Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~Philippians 4:6-7
Our family was privileged to experience not just one, but TWO miracles this Easter. On Saturday afternoon, our little Abbey-dog got very sick. So sick, in fact, that it looked like she was going to die. Late that evening, Daddy packed her up and headed out to the emergency vet, thinking that she was going to have to be put to sleep. After he left, we all sat in the floor and cried our eyes out. I had all four of you kids in my lap and there was not a dry eye in the house. Needless to say, we were a pitiful sight. In between sobs, we held hands and asked God to heal our crazy, little one-eyed pup, or take her to heaven quickly so she wouldn't suffer anymore. I tried to cheer you guys up (and myself, actually) by reminding you that Hannah would probably be the first one to greet Abbey at heaven's gates. That thought made all of us smile, since Hannah always did love her little Abbey-girl. But inside I was so sad -- not only at the thought of loosing Abbey, but thinking about you guys waking up on Easter morning to find that another one of our canine-family members was gone....
Once Daddy got to the vet, the doctor was able to pretty quickly diagnose what was wrong with Abbey and start getting her stabilized. Daddy left her that night with no guarantees, but we decided to go ahead and allow the doctors to do whatever needed to be done to save our baby dog. First thing Easter morning, Daddy called to see if Abbey had made it through the night. We were thrilled to hear that she was still alive, but concerned when the doctor made it clear that things were still very much touch and go. When you guys woke up, your first question was not "When can we go downstairs and see our Easter baskets?" but, "Is Abbey still alive?" Your faces just lit up when we told you that our prayers were answered and though she was still very, very sick, she was alive. After church, we went to visit Abbey, but she didn't look good. I hate to admit it, but seeing how poorly she looked and felt, I honestly wasn't feeling very hopeful about her pulling through. But at that point, we had done all we could do and the outcome was in God's hands. It did make me feel a little better, however, to find out that news had traveled and we had a small army of friends and family joining us in praying and pulling for the recovery of our sweet Abbey-Dabbey-Doo.
Daddy and I didn't share too much of this part of the story with the four of you, but aside from our concern about possibly loosing Abbey, we were also wondering how in the world we were going to pay her enormous vet bill! The night Daddy left her at the hospital, we were quoted a cost of $1400. That is a lot of money, guys! We didn't have a whole lot of time to figure out how we were going to scrape up that amount, so we just had to step out in faith and trust that if Abbey were meant to live, God would provide a way for that to happen. Daddy and I tend to get worked up about money matters, but I think I can speak for him when I say that we both had a real sense of peace regarding the financial end of things in this situation. Fast-forwarding to the end of the story -- Abbey ended up being in the hospital for nearly four days but on Tuesday afternoon we got the call that she was well enough for me to take over her care from home. I immediately headed to pick her up and boy, was it was a joyful reunion! Abbey was so glad to be back with us and to get back home to her best buddy, Sasha. Seeing the two of them kiss and sniff all over each other was just the cutest, sweetest thing!
So we got an extra Easter miracle this year.
And there's one other really neat part to this story.....
When Daddy went to the vet to check on Abbey Sunday afternoon, he stopped by the front desk to see if we needed to leave any more money towards her bill. The receptionist checked her computer and said that, no, we didn't need to pay anything at that time because they had received several donations towards our account. Unbeknownst to us, several of our dear friends snuck up to the vet's office and donated funds towards Abbey's care. Isn't that awesome??? All I could ~ and can ~ say is WOW. I am still so humbled by their expression of care and compassion for our family. It is often said that the worst of times brings out the best in people. Happily, this was one of those occasions! God is at work all around us, kiddos.....sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly through the hands and feet (and pocketbooks!) of His people. This was one of those special times where we got to see His hands at work and His mercy in action.
Never forget, guys ~ God cares about us and He cares about the things we care about ~ including silly little one-eyed pups! He can and He will move on our behalf......all we have to do is ask Him.
Aren't you glad we did?
Love,
Mommy
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