He Is Near To The Brokenhearted

I am so blessed to still have two living grandmothers. Eighty-nine and Ninety-one. You have met Mamaw Arden, my most valuable inheritance, but never before have you met Mildred, my dad's mother.

She has always been small and feisty. A water aerobic goddess, a skilled gardener and devoted wife.

After my grandfather passed of Lou Gehrig's disease in the eighties, she remarried.

Everett.

A stud of a man. A former train engineer and southern gentleman. A ballroom dancing, chivalrous stud.

They were quite the couple.

But time catches up and eventually death makes its way it every front door.

Even at Christmastime.

Saturday, I sat next to Mamaw on her couch. Lately, I can see in her eyes she is inching away.

Holding her frail hand, we sat and listened to Everett's daughter.

I heard the news with her. Both of us for the first time.

"They are moving Everett from the hospital to a new home, Mildred. It is a good place. A lady welcomes folks into her home to stay a while. She cooks for them and cares for them. There are nurses there. It is very warm and loving. It's a good place. You can go and visit him anytime. I hear she is a good cook, too. Maybe you can go have a meal with him. Doesn't that sound nice, Mildred?"

"Well. I guess."

I chime in, "It sounds great. Can I book my stay for when I am ninety? What a great alternative to rehabilitation." I turn and look at Mamaw, "Maybe he can stay there until he feels stronger. Then he can come home."

Mamaw looked down, "He'll never come home."


Her Christmas tree twinkled next to the fireplace. Lights bright on the mantel.

Mocking us.

"Its a hospice house, Becky."

Silence.

Hospice. A hopeless word.

The reality of the news started to sink deeply.

He'll never come home.

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ear toward their cry.

When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is near to the broken hearted.
Psalm 34:15, 17-18

His eyes are upon my grandmother. He knows her frailties. He hears her cry.

Emmanuel has fresh meaning this year. God is with her.

Near to her broken heart.

He is the one who gives her peace and comforts.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are. Hebrews 4:15

He understands her grief. He came, specifically, to experience it.

This is a very difficult Christmas for many of you.

The joy of the holidays is painful in the midst of illness, loss, cancer, divorce, depression or death.

But know that he hears your cry.

His eyes are upon you.

He came to this world to deliver you.

He is near to the broken hearted.

Cry out to Him.

Emmanuel: God is with us.

God is with my grandmother.

God is with Everett.

Emmanuel: God is with you.

He Heals the Broken Heart - Really.

Friday night, the telephone rang and woke me from a sound sleep.

11:44p.m.

My dad was driving to my house from Virginia. He should have arrived around midnight.

He never made it.

"Becky, its about your dad. He's had an episode while driving into town. He had to stop. We think he's had a heart attack."

The heart.

Arguably, the single most important organ in the human body.

A muscular pump, which forces blood through thousands of miles of blood vessels. Beating approximately 72 times per minute. The heart pumps blood, which carries all the vital materials which help our bodies function and removes the waste products that we do not need. It carries food and oxygen to every part of the body. The heart pumps an average of 1.5 gallons of blood every minute, and in one day pumps enough blood to fill more than 50-gallon drums. An astounding organ.

If the heart ever ceases to pump blood, the body begins to shut down and after a very short period of time will die.

I often speak of the heart with such disregard.

This makes my heart break.

I love you with all my heart.

My heart hurts for you.

You make my heart glad.

Or as my Dad has always said to me... "Becky, you make my heart soar like a hawk."

Oh, I wish I really had such power now.

To make his heart soar. To make his heart do anything....well.

But I have no power. No power to heal. Only God.

He is the heart healer. He does the impossible. - Matthew 19:26

So I pray.

I love this man. Bill Rhodes. My sweet daddy. We are very close.

My heart - broken. And scared.

Suddenly and very uncomfortably aware of his mortality.

And overwhelmed by my affection for him.

Five days and four nights in the hospital. The doctors trying to conclude what actually happened to him Friday night on I-81.

He did not have a heart attack. Hallelujah.

But he does have blockage.

But let me tell you a story about the human body. It is an amazing thing.

The pinnacle of God's creation (Gen. 1:26-27).

My dad's body, took a lemon and made lemonade. My dad's body, took a blocked artery and sprouted new vessels. Desperate to get blood and oxygen to the heart, it made, for itself, a secondary route. A new pathway to get what it needs. They are called Collateral Vessels.

Now, I am no doctor. I know that this sometimes can happen. But these "new veins" are nothing short of a miracle. A miracle. Dad's body didn't make these vessels, God did.

He does the impossible.

God took my dad's broken heart and is making it soar again. Like a Hawk.

On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.
Psalm 145:5-6

This morning, I meditate on the splendor of His wondrous works. I speak (and blog) on the might of His awesome deeds. I declare His greatness today.

He is a miraculous God.

The Maker of Heaven and Earth.

The Lover of my heart.

And my Dad's.

He is fighting for you.

Two things happened last night that have led me to this post.

1. One of my besties, Jody, called me and told me her dad has had a heart attack. What? Oh, Jody. He is fairly stable....Thank the Lord. But here's Jody's dilemma. She is in Knoxville and Dad is in Canada and that is a very helpless feeling for her. So, love her, she is trying to figure out how to arrange her life so that she can be go be with Dad and Mom, while also trying to figure out how to arrange life here so she can feel good about leaving her husband and children for a few days. While doing ALL of this, she is sorting through the emotions caused by her Dad's condition.

2. Fast forward a couple of hours to my boys bedtime. The Bible story fell on "The Lord is my Banner". I'm going to confess that reading my boy's children Bibles has really increased my knowledge of the Old Testament. I say that, swallowing my pride, because it is a little embarrassing. I should know it already, right? Wrong. I didn't grow up in church every Sunday, so therefore I missed out on a lot of foundational, key Bible stories. Even if I had grown up in church, who's to say that I'd remember them, anyway. So...The Lord Is My Banner.

Here's the very brief recap. The Israelites, God's chosen people, are walking through the desert, just having left slavery in Egypt and they are looking for the Promised Land. Along the way, the Amalekite army ambush them and start to attack. Moses says, "Hey, Joshua! Go grab some armed, Israelite men and fight back. I'm going up on this hill to pray for you all!" -My paraphrase :) So Moses goes up to pray. He lifts his arms, staff in hand, up to God. And prays. And prays and prays. As long as He has his staff is lifted, the Israelites win. When he gets tired and lowers his arms, the Israelites lose. When two of Moses's men, Aaron and Hur, see Moses getting tired, they rush to his aid. They each "held his hand up - one on one side, one on the other - so that his hands remained steady till sunset. Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword." Exodus 17:12, 13. Teamwork. Awesome.

Back to Jody. I think, in life, we are always one of three places. #1 The afflicted or sick. The one who needs prayer. #2 The few that are closest to the sick/afflicted (the inner circle: family, spouse, children) or #3 The friends of the inner circle.

This morning I am #3. A friend of the inner circle. I have at one time or another been the other two, as well. I've been the one sick/afflicted and I've been the inner circle of the very sick. Those are two scary places to be. And I will be honest.... you'd think prayer would just come very easily and naturally to those two groups - not always so. I think it is very hard to pray when you are under great hardship or illness. Too many emotion to sort through. Too afraid to pray. Too mad to pray. Too tired to pray. Too busy to pray. Too confused to pray.


The Lord is our Banner. Yahweh Nissi. What exactly does that mean? Well, think of a banner. Usually a banner is raised in support of something. At a sporting event, banners cover the stadium or arena. If a company or group is going to support a team or a cause, they have to believe in the team. Example..."Pepsi is a proud sponser of ______."

God believed in his people.

"Yahweh Nissi is descriptive of God’s covering, His protection, His ownership, His power, His intervention, and finally yet importantly, it speaks of the pride and confidence He has in his children. " - T. Ortiz

So this morning, I think of Jody, standing over her sweet dad. Holding up her hands in prayer to God on his behalf. And I imagine her arms growing tired. Her mind growing weary with great concern. Her heart heavy. Her body tired. So, Jody. I today want you to know that I am grabbing your arm for you. Standing in faith with you. Teamwork. I support you and love you and even though I don't know your dad, by golly, I love him, too.

Jody -The Lord is your Banner. He is your dad's banner. He believes in you. Supports you. He is intervening for you. He is fighting for your dad. He loves you and your dad and takes great pride in you both.

So where are you today? Are you the sick? Are you the inner circle? Are you to be Aaron and Hur to the inner circle? Wherever you are - The Lord supports you. He fights for you. He is proud to be your sponsor.

The Lord is your Banner. Yahweh Nissi.
Praise His Holy Name.

Be blessed.