A God-moment

I know you expect to find humor - or at least an attempt at humor - here on this blog page. After all, that's my stated purpose for this blog and I seldom vary from that, but something I saw Sunday morning has been running through my mind all week, and I need to share it with you. Indulge me.

I saw a God-moment Sunday morning. To be sure, there are many God-moments every Sunday morning, but so often we fail to open our eyes to them, or we ignore them, preferring "me-moments." This time God made sure we didn't miss it. But I need to give you some background.

This was Floodgate Sunday at church. It's based on Malachi 3:10 where God says to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and He would open the floodgates of blessing. We fund a number of our programs solely from Floodgate, and this year our goal was to collect $500,000 to fund these ministries. It's a big deal, and there have been a number of activities and messages and e-mails and videos building up to it. We've been piling up stones on our podium for an altar; each stone with names written on it, indicating that we want to signify that we believe our God is faithful.

Then, on Floodgate Sunday we bring our offering. Frankly there's a lot of hoopla involved; videos, live-action on the big screens, building up the stone altar, children noisily emptying their coin banks, the congregation bringing their offering, the shepherds greeting each one and asking God's blessing on the gift. There's a lot going on during the Floodgate offering!

In the midst of all this, Stephen and Joy brought their gift and added their names to the stones of the altar. Stephen and Joy have a newborn daughter, but at this point in time there was no hope left that the infant would overcome her many health issues; her remaining life was now being measured in hours, not days. They have known since early in the pregnancy that the chances of little Maggie's survival were between slim and none, but they placed themselves and the birth of their daughter in God's hands and have steadfastly refused to waver from this stance. Stephen and Joy have for the most part focused their grief inward, but they have shared openly in our class, and their friends have stood with them in an astounding display of love and support.

When they added their names to one of the stones, one of the Shepherd's wives stepped over and embraced them, then the Shepherd, then another couple, and soon all the elders and their wives were holding them close. Some of their friends were quick to join the group, then a lot of their friends and then other members stepped up to surrounded them, just holding them close. Loving them. Crying over them and crying for Maggie.

And in the middle of all the hoopla and activity, there came a still, quiet moment when God said "Stop. I want you to be my arms and hold Stephen and Joy, and I want you to shed my tears over them and for Maggie. This is the gift I want at this moment."

"Mighty" Maggie, as she was called by the NICU staff, lost her struggle Wednesday afternoon.

Oh, and I checked the stone altar Wednesday night. Her name is written there.