Day 24: Friday, March 24, 2017               Philippians 4:13

  “For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

As I cuddle with my two year old, terrible thoughts race through my head.  Will the fever ever break? Will he be able to sleep tonight? What if he stops breathing?  All these are thoughts typically running through a mother’s head who is dealing with a    sick child. 

One time when I was states away from home I became very ill.  My mother and grandparents were very worried about me. State police had been notified in five different states to be on the lookout for me.  Finally they found me in a state bordering my home state.  Needless to say I was still very sick.  I had to be taken to a medical trauma center in another state.  I was hospitalized for many months.  One day I awoke and thought I could talk and walk and think, all to no avail.

I spent the next year in rehab learning to do these critical skills.  After this time I became closer to God.  It was God whom I prayed to to deliver me safely home. It was God who kept a complete male stranger from harming me sexually or physically.  It was God who gave me the strength to “live” again.  

Philippians 4:13 not only reassured me then, but reassures me now that even if something terrible happened to my sick child, God would be there to see me through the rough times.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please remind us constantly, through good times and bad, that you are there providing us strength to persevere. Amen.

Contributed by Daphne Madrid