And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Overwhelmed is an understatement. But it's the best I can do right now. I have moments where I cannot even utter a word because emotion rules my speech. I'll probably have typos, too.... and that is just going to be OK. I can say this... MY GOD IS WONDERFUL AND WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE!
Before I understood what a horizontal relationship was I had experienced many. People who were instrumental in my life from childhood provided things for me and my family. Many times we never knew who provided those things. But God was responsible for those horizontal relationships. Let me give a little background and examples.
My mom was a single mother of two kids. We did not have much but we had what we needed. My father never financially contributed to my existence and my mom went to court many times to try to get him to own up to his responsibilities. All the while, she cared for my brother and me. There was little money for extras and I remember several times when she announced to us that Christmas would be slim. There were Christmases that we received gifts and we did not know who gave them to us. I know now that they were given by members of the church I attended. The horizontal relationships God provided for us were used to provide physical things for us.
Another time I experienced the receiving end of the horizontal relationship was around the end of my sophomore year of high school. Class rings were being ordered and I was not going to order one because mom could not afford such an extravagance for me. I do not know who did it but I know some of the ladies at church stepped up to my mom and paid for me to order my ring with my class.
I was the very lucky recipient of a horizontal relationship gift throughout my high school education. The summer between my 7th grade and 8th grade year my mom was approached by a couple of people at church (see a pattern here?) about my attending Jefferson Christian Academy as a scholarship student. To make a long story short, some of the best times of my life and precious people who were and still are in my life are all blessings to me because people took the opportunity to be Jesus to me.
Because of my life experiences I understand what God meant when He wanted us to love and prefer one another and do good to all, but especially those in the household of faith.
I have had adult experiences as well, but because this blog is a tribute to how I became my mother, I will not share all of those now. I will tell you about one more that has just happened. It's the reason I can't speak.
Any of you that know my husband, Mark, know that his knees are not the healthiest part of his body. He has had 6 knee surgeries and will be having a 7th in a couple of days. We knew this would be a "scope and clean" procedure as he has had it before. As Mark was scheduling this surgery he was also presented with some alternative, investigational options that have not been available before. Using transplanted stem cells from Mark's hip COULD heal his knee. I stress the word COULD. The doctor has said that he has had much success with this procedure and he thought this could be the answer Mark needs for more permanent healing of his knee. Sounds great, right? Except that because it is investigational it is not covered by insurance. We would have to pay $3000 cash for the procedure. We decided as a family that because there was not more certainty about the success of the procedure we would not gamble that it would NOT be successful by not doing it at all.
Tonight at the CrossFit gym my husband owns, Trinity CrossFit, someone (or ones) left a card with exactly $3000 cash. No name, no sign of who left it, nothing! The message is clear. Mark should have the stem cell surgery. He came home and told me and we just cried together. Horizontal relationships.... God's provision for us to get through this life. And to know that He is who He says He is.
Thanking the Lord is the easiest part of this. He is the vertical relationship made possible by Christ's gift of himself for our sin. We know the blessing is from HIM. We may never know which of our horizontal relationships is responsible for this wonderful gift. I will just say a thank you to all of you who had a part in this. And that will never be enough. I am still in awe and so very humbled. THANK YOU! Praise be to GOD!
