God's Hands

Almost two years ago, by chance, I came across this blog, Beneath The Surface: Breath of Faith. It resonated with me on so many levels aside from being a Christian blog--the blog author's name was also Dawn, she was from Rhode Island, right close to where we would be moving in MA (as I waited maybe not so patiently for almost nine months without my hubby who was already here...), and she has ocean sounds playing in the background...I would click on this page and just let that sound wash over me and my broken heart.

2012 was not a great year for me. As I just said, hubby was here in New England for nine months while I was back in PA with our kiddo waiting for the house to finally sell. I was having seizures almost daily and going through all these crazy medical tests to find out what was causing the seizures. An MRI  finally showed severe narrowing of my spine and a crushed vertebrae threatening permanent paralysis which had me rushed into cervical spinal fusion surgery mere days later to rebuild my neck. That was followed by a few months of painful physical therapy--still with no hubby, just a terrified little boy who worried his mama might die.

God saw us through that year with the blessing of my amazing friend, Missy, who went to every doctor appointment and medical test and emergency room visit--and, as fate would have it--later that year we would both move out of state in opposite directions, Missy to VA and we finally made it to MA!! Craziness...I know God was there the day Missy came into my life and I know He was there the day I came across Dawn's blog, as well.

Dawn and I continued to connect online. We followed each other on Twitter and Facebook and I tagged along as Dawn moved her blog to Enthusiastically, Dawn. We worked our way through Beth Moore's 70 day devotional, Whispers of Hope earlier this year, and then yesterday we were blessed with the opportunity to finally meet face to face as Dawn was hosting an (in)RL conference at her house! I was excited and nervous...I'm not brave about meeting new people--it frankly scares the bejeebers out of me, and I woke up feeling rather yucky and headachey, thinking maybe I should just stay home inside my safe little shell...But Dawn encouraged me, hubby pushed me, and out the door we went to Rhode Island!

It was a beautiful, if rainy, drive, over crazy steep bridges connecting all these cute little islands that make up the Rhodey state. I lost count of all the lighthouses and gawked at great ships, peeked at beautiful houses perched over amazing ocean views...Yeah, Rhode Island is an awesome, gorgeous chunk of US! Finally we made it to Narragansett and pulled into Dawn's driveway. Her doggie, Banjo, barked from the livingroom window, and Dawn came out to greet us. All my nerves washed instantly away and I was so glad I came! A couple more friends gathered with us for the conference, we giggled over coffee and chocolate as Banjo snored contentedly on the floor beside us.

The afternoon slipped by so fast and it was time to head back home. I hugged my new 'in person' friend good-bye, so thankful for this day to meet face to face. I'm already looking forward to spending time with her again, maybe here, maybe there--I know there'll be beach involved!! God is good, so very, very good!