THAT ACCIDENT ON 79 SOUTH ON FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2009...GOODNESS AMONG SUFFERING

I’m writing this post because my heart is full to bursting...again....it happens a lot lately.

My daughter called me to tell me that she, in addition to preparing her family and home for a brief vacation to visit loved ones in Ohio, needed me because she had developed shingles...on her face...and they were headed towards her eyes...and could I come out NOW....

My soul went into frantic mode. Of COURSE I can come out now! The entire way out there my prayers went up to Heavenly Father...”oh please, don’t let this young woman suffer....please please please, if there is any way, let me take this from her...give them to me, I’ll do it for her...I’ll take the shingles, the swelling, the pain... I’ll take the anxiety, the stress, the worry...whatever it takes, let me just TAKE it”...the thought of her, or any of my kids, suffering like that, just breaks me apart...and then the image of another Parent’s beloved Child suffering, even greater, entered my mind and I broke apart again because I knew that His suffering was for all of us and how THAT Parent, the greatest of us all, must have broken apart to watch that Child...goodness among the suffering....

And then my car slowed down because of an accident...a BIG accident...on 79 South just after the 371 turn off...people that were passing us on the other side were telling us to turn around because it was a “several hours delay”...I couldn’t turn around because there was no where to turn around to...my destination was ahead and I had no idea where to go if I turned around...so I just turned my car off and planned to sit for awhile. No such luck. The accident was so bad, so very very bad, that all vehicles were being turned away. No more waiting. The road was closed. One at a time, as we drove forward, there was a man that was giving us directions on where to go as we turned around on this long, two lane highway to...well, virtually no where, as far as I was concerned. As it got to my turn with the man, I noticed that he wasn’t wearing an “official” emergency uniform. In fact, he was wearing typical blue “Dickies” pants and a striped blue and white work shirt for the company he worked for. I also noticed a hay truck parked off to the side of the road. These are things I noticed unconsciously at the time (I was very self-centered at those moments) and I’m recalling them in hindsight. This gentleman was probably the driver of that hay truck. He was, no doubt, called into the role of direction-giver because he drove that route (those twisty, turny, switch backs and rural back roads) quite a bit, on a regular basis even, and he knew it like the back of his rough, work weary hand. The skin on his face was used to being outside. He changed posture quite a bit between vehicles (bending forward, holding his hands on his knees, moving side to side) as if he was attempting to find relief or comfort some how. Maybe his back hurt from bending over and speaking into car windows a hundred times? All I know is that this kind-hearted gentleman was (possibly) losing money by not driving his route and taking the time to redirect people to find their way home...or to where ever they were going. He was needed...called to action and willing to serve...and I forgot to thank him...totally forgot...so I’m doing it now...just like all the times that my husband has been willing to serve and didn’t expect to be thanked...and was way okay with that...good men and women...goodness among the suffering.

Like my daughter-in-law’s mother who takes such good care of The Dear Sweet One and the twins...always and forever...especially when Abby went back in for carpal tunnel surgery and the poignant post Nancy wrote about it...broke my heart....goodness among the suffering....

All the acts of service that are rendered anonymously in times of needs...goodness among the suffering....

These are the things I see more and more as I get older...maybe I choose to see them now instead of the pain...maybe that comes with life experience...I don’t know...I just know I’m grateful for it....

So...I made it here to my daughter’s home. One of the kids is at preschool...the other is napping...the house is cleaned and my daughter is resting on the couch...sleeping all cuddled up and looking beautiful....the nerves of her eyes don’t appear to be in line with the shingles (Thank you God). The only sound is the dish washer running and me sniffling from my tears as I pray to a Heavenly Father who loves her and blesses her and watches over her and hers....goodness among the suffering...

I still want her shingles though.....