Be thankful you didn't take the other route

By MARY JANE HOLT
Contributintg Writer

Many of us have heard the stories. We have listened to or read the accounts of individuals who did not die two years ago in the fiery Word Trade Center collapse.

The story is told of a company head who arrived late for work because his son started kindergarten that day. Another fellow felt that he was alive because it had been his turn to stop and buy the donuts. And there was the story about a man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning and left for work, but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid which made him late that day, and alive today.

Just last week, when my car broke down in front of the Assembly of God Church on Warm Springs Road just north of Columbus, I shared with the pastor who came to my rescue, how, in such situations, I always recall the cobra poem, the one about the fellow who could not travel the path he wanted and had to go another less desirable route, and how he really should be thankful for the detour because of the cobra that lay in wait for him on the path not taken.

I will bet you have done your share of fussing and complaining in the past, just like me. But, somehow, over time, I have come to the realization that life is filled with miracles. Some use the word coincidences. But clearly, "a coincidence is when God works a miracle and decides to remain anonymous."

I don't recall when I first began to recognize the miracles, but once full recognition took place, the inconveniences, accidents, illnesses, wrong turns, automobile problems, failed computer systems all these things took on new meaning.

I have actually grown to look for the hidden blessings in my misadventures. Sometimes, such blessings seem greater than the ones that come with my chosen adventures. It amazes me at this young age oh, yeah, 55 is young and getting younger every day - that I have finally started to see God's hand in everything.

Yet, this past year has presented for me some real trials. I had begun to think, sometime around the end of May, that I would never be well again. I feared the complications from last year's surgery and ongoing symptoms would take a permanent toll.

Then five weeks ago, my ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat) doctor, no less, came up with a treatment regimen that has totally turned my life around. I have lost 25 pounds, mostly gained over the past year while being given steroids for symptoms that would not let up, symptoms that were robbing me of quality of life. The antibiotics at first, for weeks after the surgery, then the steroids that followed served their purpose, I suppose. I should be thankful. However, some medications tend to bring on, or exacerbate, other problems.

So my ENT makes a few suggestions which I follow and within two weeks I am a new person. I wanted to tell you immediately, but being the doubting Thomasina that I am, I had to wait and see if it would last.

I'm going back to the ENT two days from this writing and I can't wait to hug him! Then afterwards, I'm having lunch with a friend, in Atlanta, who has faithfully prayed for me for four years.

I'm saying all this to say, good will come out of the past year. I soon will be returning to visit officials at the hospital where my care was so atrocious and addressing issues that need to be addressed. I want to do everything in my power to see that no other patient ever goes through what I did. And I want to tell of how God's grace sustains, no matter what, to anybody who will listen.

I had two more invitations today, to do just that. I will accept both. God is good, folks. His presence is ever near, his grace sufficient, and his mercy truly everlasting.

Even as I write this, I am fully aware that others who read these words may not get a miracle. They may not regain lost health. They may continue to suffer. They may never again be pain free. Part of me feels bad about writing about how good I feel. Part of me The other part just can't quit praising God. Yep, I'm going to tell my story to anybody who will listen. And you, dear readers, have for nearly two decades now, been great listeners. Thank you, and I thank God for the countless ways He works in, through, and amongst all of us to meet the real needs of our hearts and lives.