When Beth and I knew that God wanted us in Nashville now and that meant moving up the wedding, quitting our jobs, packing up our residences, (breaking my lease), and getting a place in Nashville all with a little over three weeks, we thought 1) there is no way we’ll get it all done, 2) how will we get it all done, and 3) Ahhh!!!!

But, we did get it all done!  We were able to get everything accomplished that we needed to get accomplished, including planning a wedding, having a wedding, having a Honeymoon, packing trucks, moving to Nashville, and unpacking trucks!  Just when we think we’ve finished scurrying around and can relax and focus on why God sent us to Nashville NOW, Beth’s dad (Lee), is admitted to the hospital.  We drove to PA and began spending pretty much every waking hour at the hospital, monitoring Lee’s care, self-diagnosing since the doctors weren’t doing their job, and praying for strength and rest and healing for Lee.  The first week was the toughest.  Lee had sepsis (a blood infection) and two things were clear: 1) the antibiotics weren’t working, and 2) people usually don’t live a week with sepsis.  Beth and I were preparing ourselves for what we saw as an eventuality that Lee would die.

God’s timing ROCKS, because Beth would never have been able to go through this realization AND support her mom (Carolyn) by herself, without me by her side.  If we weren’t married, if we had obligations in DE or DC, if we only still saw each other on the weekends, neither of us would have been able to provide the support the other needed.

As we saw that Lee wasn’t getting better, as the situation grew more urgent, we began considering the possibility of transfering Lee to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, but neither of us knew how to proceed.  Well, Beth and I had just come back from picking up Chinese dinner Tuesday night, 7 days after Lee was admitted, and there was a knock on the door (remember: no jobs, no obligations = able to stay as long as necessary); Bob Ford (family friend from church) stopped by to see how Lee was doing and to see how we were holding up.  Beth relayed her concern that he wasn’t getting better and Mr. Ford said, “Move him.” and proceeded to tell his story how he was transfered to Jeff.  That was the urgency we needed to ask the PCP to transfer Lee and get him to Jefferson.

God’s timing ROCKS!  If I hadn’t been there, Beth would have been with her mom at the hospital, not with me getting dinner for the family.  If Beth had been with her mom, they both would have missed Mr. Ford and his urgent plea that we move Lee.  God’s timing ROCKS!!

If this was God’s only reason for moving up the wedding (other than church plant in Nashville, which I know to be true as well) it is an AMAZING reason!!  Praise God for His soverignty and reigning in ALL things!!