God knows how to get our attention!

A Weekend Read   March 3-4 2012

“Getting” my Attention!

Adena Paget

Although I was raised in a Christian home with parents who loved the Lord, there was a time in my life when I turned my back on everything I had been taught. When I was a teenager, Biblical teaching seemed irrelevant to me and I decided Christian living was “no fun”. I started dating non-Christian boys and when I turned sixteen, I discovered I was pregnant. I am so thankful that even though I was not walking with the Lord, He was still with me and even though I had committed a sin, God made something good out of my mistake. We were married six weeks later and were blessed with a beautiful baby boy about seven months later. We were just children barely sixteen and eighteen and had very little knowledge about adulthood, never mind, parenting. I am so thankful that my young husband has always been a responsible man and stuck by me despite my youth and ignorance. The difference in our beliefs didn’t seem to be an issue for several years and we were pretty content in our situation. 

The next four years were very busy, we were “blessed” with another three babies before I was twenty years old, three boys and finally a little baby girl. I didn’t have time to think about my spiritual demise because I mostly spent my time washing diapers, making formula and trying to keep our basement suite decent!  My husband had a steady job with the City and always brought home his entire pay-cheque.  Although, times were tough, God blessed us with providing our needs from day to day.

When our first-born son reached his fifth birthday, he developed medical problems, which became serious.  So serious that the doctor informed us not to expect him to survive past the age of twelve. We were devastated and I realized I needed God in my life to help me deal with this insurmountable obstacle.  I started taking my little ones to church on Sunday mornings but if you can imagine sitting in a church service with four youngsters trying to keep them quiet and listening, you have some inkling of what I was experiencing.  Soon this became such an onerous chore that I gave it up. I decided my life was just fine the way it was and I really didn’t have time for a relationship with Christ.

Our son’s condition worsened and the Doctor’s couldn’t come up with an effective treatment to bring it under control. My husband was busy with work and climbing the corporate ladder. The other children demanded attention as well and I was becoming frustrated. Several years later, I received a phone call from our pediatrician informing me of a new drug on the market that was being used for Blake's disease. We were not sure of the side effects but made the decision to allow the doctor’s to experiment. After several months, we began to see improvements in our son and after a year, we realized the new drug was a successful treatment.  I slowly came to the realization of how very much God must love me to spare my son and make it possible for him to live in a healthy body.  It was several years later that I recommitted my life to Christ but the experience of watching  a transformation like this, from very little hope to complete recovery, was an eye-opening experience to help me see what a loving God we serve.

I am so thankful that God knew exactly how to get my attention and helped me realize who he really is and how great and how wide and how deep His love for me (and you) really is!

Prayer for today: Oh Lord, I am so thankful that you always know exactly what we need.  Thank you for all the wonderful miracles and blessings in my life. Help me to trust you, even when it seems things are going badly for I know you are with me.  Thank you for all the praying friends and relatives that have carried me in times of trouble. Most of all, Lord, thank you for your mercy and grace each day of my life.  In Jesus name, amen.