Showing Up

I watched a hospital tv show tonight where a father was in the hospital chapel begging God to “show up” for the mother of his baby – for this unborn baby was not expected to live.

Then there was a scene where another mother – who had just given birth – was coding during surgery and the surgeon leaned over and said to the unconscious new mother, “You are going to hold your baby – you are going to get through this – you are going to ‘show up’ for her!”  And at that moment, her heart beat started back.

Another scene then came on about a woman whose fiancé was killed and she was saying how she had lost her future – that they were just at the beginning and now all of it was lost.

It all immediately brought my mind back to the hospital room when Rob was dying –

the “not expected to live”

-the “you are going to get through this”

-the “future lost.”

It also reminded me of a newsletter article that Rob and I wrote together.  I always proofed and edited his articles as I typed them and sometimes he would also ask for my ideas on how to improve something he really wanted to say and we would work from his outline.  I honestly cannot remember the entire topic of the article or when exactly it was written (maybe Easter) or I would probably try to find it right now but I definitely remember the ending.  

We were referring to when God sent His Son to die on the cross for all of our sins –

when God, through Jesus, showed up for us.

We ended the article by saying, “Show up for God.  He showed up for you.”

This tv show made me think of that tonight.

About God showing up.

How,

when things have been great – He was there for me;

when things have been hard – He was there for me;

when things have been horrible – He was there for me.

when things have been easy – He was there for me.

I never made it to the hospital chapel to beg God to show up on the day Rob was dying.

I never left the ICU.

But the thing that God used the tv show to remind me of tonight was something that I knew that day, that night, the following morning as I stood in the room as my husband died, and every moment since then.

I didn’t have to beg God to show up.

He was already there.