after all. He was simply preparing for what was sure to come... winter.
Although here in the Midwest we are all preparing for another winter, we are each experiencing different seasons in our own lives. Some are rejoicing in God's provisions and blessings while others mourn the tragedies that break our hearts in this fallen world. Unlike the fairly predictable weather patterns that occur each year, the seasons of our lives have no such routine. There is no way of knowing what each new day will bring.
It is easy to feel like sitting around and devoting time to Bible study and prayer is a waste of time and not very productive. I need to take notes from that big, fat squirrel and realize the importance of storing up for whatever lies around the corner. I believe it was Beth Moore who made the statement that you will never waste a minute in God's word.
Thank you God for your provision and thank you for those seasons in our lives where we can store up what we need to weather the harshest winters.
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
Wednesday is Awana night for Owen. In addition to having a great time at church, Owen enjoys getting to stay up a little later. He has become a master of dragging out his bedtime routine as long as possible. Tonight, as Owen was getting ready for bed, he came in to kiss his new baby brother one last time. After a last round of snuggles and hugs, I told Owen that Samuel has a really great big brother. As Owen walked out of the room to head to bed, he said, "I can't wait until Samuel asks Jesus into his heart."
“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5
It is kind of a weird feeling going to bed knowing that you will wake up the next morning and head to the hospital to have a baby. I think I got a little sleep, but of course my mind was busy wondering if I had everything packed and ready to go and what the next day would hold.
A routine induction had been scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, 2011, but it would wind up being anything but routine. We arrived at Swedes a few minutes after 6am. We were checked in and nurse Kelly got things going. I was given pitocin a few hours later in hopes that it would speed up the irregular contractions I had been having the last few weeks of the pregnancy. Throughout the morning we heard reports from some of the nurses that the labor and delivery floor was becoming a very busy place.
Just before noon my nurse Chelly came in and said that we were going to go ahead with the epidural because the anesthesiologist was on the floor and they weren’t sure when he’d be back. Sounded like a very good idea to me! I think it was around 2:30-3:00pm when my doctor came in and broke my water. This was the final step in getting this labor into full swing. This is when things got exciting.
Almost immediately after having my water broken, I began experiencing horrible pains with each contraction. This was strange since I had an epidural and had been doing really well with pain all morning. Contractions were coming closer and closer together and the pain was getting more intense each time. I was at the point of tears, so an anesthesiologist was called back to the room to adjust my medications.
The next minutes were a bit blurry. It went from my nurse and the anesthesiologist in my room to about 8 more people in the room. I vaguely remember hearing the very slow beeps on the baby’s heart rate monitor in the midst of all the conversations amongst medical personnel. Later we learned that the baby’s heart rate had dropped to 60 beats per minute and he was not responding to any of the doctor’s and nurse’s attempts to restore his heart rate to normal. I looked at Brandon and mouthed the word… PRAY! In the flurry of activity, I was asked to get on my hands and knees… no easy feat for a woman with no feeling in the bottom half of her body! The next thing I remember is being unhooked and unplugged and rushed out of the room leaving Brandon in the dust.
After this point, I heard voices and listened in on several different conversations happening all at once. They were looking for records, finding the right equipment, asking for permission, pressing an oxygen mask on my face, preparing me for an emergency c-section. One conversation was about my heart rate. There was a concern that it was low, but then it was determined that I was just remaining calm. If they only knew… You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3).
I had been here before. I had a choice. Life was happening and the situation was far beyond my control. What would I do? Who would I trust? I chose to trust the one who is always faithful. I’ve learned to trust Him in a new way. I don’t trust that He will make everything go the way I want it to go. I don’t trust that everything will have the happy ending I might desire. I don’t trust that the end result will make sense.
I do trust that the One in control is completely faithful. I trust that He has a hope and a future for me. I trust that His heart is good and His love is strong. I trust Him with everything… including my precious baby. As I was lying there, strapped to that table in the operation room, waiting to be completely put under anesthesia, I whispered a prayer… “Jesus, I trust you Jesus.” I wondered what kind of news would await me when I woke up.
It was over. I was hearing voices, some familiar, some strange. I couldn’t open my eyes, but I felt someone holding my hand. “He’s beautiful Keri. Everything is fine. He’s beautiful.” It was my friend Beth who also happened to be a nurse at the hospital. Over the next hour I slowly came out of the anesthesia and learned that Samuel Brandon Early had arrived at 3:46pm. (It was 9 minutes between the time it was decided I need a c-section and the time Samuel was born.) He weighed in at 7lbs 13 oz, was 20 inches long, and he was fine. My nurse Chelly said she can not recall a situation where so many things just perfectly fell into place to make this special delivery happen so quickly. I think I said the words “He’s here and he’s fine” about 20 times that night. He was here. He was finally here. And he was fine.
We are thrilled to have Samuel home with us now. It has been a very long journey and the Lord has been faithful to lead and guide us along each step. Samuel’s name is very special. Like Samuel’s mother Hannah in the Bible, I too had asked the Lord for this child (1 Samuel 1:20, 27). After going through 3 miscarriages, I knew there were no guarantees, but I knew that God wanted me to be honest with him, so I honestly shared with Him this desire to have a child knowing that He was ultimately in control.Along each step of the journey, including this last big leap, I yielded my hopes and dreams to Him knowing that His plan for me was the best. He is faithful and now we praise Him for the joy He has brought to our lives through this new little life. As I continue on this journey with Jesus, I pray that I will always put my trust in the one who continuously proves Himself faithful.
