[Quick Update: Rock the River was incredible. Never have I felt so free to worship and so excited to jump around, especially when Kirk Franklin got on stage (By far, the best performance of the night)!!! Many commited their life to Christ that day and it was a blessing to be a part of it all.]
These past few weeks have been just a bit chaotic. From hospitalizations to speeding tickets and everything in between. Yet, in the midst of it all, I received several unexpected gifts, which made those rough moments almost fade away in the blink of an eye. It all began several weeks ago when my computer suddenly crashed for no apparent reason. After attemping numerous “fix-it-yourself” tricks to no avail, I brought it into the Mac Genius bar, preparing myself for the worst (but inwardly hoping that it just needed a quick tuning). The “Genius” looking at my Mac had the delightful job of explaining to me that my hard drive experienced a mechanical failure and if I wanted to retrieve any of the data, the cost would be upwards of $1000. Or, I could throw away those years of pictures, papers and memories and receive a new hard drive replacement for free! It took me a few weeks, but after weighing the two choices and my very light pocketbook, I reluctantly chose the latter. Though it was a painful decision to make, it was an incredible gift to receive a replacement hard drive for free. And this time, I bought an external hard drive to go with it so I’ll prepared next time around…
A short time later, I got to spend a majority of my weekend in the Urgent Care and ER, trying to find an answer to my painful, red eye that “might be pink eye, but we’re not really sure…prognosis.” I received a few prescriptions and two very dilated eyes. As I drove out of the parking ramp from Urgent Care and prepared to pay my fee, I looked up at the parking attendant and to my amazement, it was my former neighbor Isse! I hadn’t seen him or his family since my roommates and I moved out of our old house on Columbus Avenue over a year ago! We were able to chat for several minutes, catching up on the past year and exchanging numbers for a future get-together before I leave the country.
About a week later, after my eye had healed and all was well again, I went in to the dermatologist for an annual check-up. While there, I had them look at a mole on my temple, which they proceeded to biopsy for further evaluation. I was a little nervous at this point but didn’t think too much of it. As the next week rolled in and I was rushing to get to work on time, I got pulled over by the police in my workplace parking lot. Needless to say, not only was I completely embarassed about the whole situation, but pretty heated too because I ended up missing my meeting for work… and receiving a complimentary speeding ticket on the side. And wouldn’t you know, a few days later I got the call from my dermatologist that I had a tumor on my temple and needed to schedule for surgery as soon as possible. OH what a week that was!
On September 2, I had minor surgery to remove the tumor on my right temple. Praise God, it was not cancerous! The surgeon and nurses were wonderful and I even got the opportunity to share with them about my journey to Rwanda. The process of the surgery itself was fascinating… the surgeon went in, one layer at a time, until the tumor was completely removed. It only took about two hours and I was able to stay awake throughout the entire procedure. By the end, I had a hole in my face about the size of my pinky finger… which was the smallest tumor he had seen all week, ha! They stitched me up, gave me a few instructions, and I was already on my way home. The stitches have now been removed and I’m back to normal 
After all of this chaotic mess, I figured it was about time to pay off my speeding ticket before any other fines started accruing. To my amazement, after going online to check how much I owed for the ticket, my balance was $0.00! The ticket had been erased from my record and I didn’t have to pay a dime! All I could do at that point was praise God, thanking him for working in very mysterious and wonderful ways. I was also reminded of an almost identical incident that happened two years ago, when a parking ticket of mine was paid for in full by a woman I had never met or known. Sometimes, it is the most unexpected gifts that become the most precious.
And through it all, I am reminded again and again, that we have been given the beautiful gift of life. Through the tumultuous storms and heavy burdens, we are never given more than what we can bear. Ironically, sometimes the storms we face end up becoming more of a blessing than we might ever realize.
During my prayers a few nights back, God opened up my eyes to an incredible realization. For months, I had been praying that He would prepare me physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally for my trip to Rwanda. Throughout all those weeks of frustration, chaos and riding out the storm… I came to realize that He was preparing me. If any of those things would have happened while in Rwanda, the outcomes would have been ten times worse due to lack of access to the appropriate resources. I can now say with a smile, what a blessing it has been to ride through the storms of life because I know that God is in full control every step of the way. And he even drops off unexpected gifts along the way to make it a little easier…
Thank you so much for sharing your testimony! I stumbled upon this link to your blog, and clicked through absent-mindedly (ie. when Spirit nudged me)
I woke today clinging to the Lord’s promise of healing, and wondering if the physical chaos and uncertainty I’m coping with will ever make sense. I’m so grateful for His assurance through your words.
Bless you on your journey to and though Rwanda.
I’ll keep you in my prayers.
thank you sally!! praying for you today that God would continue to bring you healing through his power and grace. He loves you and will take care of you! every blessing to you sister!!