"Then the LORD asked Satan, 'Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless- a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. Satan replied to the LORD, 'Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." -Job 1: 8-11
That passage definitely just sets the stage for this past week. Needless to say I didn't lose everything I had, but it was definitely a week of tests... I'll just start of the beginning.
Wednesday, August 5: I was in Birmingham just finished my last test of Physiology and taking a break before starting to study for my final, which was scheduled for Friday. I received a phone call from my sister, "Nancy, when I tell you this don't freak out, let me get all the way through first.." That conversation ended in the news that my 93 year-old grandmother had a massive stroke the night before and was not expected to live much longer. I went immediately to my professor and explained the circumstance, he allowed me to take my final early. Perfect, I had less than 24 hrs to study for a Physiology final. "Lord I know this is in your hands and I know that you have a purpose for this, give me the patience to sit down and study all 20 chapters of information." So I came back and studied like I have never studied before.
Thursday, August 6: I took my Physiology final that morning, packed up my little Ford Focus and headed back to Nashville, for what I thought would be the start of my two weeks of summer. I arrived 3 hours later, threw everything that was in dorm into my room and headed straight to the hospital to see my grandmother. I probably started to go to the hospital about 4 times and every time I would receive a phone call to head back home, all for different reasons. At this point I was beyond my patience level. I was mad, angry, heart broken, way beyond my limits. When I finally made it back to the hospital I made it just in time to find out that the doctor was moving my grandmother to Hospice. I also had just received a call from a guy that I was interested in saying that He didn't think we need to text/talk anymore. Perfect. I cried my heart out to God. The whole time just trying to rationalize that everything was in God's hands and that I needed to trust Him wholeheartedly.
Friday, August 7: I get woken up at 3 am by my mother, "Nancy, grandmother has passed away." Well, who can sleep knowing that their last grandparent is no longer with them? So I turned on the news hoping to distract my mind off the idea that my grandmother was not here on earth anymore. I finally fell asleep around 5:30 and woke up around 8. When I woke up I had a note on my door with a list of places my mom needed me to go. So I got ready and went out to tackle my to-do list made by my mother. It was just one thing after another. Once again my patience was tested and tested and tested. I thought it would never end. I finally made it home, only to find out I had more places to run. I literally drove around all of Nashville: Bellevue, Green Hills, Brentwood (twice), back to Green Hills! Ah!
Saturday, August 8: Woke up and went for a morning run, which was so desperately needed. I finally got a relaxing day. I went to the pool with my sister, Martha Blair, and her fiancee, Justin. It was perfect. No places to go, no to-do lists, no errands to run.
Sunday, August 9: This was truly the thunderstorm of it all! Church with a family of 4 girls is just an adventure in its self. Then you throw in my mother and it's truly an adventure that not many people would want to travel. My mother wanted to get to church early to ensure that she had a seat. So I volunteered to drive her, back to Brentwood. I get there and receive a text from my cousin saying she had seats for my family. So my mom and I try to find them in this massive church & well it just doesn't happen. We FINALLY find them and my mom got mad cause she thought they had not saved enough seats and she wanted to sit with her girls. So we leave the service to go back upstairs, where we were to begin with, to find my sisters. My little sister, had just had her wisdom teeth out a few weeks before and took a pain pill right before church. So the whole service she was knocked out. My sisters & I decided it would not be good to tell my mom that Sarah had taken this medicine and I was to get my mom out before she noticed something was wrong with Sarah. Little did we know that something really was wrong with Sarah. I got a phone call from one of my older sisters saying they were calling an ambulance because Sarah was unresponsive. Well today is the visitation for my grandmother so my mom and I were already headed to the funeral home at this point. We arrived there dropped off the jewelry and then headed to Vanderbilt Hospital to meet up with the rest of the family. I am beyond stressed at this point. The word patience just kept running through my mind the whole day. I trusted in God. Anyways, my little sister ended up being fine and we all arrived back to the funeral home later that day.
Monday, August 10: Funeral morning. We got up early and headed to the funeral home. Just funerals in general are so tiring. We headed out to Murfreesboro to the grave site. This day was not too bad. I got to see my beat friend, Andrew, on his Birthday. I got to catch up with a few friends as well. I relearned how to ride a bike! That was exciting.
Tuesday, August 11: Not a bad day at all!! Spent the whole day at the pool, just a little too much sun and went to Kairos that night! Man, it was so powerful! God is truly working there, it was so packed. We sat on the stairs, there were people sitting in the floor. It was so amazing to see how much it has grown!
Wednesday, August 12: what another crazy day!! Took Martha Blair to the airport and on my way home I get a call from Sarah, the youngest, saying she had just gotten in a car wreck. So on to the next location. I arrived there and she seemed fine, but my mom wanted me to take her to the doctor just to make sure. The day before she had hurt her wrist in volleyball, so when the doctor was checking her, the doctor touched her wrist and Sarah yelled. So the doctor wanted to x-ray it. So back to Vanderbilt we go to get her wrist x-rayed. It was not broken. I have had my fair share of hospitals and doctors to last me awhile.
Wow, this is one long post!! I am so sorry about that. I can relate to Job in some ways. I feel like my patience and my trust in God was definitely tested this past week. I got angry with God at times this past week. I questioned why, how, and what. I don't know why He did all these crazy things. I know that this summer has been one big test.
What to get out of this? Keep seeking God, good and bad. He does everything for a reason. Only He can be glorified with our actions. Even when it seems like it's been raining for days and days, God still gets the glory. All we can do is just trust God with everything.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
Seek after God today & everything, in every situation.
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