A reflection from Nicol:
About 2 weeks ago the unthinkable happened to my eleven year old baby sister Violet. She fell in a cheer leading stunt at a middle school basketball game and was unconscious for about 20 seconds . She was rushed to Shand’s Trauma pediatric ER where she was diagnosed with a skull fracture, but no swelling or bleeding in the brain. Praise God! My mom and Violet were in the hospital for about 72 hours. I would have to say the scripture above summed up my experience of being there for my sister and family. Violet fell on a Wednesday night and it was not till Sunday that it truly hit me with what occurred to her. All of the what if's began to fill my head and I became very down, hopeless, and fearful. An analogy to describe what was happening inside: Deep inside I was a little girl trying to keep my head above the water and calling out to her Heavenly Father, but hearing no response. I didn’t even want to go to Mass that evening and I normally enjoy going to church. As I sat in Mass, I kept calling out to God to please provide His joy back into my life! After I received Him in Holy Communion there was a drastic change in my emotion. I didn’t feel 100% “myself”, but the sense of drowning was no longer there. That night God provided 2 friends to speak wisdom into my life. The 1st friend reminded me (though I had heard over 1,000x), but I needed to hear it again, that God never left me or my family. She said “Nicol you keep looking behind you and asking God ‘where are you?’ when all you have to do is look ahead and He is right in front of you. He is guiding you along the way.” Her statement was so simple, but yet it pierced my heart. She encouraged me to continue to express my emotions to our Heavenly Father and walk through them with Him knowing that He is leading me, not behind me.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
“ Praised be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation! He comforts us in all our afflictions and thus enables us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have received from Him. As we have shared much in the suffering of Christ, so through Christ do we share abundantly in his consolation.”
The 2nd friend He provided gave me the Corinthian’s verse above to cling to. From the moment he began to read this scripture verse to me, I started to feel the presence of our Lord. It was my friend who was talking, but God clearly using Him as His instrument. My friend reminded me, the Lord uses the times we feel helpless to increase our Trust and Hope in Him and Him alone. The Lord also uses these times to take us into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him. As we continued our conversation, the Joy of Christ began to fill me up and I had energy that I had not experienced all day. Before we got off the phone he reminded me to cling to the Cross and to the scripture verse he gave me. He reminded me that these experiences are not just for me, but God gives them to us for us to be able to have compassion and share with others.
The next morning sitting at the breakfast table, my mom and I began to talk about everything that happened. As she began to express her emotions, tears streamed down her face and I could see and hear the sadness that only a mother can express. As I began to share with her my experience from the previous day, the Lord showed me the message that my friend had given me was not just for me, but for my mom! As I began to tell her my experience and the message I was given, you could see peace overcome her and the anxiety she was expressing leave. Praise God!
I have learned from Violet’s accident that God truly does Glorify Himself in every situation. He does not plan for bad things to happen, but when they do He will glorify Himself and remain true to His promises. As long as we remain faithful and persevere in prayer, He will provide and bestow graces and blessings beyond what we can humanly fathom. I encourage you all that as you go through trials to remain faithful to our Heavenly Father. We may not understand why things happen the way they do, but there is a greater purpose to it. I pray that this 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 will bring you comfort in your life wherever you may be and bring you closer to Jesus. May the Joy of Christ fill your heart! ~Nicol
