Lets
jump forward to Easter 2001! Of course to do that will involve a bit of backtracking
to explain how we ended up living in Mannum... which we have as of late January 2001. But
we might be able to avoid some of the harsher realities this way. We can gloss over the
hard bits and go straight for the highlights!
Do you remember
hearing about Mannum before in this story? It was last Easter! We went to a
family gathering there and it was my first ever visit. God had been speaking about babies
and we drove up through a tunnel and a baby was placed in my arms when we arrived.
Does that jog your memory enough?
Once I was healed
we had to start thinking what we would do next. Grant had been caring for me full
time, and would gradually be able to get his strength back now, as I would. Perhaps we
should move to the country now that we were able to consider moving. No sooner had we
thought about it than an opportunity presented itself, in Mannum of all places!
Before we knew it we were on our way... (I told you I would gloss over the hard bits -
packing is always a nightmare isn't it!? Actually, don't tell Grant but I loved
it... getting organised was a little but of heaven after years of loosely controlled
chaos! He hated every minute of it!)
Remember the song
whose words God said would be significant the day we drove through the tunnel? Well they
became even more significant when we moved to Mannum. "Be bold and be strong, banish
fear and doubt" may as well have been my theme song those months of prayer before the
big breakthrough. The words, "for the promise of your God is to bless your coming in
and bless your going out", had seemed amusing because we were going through a tunnel, but
one day I decided to find out where it came from in the Bible. It was in Deuteronomy and
the other words I found there were "to bless you in the city and bless you in the
country"! It really was significant because we were certainly looking for God's
assurance that the move to the country would be a good thing for us.
We didn't have to
beg for that, I might add. There were many assurances given that not only would it be a
good thing for us, but it was part of a bigger plan that we knew nothing about and God
Himself had engineered the whole thing. I won't go into that now, though. We're talking
about Easter 2001, aren't we!
It was during the
weeks leading up to Easter that I had the vague sensation that God was giving me an
impression of something. Things had been very quiet in that way lately - something over
which I have no control. God is completely sovereign and chooses when and how He will
speak.
I had been
disappointed at how long my recovery was taking - after an initial speedy return to a
certain degree of strength I had plateaued out and still spent a good deal of time in
prayer for God's intervention in my circumstances. He had been characteristically quiet.
So when I thought I heard Him whispering I was all ears! Was He saying that this Easter
was significant too? Wasn't it just symbolic and a pointer to the death of Christ
on the cross, and His resurrection by which our freedom had been bought for us?
Nothing more was
said, so I waited, half expectantly, half in resignation that I was dreaming.
Easter came..
Easter went.. and suddenly I was a whole lot better! The circulation problems which
had bothered me since my healing dramatically improved and I was different somehow. I had
still been having a sleep each day just to avoid the late afternoon slump - I no longer
needed it.
'Tis mystery all!
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