On an island

The past few weeks with Riley have been so hectic with her being in and out of the hospital that I have barely had time for sleep, let alone anything else. I have been feeling really disconnected and completely out of the loop (For instance I just found out the economy is not doing so hot. . . I guess I could at least turn on the Today show every now and then or something!) Everything with Riley is so consuming at times that it is hard to not feel like I am on an island. I have been praying about this lately and I keep running into the same story from Acts. I am not a big believer in just opening your bible to a random page and then expecting it to be relevant to what you are dealing with but this week as I prayed about the feeling of "being on an island" then opened my bible to see the title "Paul on the island of Malta" I had to laugh also the book I am reading "Wild Goose Chase" just talked about this same story as well. In Act chapter 26 and 27 Paul is a prisoner on a ship sailing from Adramyttium to Rome where he is to stand trial before Cesar. But as they are sailing somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea they get caught in hurricane force winds for 2 weeks and then finally shipwreck on the island of Malta. As if this wasn't bad enough, as Paul is gathering firewood and putting it on the fire to get warm and dry off "a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand." (Acts 28:3) Now I wonder at what point in all of this is Paul thinking "you have got to be kidding me God!". Do you think it was during the 14 days of the hurricane out at sea as he was throwing up over the side of the boat or maybe as he held onto a piece of driftwood while swimming to shore after the shipwreck. Surely as the poisonous snake dangled from his hand he had to be thinking that his circumstances have become somewhat ridiculous. But I love what comes next . . . as the people of the island sat around "waiting for him to swell up or drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god." (Act 28:6) The people of Malta then took Paul (the shipwreck, poison filled prisoner) to met Publius, the chief official of the island and Paul prayed for Pubius' sick father and he was healed. "When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured." (Acts 28:9) I am sure Paul felt like his life was drastically off course at this point but God had him right where He needed Paul to be. The bible goes on to tell about the rest of Paul's journey to Rome but I wonder about what happened to the Island of Malta after Paul left - I am sure that the people there were never the same after hearing about Paul's God and seeing all of those miracles. It just made me think about how a few months ago I spent my time with middle school kids working at the church and now I spend most of my time with middle aged doctors - definitely not a path I would have chosen for myself but I know that this "shipwreck" is part of God's plan and I won't be on this island forever. So in the mean time, my prayer is that everyone who meets little Riley on this island with us will be impacted by the miracles they see in her life. As always, thank you for caring about and supporting our family.

Much Love,
Becca