God Working in Mysterious Ways

Ever wonder why things happen a certain way, then later you realize, "Wow, I'm glad that happened the way it did!" Hindsight is 20/20, they say. I experienced that this weekend.

Sunday I was teaching in children's ministry and that night was our semi-annual church update dinner. I always look forward to these dinners, as our pastor brings us up to date with the plans God has for our church for the next 6 months. I got up in the morning with my sinuses inflamed, my nose running and my eyes watering. I took a Claritin and went to church. I was able to teach which was great (taught on the book of Job), but when I got home I was achy and had a headache. Turns out I had a temperature of 101.9. I took a couple of Tylenol and lay down, hoping I would feel better.

Let's backtrack to that morning. My hubby got up and complained that he had a lump under his chin on the left side of his face. I took a look but saw nothing. He insisted that he felt a lump and it hurt. "Maybe," I said, "you were coughing so hard your jaw hurts." He'd had the flu and his cough was out of control. Before he left for his softball game, I took a look at him and noticed that, indeed, he had a bit of swelling under his left ear. I asked if he'd ever had the mumps, and he said not to his knowledge. "Here, take an ibuprophen and let's see if the swelling goes down, otherwise we'll have to go to the doctor," I said, and he took his medicine and went on his way.

Even after taking the Tylenol for my fever, I was feeling miserable. I wanted to go so badly to that dinner, but I finally accepted that I'd best stay home. I couldn't understand why God hadn't just taken all these symptoms away so I could go and enjoy this time of fellowship and fun with my church. Oh well. I sent a friend of mine a message saying I wouldn't make it and just stayed in bed. Shortly afterward my husband arrived home, and I gasped. The right side of his face looked the same as always. The left side, however, was a different story. His neck was so swollen he looked like Alfred Hitchcock. He was in a lot of pain, including his ear. Now, I knew that mumps affect not only the glands around the throat but also the ear, so I called his mother and asked if he'd been vaccinated as a child. She couldn't remember. In their native country kids are vaccinated at school, so she didn't know what they'd been vaccinated for. I wanted hubby to go to the hospital, but he wanted to wait until the morning to go to his regular doctor. When I told his mother that it looked like the mumps, she said, "Put him on the phone." She gave him a good talking to, because he finally agreed to go to the emergency room. They ran all kinds of blood tests, and even a CT scan to see if he had stones in his salivary glands (I have to say I've never heard of that, but apparently it's possible to get stones in your salivary glands). We were in the hospital from 7:30pm to almost 4:00 in the morning, and in the end the diagnosis was mumps. He was given antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication, and thank the Lord the swelling is going down. He's also in less pain, since the swelling was making pressure on his ear which was what caused the most pain.

Thinking back, I realize now that God didn't want me to leave the house Sunday night because my husband needed me. Had I not been home it would have taken longer to get him to the hospital. When we got there it wasn't too full, but within a couple of hours the emergency room was packed. Thankfully the hospital we went to is top-notch, and they make sure the patient is as comfortable as possible. They even gave me a stretcher to lie down on while we waited for his test results, which was a good thing since I still had fever and was achy all over. I'm thankful to the Lord that I was available to my hubby when he needed me, and for the excellent care he received from the doctors and nurses. I'm also very thankful that he didn't have to be admitted, because that would have really stressed him out. All my poor hubby wanted was to go home and sleep on his own bed, and it was finally able to happen. Praise God for His small and large miracles. I'm glad He's always in control.