Countdown, part 5: Two years ago

O LORD my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.

O LORD, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit.

Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.

-Psalm 30:2-4 (NIV)

I really try not to be "preachy" when I write my blog posts, but I'll ask you to indulge me a bit today. As I celebrate having a healthy husband, on the second anniversary of his brain surgery, I find myself wanting to publicly give God thanks for His loving hand of healing. My Father, my God--thank You.

One of my treasured memories of that day is the support from those who came to wait with us at the hospital while the operation was taking place.

Herb and Georgia sat and talked with us, and knowing them, I bet they were praying the whole time too.

Ann was supportive with her sweet presence, and I knew she understood, since her husband had cancer.

Virgil took orders from everyone present for a coffee run, and then sat and talked to me about non-surgery related things like the controversy over whether or not Wal-Mart should build close to his house. The time went quickly as we chatted. I didn't even know Virgil that well, but on that day he established himself in a very special, permanent place in my heart.

My parents were there, loving me, ready to do whatever I needed (including taking care of Chickie, who was almost one),

My sister would have been there, but she'd had a baby the day before--happy birthday, Molly!

I wish everyone would have the opportunity, sometime, to feel the type of love I experienced that day, and on the days before and after the surgery. We experienced true, pure community, and until then I'd had no idea how beautiful of a thing community can be.

I could write a long post with all my other memories of that day, but the medical stuff really isn't that important now. Surgery went well; recovery did too. Physical aftereffects have faded into nothingness.

But our lives still bear the imprint of that time. Two years later, the aftereffects of our most stressful family experience are love and gratitude, toward our family (in the broadest sense of the term) and toward our God. If you were one of those who was there for us through that experience, my heart bursts with thankfulness to you, even two years later.