Article November 17, 2003 ISSUE

PLEASE GOD

GOD'S MESSAGE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE GRAPHIC

By Joan Taylor

A couple of years ago, I was planning to visit friends for a long-anticipated weekend, but it was all I could do not to cancel. I'd had dizziness and nausea for several days and just didn't see how I could make the drive. Still, my daughter had just left for camp, and the back roads ahead of me looked like a welcome adventure, so I set off.

On the sun-dappled drive across dairy country in upstate New York, I began to crumple. The symptoms got worse, and I became really frightened. I'd been praying about this as I usually do when I'm not well, and right then and there, I prayed by seeking to understand more about God's care for me and for all His children. I wish I could say I stayed in that clear mental place, but other thoughts kept tumbling in: "What if I don't get better?" "Why this trouble now?" "Should I turn back?"