Hard week.
HARD WEEK.

Hard enough to make me wonder, yet again…

How in the world do people get along in this life without Christ? Without the hope of His coming? Without the thrilling knowledge that this broken, sinful world isn’t the end? How??

When I first received the news that I was going to be a grandmother, and the surprising circumstances that surrounded that fact, I was in a hotel room. It was the first time in a LONG time that I hadn’t traveled with my Bible. My physical yearning for the Word was so strong that it surprised even me! I had my “Bible for iPhone”, but in this instance, that wouldn’t do. I looked through every drawer in that room, until I found it…the Gideon Bible. After praising God for the Gideons, I went into the bathroom (so as not to wake my daughter), curled up on pillows in the bathtub and prayed the Psalms, alternately reading and clutching the Word to my chest through silent, body-racking sobs. It proved itself, yet again, “living and active.”

Somewhere deep in the night, I came across these passages:

…so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5 NIV

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Cor. 12:26-27 NIV

The Body of Christ…a reminder from my sweet Jesus that I was not alone. I had not only Him, but His hands, His feet, His heart, here on this earth to walk with me…laugh with me…cry with me.

In that early hour, the Lord began to bring to mind strong, praying friends of whom I knew I could ask prayer, and even if they didn’t have all the details, they could be trusted to stand in the gap for me and my family. One by one their names and faces came to mind…until there were over fifty.

And pray they did (and have), emailing and texting me, calling me and sending cards; the Lord’s own sweet touch to my heart and words to my ears through His hands and mouth on this earth. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced, and exactly what those scriptures describe.

Fast forward to this week. More hard core “life” hitting us in the face. But, this time, it didn’t take the reminder from a Gideon Bible in the night to move me into action. I claimed those verses and put out an APB to the body of my sweet Jesus. Within seconds (literally) it responded.

“Belonging to each other…suffering with each other…rejoicing with each other.”

Showing me the face of God.

Oh, the beauty of the Body of Christ.

Many of you are a part of this post. It is with a humble and grateful heart that I thank you.