Last Sunday morning I had one of the most puzzling experiences I’ve ever had. I’m still ruminating on it, trying to figure out what happened.

I woke up not feeling great, but assumed that after a pit stop, I’d feel better. I made the pit stop but didn’t have success or feel better. Nevertheless, it was the day of the shower for Lexi, the Mama of our first grandbaby, which I didn’t want to miss. My plan was to go to Sunday school with Donn, then be picked up by our daughter, Jennifer, to go to the shower in Conneaut Lake, about a half hour away.

Ignoring the vague pains in my lower left abdomen, I did all that I needed to do to get ready for Sunday school and the baby shower—all of which I did standing up. I eventually told Donn that I didn’t feel very well. He suggested I at least skip Sunday school, which I decided to do. I texted Jen to ask her to pick me up at home instead of at church.

On the way to the family room, I received a text from Missy, (Lexi’s mother) asking if I would say the prayer before the brunch. I responded, admitting that I wasn’t feeling great, but saying if I felt well enough to come, I’d be honored to do the prayer.

Then I went in and sat on the couch to have my quiet time. I realized immediately that sitting down made the pain in my abdomen a lot worse. I squirmed around, trying to get comfortable, but finally stood up, admitting to Donn that I couldn’t go to the shower. It hurt too much to sit.

He followed me into the dining room, asking where it hurt. I told him, “My lower left abdomen, and my left side hurts when I press on it.”

“Kidney stone?” he asked.

We had both had kidney stones in the past and knew this pain was similar, so I responded, “Maybe, although the pain isn’t as bad as from my kidney stones.”

“Not yet,” he said. “Do we need to go to the ER?”

Sighing, I nodded. “Probably. I’ll tell Missy and ask Jen to pick up my gift for the shower.” Missy’s immediate response was that she’d be praying for me.

By the time we got to the ER (less than a mile from our house), I was miserable but happy to see that there was only one person ahead of me in the waiting room—a rare occasion. After I was checked in, I decided that walking around in the waiting room was a better option than sitting, so I walked.

To my surprise, the more I walked, the better I felt. Eventually, I told Donn, “If I had felt this good at home, I’d have gone to the shower!” But I was afraid to leave, thinking the pain might return at any minute. By the time my name was called, I felt almost embarrassed because I was no longer in pain.

A male nurse who looked vaguely familiar escorted Donn and me to a room, calling me Miss Daisy, which for some reason, I really like being called! He asked for a urine sample and began to take my vitals which were all good.

Just to make conversation, I asked him if he had very far to come to work. “No, I walk to work,” he responded.

“Really? We live close enough to walk to the hospital too. Where do you live?”

We discovered he lived just a few blocks from our house, then he added, “Before that, I lived in Sandy Lake for a long time.”

“So did we!” Donn and I said together. “Where did you live?” I asked.

To our amazement, he had lived on the same street we lived on, a few houses from us! “What’s your last name?” I was sure I should know him.

I recognized his last name immediately and knew who he was. He said, “I thought you folks looked familiar!”

Even though we hadn’t actually known him, it was like running into an old friend.

When our nurse finished, the doctor came in to find out what my problem was. I explained the best I could. “It’s so strange,” I said. “I thought it might be a kidney stone, but the pain has gone away. I’m thinking I should have gone to my baby shower!”

“Well, since you’re here, let’s do a cat scan to see what’s going on.”

It didn’t take long and because they weren’t busy, we had the results in an unbelievably short period of time. The doctor told me, “You have a couple small kidney stones but I don’t think that’s what was causing your pain. Maybe you already passed one at home.”

“So you think I can go to my baby shower?” I hadn’t given up!

“Let’s wait and see what your lab work shows and then we’ll know.”

I waited, but so impatiently that a nurse came to check because my oxygen levels had dropped because I was tapping my finger! The nurse said, “Your oxygen levels are fine—you just need to stop tapping your finger.” She smiled as I apologized!

As usually happens, my results came in on my UPMC app before the doctor returned! There were a couple of abnormals and a few other things that didn’t look good to me.

When the doctor returned to say my labs were fine, I was surprised and told him I’d seen some abnormals and other things I didn’t like. He assured me it wasn’t too bad, but he was going to give me an antibiotic for a UTI.

“I have a lot of sensitivities to antibiotics,” I said, “but if you can find something that isn’t on my list, I’ll take it.”

As I watched the clock waiting for him to return, I told Donn, “This means we’ll have to go to the drug store and wait for them to fill the prescription.”

When the doctor returned, he said, “I’m going to give you a one dose antibiotic that isn’t on your list. It’s a powder.“

“Will I have to mix it with juice or water?”

“We’re going to mix it for you here. You’ll be able to take it and go to your baby shower!”

I was amazed, but that’s exactly what they did. Within a few minutes, I was dressed and ready to go except paying my bill. It looked like we’d be, if not on time to the shower, at least not very late! I was delighted.

As we walked out the door a few minutes later, I told Donn, “This is the strangest experience I’ve ever had! I’ve never been in so much pain and had it go away so quickly!

Donn took me to the shower where our girls (Jen, Leslie and Sarah) had saved me a seat. I could hardly believe I was actually sitting there, playing games, saying the prayer before the brunch, eating the delicious food and enjoying the beautiful decorations. I even won a great prize-filled basket because I had brought a package of wipes and my name was drawn from all the names of people who had brought wipes.

I’m still pondering what could have happened that enabled me to “get well” and attend the lovely shower. Perhaps the doctor was right, maybe I had passed a kidney stone before I left the house, or maybe my symptoms were from a UTI but I “got better” before I took any medicine, or perhaps God answered Missy’s prayer in very short order. But whatever the reason, I knew that once again I’d been a recipient of Psalm 37:4, and that once more God had given me the desire of my heartI  

Thank you, Father, for your kindness in granting us the desires of our hearts, sometimes in ways that we can’t even comprehend. I am so very grateful. Amen

Zack and Lexi