God's in the circumstances...all of them

I have been studying Esther, which is a great story on how involved God is in our daily lives and how He orchestrates the circumstances of our lives to bring Him glory. I am so thankful that He allowed me to witness this firsthand over the weekend. One of my best friend's and I each have been dealing with a health issue of our mothers this past week - her mother is in rehab after falling and breaking several bones; mine was struck with a large kidney stone that was too large to pass. If you've ever been in charge of the well being of another person, you know you need help in making the right decisions on their behalf. In each of our cases, the Lord helped us. My friend had to visit several rehab hospitals before choosing which would be the best for her mom. She honestly had no idea what to look for and was concerned. The very day she was going to visit these hospitals, 2 of the 3 were unreachable due to large traffic accidents in the area. The only one she was able to visit was the one where her mother is now and is happy with it. She gives complete credit to the Lord for making the decision for her. My mother spent one night in the ER and then was sent home with a doctor's number to call the next day to be seen. As I stood in my mother's home trying to reach this doctor, I couldn't get through. Over and over I tried, knowing how bad my mother felt and that she needed to be seen today. I closed my eyes and asked the Lord silently to help me make this decision as to what to do next. I opened my eyes and called my own doctor. They got her in that afternoon, scheduled surgery for the next day and took complete care of her. My mother had the last procedure to break up the stone this morning. After all she's been through (and it's been a lot over 5 days), she slowly gets in the car whispering "thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus". She has been so grateful through this process to see His work. From the people in the next bed in pre-op who were praying that brought us comfort even if they weren't praying for us, to the nursing staff at Charlotte Urology and Dr. O'Neill's office for their quick actions and compassion, to the numerous strangers who offered to help in any way they could because they could see the pain my mom was in. God works, and often He uses people like us to do it.