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| photo by Rachel Lyn Wilcoxin |
Saint Patrick’s
Day before Dawn
"Fear not, for I
am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will
help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
—Isaiah 41:10
My husband and I
woke long before dawn the next morning from a night of fitful dozing.
Saint Patrick’s
Day had been a time to consider our Irish heritage, but Joshua’s soldier heart
had left the battle of life on Earth.
I leaned against
the headboard and sobbed. Within minutes of waking, the phone rang at my
bedside table. Candy Arlington, the coauthor of the suicide survivor book
Aftershock, was on the other line. When she identified herself as a friend of a
friend, I said, “Please, pray for us right now.”
She began to pray
the Lord’s Prayer loud enough for both of us to hear. And I will never, ever,
forget how comforting that moment was. God’s tender mercy came in the form of a
person, Candy, to meet with us in our loneliest hour.
I knew right
then, God heard us and saw our need.
After the prayer,
Candy spoke reassuring words and ended the call by saying she would mail her
book to me. Later, I would find hope within its pages. As I read Aftershock, it
became clear to me that countless mothers had been losing children since the
beginning of time.
Eve lost her son
Abel, and I had lost my son Joshua.
Father, You sent
Candy to us. A divine appointment. You use Your saints to show how much You
care and to prove You will never leave or forsake us. In Jesus’s name, I’m
grateful. Amen.
A Mother’s
Memories
Within two weeks
of bringing him home from the hospital, Joshua caught his first cold.
More colds and
ear infections followed throughout his first winter. The side effects of the
antibiotics tore at his stomach.
When Joshua was
four months old, we moved out of the house for two days and a night and had the
house sprayed for fleas, thinking that these insects had caused the red welts
on his body. The next morning he had a fever and was covered with even more
dime-sized welts.
My husband picked
up Joshua’s bottle of liquid antibiotics. “What’s in this?” When he read the
label and saw that it was cherry flavored, he said we had to take Joshua to the
hospital.
The doctor
ordered a blood test. The results showed Joshua had an infection in his blood
system, most likely caused by the cherry flavoring. The doctor prescribed a
mint-flavored antibiotic, warning us to allow no other flavoring in Joshua’s
medication.
I sighed in
relief and took my baby home.
Father, thank You
for hearing my prayer to help Joshua. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
Reader Journal
~Your Mother Memories~
~Your Prayer of
Praise~
~A Scripture of
Encouragement~
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