He Dwells — The B'log in My Eye

God has been so gracious this week; my mind has been a flood with things spiritual, a cornucopia of blog-abilities. This morning however, as I sat in Bible study with Pastor Humberto Alfaro, I did not have a specific topic in mind.

I wonder what blessed-thing the Lord will afford me today.

Five Minutes Later…

My phone rang—yes, right in the middle of Humberto’s teaching. Fortunately my ring-tone is set to, ‘When the Saints Come Marching in,’ so apparently no one noticed. I tapped the side of the phone to silence the ringer. Seconds later, it rang again and I re-silenced. I got up and walked outside to see if I recognized the number and it rang again.

“Hmm, ” I thought, “this might not be good.”

“Hi Dave, this is Shana at ‘Rip Tide’.”

Shana is on staff for the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and she runs the Christian camp over at the Ocean Grove youth temple with her husband Joey. ‘Rip Tide’ is the name given to the group she oversees, the group my daughter is a part of.

“Grace is fine, but she had a little accident. She knocked her tooth out.”

The youth temple is less than 100 feet from where I was, in fact, when I looked over at the building, I could see Shana talking to me on her cell phone.

“I’ll be right there, ” I said.

God’s Hand

Almost immediately I saw God’s hand in the situation as it unfolded before me. Gracie, my daughter, was unruffled by the event. There she stood with a bloody, tissue-wrapped ice cube to her mouth…Quite the little trooper.

Jordan, another staffer, had located the tooth and instinctively placed it in a container of milk. He was in the process of scooting over to his dad’s office (his dad the local dentist), to see if Gracie could be immediately seen. He was back in a flash with a, “We can take her right over”

Taking nothing for granted, I prayed as we walked the two blocks to Doc Whilden’s office. As we walked we were met by Carol Whilden, Doc Whilden’s wife and Jordan’s mom—she had been at Bible study with me when I had gotten the call.

“We prayed for Grace, ” she said.

Doc Whilden took us right in and within moments he was manipulating Grace’s tooth back into the hole in her mouth; no time for Novocain. Grace sat obediently in the chair, not a tear, not a whimper. When the good doctor was finished, he said to me, “Let’s pray together for Grace’s tooth, ” and we did.

Later That Same Day

Joey, Shana’s husband, gave me a call at home and it was such a joy to tell him what a great job the staff had done and how God’s hand was evident throughout all the activities. God’s calming Spirit had fallen on everyone: Grace, me, the OG staff, and yes, even my wife when I called her to tell her about the adventure. Sometimes, I am just so grateful to be a part of God’s family.

El Salvador Flashback

I could not help but recall the testimony of Pastor Humberto from a few days earlier, of when he had visited a desolate church in his native El Salvador. The saints were lining up for prayer to be healed of headaches and stomach-aches because they had no medicines whatsoever. All they had was Jesus Christ.

Why Are We So Blessed?

I do not know for sure. But one thing I do know. Because we are blessed, we are called to be a blessing to others. God is clear about this in His word to us, the Bible. Whether it is spiritual poverty or physical poverty, we are to take the gift and grace we freely received and share it with others when He calls us to do so.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

2012 Update:

When I took Gracie to our dentist for a follow up, he said that he doubted the repaired tooth would hold, but if it did she would likely need a root canal. Long story short, four years later the tooth held and there was no need for any additional procedures to save it, unless of course you count prayer as a procedure.