This week our youngest daughter, Fiona, got sick and eventually she started having trouble getting enough air into her lungs. She was working very hard to breathe, and our doctor sent us to the ER. The doctors and nurses at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital cared for her very well, and last night she was able to come home and get a full night’s sleep. She’s still wheezy, but she’s on the mend. That’s the story, but not really. The rest of the story isn’t dramatic or anything. Fiona didn’t turn blue, ride in an ambulance, or anything like that.
This isn’t a story about Fiona. It is about all the people who prayed for us, offered to help us in various ways, and served us so lovingly. We’re so thankful for you. About halfway through the week I started feeling guilty for all the help we were getting. I know of other people who went through exactly the same situation this week, and I doubt they had so much loving help. If you know me, I’m proud and as I said in a recent sermon, I find it difficult to accept service from others. So this week has been good for me, but this isn’t a story about me, either.
This week has been good for the church. In Galatians 6:6 we are given a pleasant command. “The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.” The type of intimate relationship assumed in that command can be hindered in various ways. In a world of virtual relationships, consumer mentality, and video-cast sermons, there is little expectation or opportunity for anyone to actually share good things with the one who teaches him the word. After all, if you can’t even thank the preacher at the end of the service, what can you share with him? Or if you have a pastor that is too proud to receive, much less ask for anything, what can you do? So I’m thankful to God for making opportunity for many of you both in and out of our church to share good things with me and my family this week. And to those of you who did so, thank you.