Give us Hope: God's hand in Life

A little note: I once posted a reqeust for a prayer for my grandma quite a few months back. I can't find the forum now, but would just like to tell everyone Thanks for being there and if you said a prayer for my granmum, thanks a million.

Sincerely,
Karen.

The obligatory beginning

         Many poeple say that God doesn't exist. They say that everything can be explained away by science and logic. Yet these very same people would rather believe in the supernatural rather than admit the possibility that the Divine Creator exists.
         Me, I'm a half-half. I believe that God exists, but I also believe that there is a logical explanation to everything. Underlying all these explanations though, is the pure, simple and unaccounted for question of "Why?"
         Why does something work in one and not in others? Why are seeing children born to blind parents, and hearing children to the deaf? Why do our lungs work? Why do we LIVE? It's not enough to simply say, "It just does," because it's just not enough! (Sorry, couldn't resist that )
         We all know human beings were created with a sense of curiousity. We're curious. That's why a 'it-just-is" answer is not enough. Because it isn't. Some, well most of us actually, venture into the realm of how, what, where, when, etc. but few dare to ask "why?" We're afraid of knowing. If there was someone rightly more powerful and all-knowing than you are, wouldn't you be scared too?
         There are times though, without exception, in everyone's lives that you just can't deny His presence. No matter how old, young, or cynical, it comes. There is anecdoctal evidence of that.
         Three men had cancer, a businessman, a teacher and a third who loved God very much, which I can't remember his occupation. All three prayed to God. The businessman's cancer was immediately cured, while the teacher was cured after two weeks of praying. After two years, the third was still not cured. Asked the teacher to God, "Why was it that you cured my cancer after two weeks, the businessman's immediately and still not that man who loves you so much?" he asked. God replied, "The businessman had no faith in me, so I cured him immediately to prove My Presence to him. Your faith was thin, and after two weeks you were about to give up, so I cured you then. That man who loves Me has faith in Me, and thus I will let him suffer a little more before curing him to cement my Relationship with him." Suffering and faith is an integral part of God.
         I should know. There's been too much evidence of that in my own family. God has provided for us in mysterious ways, giving us a measure of what makes us happy and keeping the family together, even if we still have a lot of misunderstandings among each other.

The Testimonies (as witnessed by me)

         The most recent case is my grandmother. She has been the source of strength and the glue that keeps the family together. I once joked that my grandmother's house is the HQ of the family. Certainly none of us have migrated overseas, not because we didn't want to, but because we could not bear the thought of leaving her behind.
         Two Tuesdays' ago (8th March, 2003), my grandma called up my aunt, her second daughter, in the very early morning to tell her to come to her house as she did not feel well. I was sleeping in the front room and could not hear her, while my grandfather who sleeps between us was as out like a light.
         When I woke up to answer the door I had no inkling that something was wrong, but I DID wonder why the kitchen light (my grandma sleeps next to the kitchen) was switched on. I opened the door and got a shock when my aunt told me my grandmum had called her. We found her slumped on the floor in her room, which, considering the distance from her room and the phone, told us of the massive effort it had taken her to call her. The following two hours were the scariest of my life. Though I went to college like normal, I had a huge sense of guilt, as I thought I was in some way responsible for her condition. I could not hear her calling out.
         She had had a stroke. She recovered quite quickly from it, and later told us that she felt that someone was pulling her to make the phone call. She could not remember much of it, and has no recall whatsoever of how she got back to her room. She was discharged on Wednesday evening, and the following Saturday, was admitted for stomach cramps and such. This time she was warded for over a week. I consider that to be the second miracle, as my brother was in the house (I had gone out to the library as I had several research assignments due the following week). It happened during the day. Somehow these emergencies rarely, if ever, crop up during the night/early morning. They were always during the day when someone else was around and available to call for help. Or in this extreme case, SOMEONE made sure my granmum could call for help. That person was practically DRAGGING her to the phone!

         Still think that it's coincidence? My grandmother is now on the mend. Although she was discharged less than a week ago, she is now able to go to the toilet unassisted and in fact, is starting to move about and to stand and sit up for longer hours. If that's not a miracle, then I don't know what it.
         There has also been an unexpected side-effect to my grandmother falling ill. My godfather is a man who believes in Science. You know the type; science is everything, or logic when it fails. This incident has brought him back to the Church. He is a believer again.

June 1st, 2003

         It has been quite some time since I last attempted to edit this article. So many things have happened over the last few weeks that I myself don't know what to do. Those who have been keeping in touch will me will know that I have been swamped by work, which, thankfully has lessened. About the only thing left to do is to finish up my powerpoint and to hand it u.
         He works in Mysterious ways. I noticed that not only is my granmum healing much faster, but that the faith of people will be put to the test. My family is a rather weird one in some ways. You see, we have everyone of various degree of faith.
         My grandmother holds very tightly to her faith, as does my first aunt and my godmother, but what makes them different is the way they believe it. There are certain things that they believe is sinful and 'bad' while me and my granmum don't. Despite her looks, my granmum is one of the few women who are happy to see her children be happy at what they do. They don't have to be rich or successful, just happy.
         That in itself is another thing to be thankful for. Many of us are happy and we are doing the things either we love or something that will help those we love fulfil our dreams.

         Something else that makes me laugh is the way God gives us what we want when we least expect it. There was once when my aunt and her family were on their way to breakfast from church, and suddenly, a RM50 note flew out of nowhere. She caught it and well, breakfast was served.