{{item.title | uppercase}}

“Some nights in the midst of this loneliness, I swung among the scattered stars

at the end of the thin thread of faith alone.” – Wendell Berry

Months ago, and just days before my mother went Home to be with the Lord, I experienced a strange ‘episode’ with my heart. Driving in to sit with her, my heart suddenly revved up, sending all my blood to my brain. Things turned dark and for a minute I thought I would pass out. Since I was driving on a two-lane country road, I began to move my car off the road.

Just as quickly as it had started, all things calmed down and I could see normally again. The next time I went to my primary care doctor, I mentioned that weird thing and he sent me to a cardiologist just to ‘check it out’.

Several tests were run on my heart, but the most fascinating one was the Echocardiogram — the ultrasound on the heart.

In the almost 71 years I have lived, I have never seen my heart. I lay there in awe of that muscular organ as it worked so hard.

To be honest with you, I was so affected as I watched the technician move that wand across my chest and the different views of my heart that showed on that monitor.

The thought that since conception, for more than 71 years, it has worked non-stop to keep me alive. Never a moment has it been still or not pushing the blood through my body to keep me alive.

Many things crossed my mind as I watched it work.

I wondered if my husband, Steve, could have laid on an examining room table like that, with that ultrasound wand moving across his chest, would they have been able to see the artery that would soon explode ending his life?

And could that technician see the evidence of my broken heart?

Would she be able to point out… “Looks like an old wound right here…see the scar?”

But that technician had no clue to what my heart was feeling or had felt since that day in July, 2016. There should have been evidence there of that kind of pain!

My thought was… I should work harder to live since my heart works so hard for me to be able to…

But my heart has never missed a beat.

Whether the loss of your husband was sudden, or you were a caregiver to him, we all can honestly say that we experienced ‘the rug being pulled right out from under us’.

I looked up the phrase…

“To suddenly or unexpectedly have support removed or rescinded, help or assistance that one depended on to abruptly leave one in a problematic or difficult situation (The Free Dictionary by Farlex)

What will we do with this beating heart now?

Remember the magic trick that involved yanking the tablecloth from under the precious dishes passed down from generation to generation?

Our personal picture of those results looks way different than the tricksters, doesn’t it!

Hearts can be broken, and scars never show on an ultrasound.

Our answer, our Hope for our broken hearts…

“For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.”
Galatians 5:5 (ESV)

One day…

Some golden daybreak, Jesus will come;
Some golden daybreak, battles all won,
He’ll shout the victory, break through the blue,
Some golden daybreak, for me, for you.

“But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
Psalm 59:16 (ESV)

Do you know the difference in our lives now compared to that ‘rug being pulled out from under us’?

The ONE we have depended upon has NEVER rescinded or removed His help!

Through our broken hearts, the tears, the questions, He remains steadfast and holds us in His hands.

Were we to try the trick with the beautiful china and the tablecloth, there would be pieces broken and scattered everywhere…

Jesus picks up the pieces of our lives and makes us whole again — for a purpose and a plan He has chosen to use us to fulfill.

My sisters, God has gathered us together for this season. Our physical hearts beat today, fulfilling a beautiful purpose upon our creation. Let’s pray for each other that in every moment the Lord has given us, we will find and fulfill the wonderful purpose He has set before us.

Our responsibility is to trust — to have the faith that what God has begun in us…He will complete until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

Our Heavenly Father, we find ourselves today in an unwanted season. Help us, Lord Jesus, to trust Your heart as we continue this life — always keeping our eyes fixed upon You. Help us to be faithful in what You have called us to do. Amen