Oh Yes, He Cares!

Do you ever wonder if God really cares about the little things in our lives?  I know what the Bible says:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  ³⁰ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31).

But does He really care?

I sometimes find myself doubting in my heart that He cares about the little things.  My head says He does; but in the midst of the mundane chores of a stay-at-home mom, I sometimes find myself wondering if He cares about even those little things.  And so I guess I needed to be reminded of how God can bless us even in the ordinary parts of our lives.

I was pretty busy on Friday.  It was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A, which means my family was prepared to be dressed as cows for the entire day in order to receive free chicken.  It’s a fun, annual event, and our community really gets into it.  I also had to stop by work for an assignment, and I needed to bake cookies and crab dip for the Christmas in July party my Sunday School class was having that night.  It had been a busy week, and I was pretty exhausted.

In between breakfast and lunch at our favorite restaurant, I decided I would quickly bake the cookies.  I have one of those new handheld mixers that Rachel Ray often uses on her show, and it has made my cooking life much easier!  But the blades are incredibly sharp, and the butter had gotten jammed in between the blades.  Now normally I am a pretty careful cook, and I know that I should unplug an appliance if trying to unjam anything.  But I was in a hurry and just wasn’t thinking.  I had turned it off; but as I reached over to grab a spoon, I accidentally hit the power button and started chopping my finger!

I won’t go into all the gory details, but it did take my husband over two hours to properly scour our kitchen!  And my husband hasn’t stopped all weekend caring for the kids and me and trying to keep me from literally “lifting a finger”!

So I bet you are wondering how I could possibly see God’s blessing in this circumstance, right?

Well, first of all, I was fortunate to pull my finger out of the blade before it was completely cut off or broken.  I have heard many kitchen accidents that have resulted in the loss of fingers or broken bones.  While I did need stitches, it could definitely have been a LOT worse!  In fact, the doctor told me he had just worked on a much more serious cut than mine.

Secondly, God protected me from losing consciousness.  I was home alone with my two young children, and I was definitely going through shock.  But God helped me to keep my head and remember what to do – wrap in paper towels, apply ice, sit down, and keep the wound elevated above the heart.  I was very close to passing out, but God sustained me to protect my children.  (By the way, my children were excellent caregivers in the midst of a crisis and were very gentle and loving towards me!)

Thirdly, I have the blessing of having a father who is always available and ready to take charge.  He had his own appointments that day, but he dropped everything to take me to the emergency room.  My husband was too far away at work, and my mom was working too far away as well (although, ironically, she works at a hospital!).  While my dad and husband were en route to me, my mom called to talk me through the worst part, making sure I was okay even though she has a very busy schedule at her job, too.

I also have the privilege of being about a half of a mile from the closest emergency room, making it very easy to get immediate care!

Another way God showed me He cared was by placing my sister-in-law in the right place at the right time.  She “just happened” (Providentially!) to have a doctor’s appointment in the same hospital complex and was finishing up with her appointment when we arrived (with the kids in tow) at the ER.  She was able to take over for my dad and get the kids home and down for naps.  Since I was in the ER for three-and-a-half hours, this was no small blessing!   She has two small children of her own, but she also was willing to put aside her own plans for the afternoon to step in and help.

When my husband arrived at the hospital, the billing department came to visit us to get a co-pay from us.  We just finished paying off hospital bills from the past couple of years, and we were pretty dismal about owing them money again.  Normally, we wouldn’t even have had the co-pay in our bank account, but we had just found out that we weren’t going to have to pay for a part on our van like we thought.  So the money was still in our bank account!  This was a definite blessing!

Even after the crisis, God was still showing me how He cares.  Jamie was a little worried about leaving me home alone with the kids yesterday with my finger bandaged and unable to get wet.  But my mother-in-law and father-in-law were more than happy to help by bringing supper for the kids and me last night, cleaning the kitchen, and bathing the kids and getting them down for bed.

Now you may think that a hurt finger is no big deal.  But even one little hurt finger can really make things (like typing!) very difficult.  Still, I am so thankful that it wasn’t worse.  I haven’t had a whole lot of pain.  It was my left hand instead of my right.  And it was just a few stitches.

It’s easy to say that we believe in God’s care and provision, but sometimes we forget that He cares about every. single. detail. of our lives!  He cares about our little fingers and broken dishwashers and clogged drains and. . .the list could go on and on!  When I look at my bandaged finger and remember the circumstances behind it, I am immediately forced to look to my heavenly Father and thank Him for caring even about the very hairs on my head!