The ultimate physician!

I have been a mechanical design engineer for twenty years. I have spent my career solving problems. Design devices that operate in 2000 degrees Fahrenheit? No problem. Design a way to dip an entire John Deere harvester into an electrically charged tank of green paint the size of a swimming pool? Piece of cake. Design valves that can open and close a hundred times per second? Done. I've honed my craft with a passion for all things mechanical. I try to think outside the box, bite off more than I can chew and just simply give it my best shot. But there are just some things I cannot fix.

I can't fix hearts. I can't heal emotional wounds. Heck, I have my own wounds to deal with. I am not a doctor. I did not spend the night at a Holiday Inn last night either. I slept in a chair in a hospital room. For two weeks now. Helpless to do anything for my wife Stacey but hold her hand, look her deep in the eyes and tell her I love her. All the while, she battles back from two surgeries and a particularly nasty infection. For a guy who fixes, invents and solves problems every day, this is really tough for me. I am helpless. I am humbled. I am not the ultimate physician. That job is left up to God.

When my daughter Allyson was three years old, she came down with a blood-born version of Meningitis called Meniningocoxemia. Left untreated, it is fast and it is fatal. The bacteria attacks the blood vessel walls and causes hemorrhaging. I hovered over her bed for a week while antibiotics were pumped into her little arms at a maximum rate in order to overtake this extremely fast growing bug. Boards strapped to her arms so she couldn't pull the IV's out. I felt so utterly helpless. I felt physical pain in my chest. When she was out of the woods, our pediatrician told us that if we had been six hours longer getting her to the hospital, she would not have recovered.

I have felt completely helpless for the past two weeks standing at Stacey's bedside unable to fix her. I pray. I pace the room. I look around the room and find products that I engineer systems to help to produce. Medical adhesives, packaging, disposable pads, etc. I see customer names all over the room. But I can do nothing but pray. Maybe that's exactly where God wants me. Maybe he wants me to know that he's the ultimate mechanic, engineer, physician, healer, problem-solver, comforter......the one true God. Maybe that although he gave me a talent....He has the trump card.

Stacey and I came into our relationship with baggage as all of us do. We all have issues. Particularly those of us having come from failed relationships in the past. We have felt an overwhelming outpouring of love from our church family at The Gathering here in Nashville. Never before have we, especially Stacey, felt the connection like we do now. We look at each other with a deeper love than ever before. I see God's hand at work not only in bringing Stacey back to physical health but also healing of the heart. The emotional walls we build to protect ourselves from being hurt again, prevent us from also feeling love in a way God intended. We compartmentalize. We shut out. We protect. We deny ourselves the wonder of God.

Don't let adversity be the vehicle that propels your relationship into healing. Look deep into her eyes, tell her you love her, do it repeatedly. Even if you don't feel it in return. Be transparent for her sake. Create an impeccable track record. Be patient. Trust will come. Transparency plus track record plus time equals trust.

If you are on the other end of the equation, look at the track record and transparency....then let God fix you. He wants to. You just have to let the ultimate physician make the house call.