The Lord Knows the Way

A week ago, we received a late night phone call from our son, who had been working on building frames at his dad's woodworking shop.  His interest in framing stems back to his fraternal grandfather who, for a time, used the business name, "Frames By James".  Since our son's middle name is after this grandfather, he decided earlier this year to start his own business called, "Frames By Ryan James".

Back to the phone call, my husband was the one to take the call, only to have our son tell him we needed to bring him to the hospital.  His left middle finger had been injured while using the router table, and we weren't sure how bad the injury was.  Picking him up, his first words were, "It's just dangling there!" but my husband calmly reassured him it would be okay.  [When our son was little, my husband had his own run-in with a different type of tool, and now is missing the tip of one finger.]

As it turned out, the injury was not as bad as he had initially perceived, as the cut had only barely nicked the bone.  Still, because it was a router, it was not a clean cut.  They did an X-ray, and consulted a hand specialist in a city 2 hours from us.  The local doctor was instructed to stitch it up as best he could, and then make an appointment to see him in the new week.

Monday, after having some difficulty with the phone lines, we finally received an appointment for Tuesday.  I was unable to go with, but father and son did the two hour drive, only to have a very disappointing visit with the specialist.  For more reasons than one, we opted to try for a second opinion in our Capitol city of Bismarck.  

Lots of prayers were going up to heaven on behalf of our son, and we had been given several possible names to pursue for the next appointment.  As I was saying my prayers, a song popped into my head I hadn't thought of in years.  It was a little Sunday School song, and the lyrics are as follows:

             The Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow. The Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow. Strength for today, is mine all the way, and all that I need for tomorrow. The Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow.

Something about the song was reassuring to my heart, and our son set off for the clinic to see what he could do about scheduling the next appointment.  To our amazement, he was able to get in to see a doctor our niece had recommended the next day.  In the evening, as I washed some dishes, my eyes landed on a "to do" list I had posted during the challenging days of COVID in 2020.  Hanging next to it were the dried roses from my mother-in-law's funeral.  It was like another encouraging message from above.

Early Thursday morning, the three of us got ready for the four hour drive.  As I dressed for the day, the socks I grabbed out of the drawer gave me the message, “I am Optimistic”.  Was it a good sign?  I could only hope it was!  

The appointment was scheduled for 11:40am, and the first step was some paperwork at the reception desk, followed by a repeat X-ray.  After a bit of a wait, we were escorted to an exam room, where a nurse took down a few more details, and told us the doctor would be in shortly.

From the start, I liked this doctor.  He was friendly, thorough in explaining what was wrong with the finger, and also in letting us know what the options were.  Basically, we could let it heal as it was, and end up with a drooping finger, or we could have him do a surgery to repair.  Oh, and by the way, he felt he could work us into the afternoon schedule that day!  Not exactly what we had planned for the day, but it would save us another trip to Bismarck.  It was indeed a blessing and answer to prayer!

Our son was a bit nervous, to say the least.  In his nearly 40 years of life, I can only think of a couple times he has ever been in a doctor's office, let alone had surgery.  He has simply been blessed with a healthy life.  So the next two hours were a long waiting game for him, and for us, too.  But once again God provided up with a couple of "signs" that eased our mind.

The first was a bouquet of big yellow roses on the nurses station just outside the little room he was waiting in.  Yellow roses always remind me of my dad, who passed away in 1987, and seeing this bouquet was like a hug from him!  

Then, on the floor in front of the nurses station was a unique design in the floor's tiling.  To me it looked like a large picture frame built into the design of the floor.  It seemed the Lord did know the way for us to go, and gave us lots of signs to assure us we were in the right place.

Surgery itself lasted only about 40 minutes, and the doctor was pleased to find one tendon intact, and the other he was able to piece together.  He inserted a pin to hold the finger straight during the healing process, wrapped his hand, and in another hour or so we were on our way home!  God is good!

Our son still has to face the long road of recovery, but was assured he should have full use of his hand in about ten weeks.  We continue to pray for a problem free recovery, with complete healing of the skin, and no infections.  One thing, however, we are certain of.  Whatever awaits us down the road, the Lord has already planned the way, and will guide us through to an outcome He has designed to bring good out of a not so pleasant situation.  One of my "life verses" is Romans 8:28, and it was one I used to bring comfort to my soul, and hopefully my son's, too.  May it also help you through whatever you are currently facing in your own life!

                               For we know that all things work together for good  to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.