Midnight Phone Call

The phone rang just after midnight, jarring us awake.

Adrenaline shot through me as I immediately sat up.

Phone calls after midnight are never good news.

Doug handed me the phone as soon as he saw who was calling.

One of my very dearest friends was on the line to tell me that her son-in-law had stepped on a land mine in a faraway war zone and was even at that moment in surgery.

I felt as if all of the breath left my body and I struggled not only to breathe but to comprehend this awful turn of events.

She quietly asked me to pray and I promised I would before we disconnected so she could enlist the same help from others.

I lay back stunned, my mind running in a million different directions.

I have known this young man since he was a teenager when he and my friend’s daughter shared a  powerful first love. Even when they parted ways for a time, I just knew that they would find their way back to each other again.

A  lovely photo from their wedding day sits on my mantle…a happy testimony to my intuition.

I turned over, heart pounding, tears spilling, as I poured out my heartfelt prayers in the dark.

I thought of his wife, a young lady I have known and loved since she was eleven years old. I could not imagine being so far away from my husband as he hovered between life and death, feeling helpless and terrified.

The night passed by slowly and at 7:00, my friend called to tell me that one of her son-in-law’s feet had to be amputated, but he would survive.

Today, he will be awarded the Purple Heart.

This young man is a true American hero and warrior.

This marked his third tour in a war zone. I am so grateful to him and the other brave men and women who serve in our military.

I am also grateful for an all-powerful God who I can turn to in prayer, especially when things look so scary. From a darkened bedroom in the Northeast in the middle of the night, I can enter into His throne room in prayer and intercede for a young man and his surgeons halfway around the world.

Today, my heart will pour out thanks for answered prayer…for a young man who will be safely returning to his beautiful wife and three wonderful children.

I will  pray for those still serving this great country of ours…and for those family members who did not get good news about their loved ones from the war zone and who live with that pain daily.

Most of all, I will lift my voice in praise to our great and gracious God who promises that a glorious Day is coming when all wars and pain and strife and tears will end once and for all. (Revelation 21:1-5)

And I will treasure the gift of  life in all of its beauty.

God bless our troops.