GOD’S PROVISION IN TIMES OF GREAT SORROW

Our third child and first son, Joshua William, came six weeks early and was our only child to be born in the hospital. He was transferred to the Children's Hospital a few hours later. After receiving the best care, the Children's Hospital could offer, he passed away in the wee hours of the morning he would have turned ten days old.

Our Lord's provision for us began before any of the bills came in. I have been blessed to be a homemaker and my little girls were used to being with me 24/7. But suddenly I had to be at the hospital with my newborn.

Who will take care of my girls? My parents were able to take our girls (then 3 1/2 and 2) the day Joshua was born, and friends helped take turns. My brother's wife, Regina, was my "hero" during that time. She came with her baby at a moment's notice whenever we were ready to go to the hospital. She was God's answer to my heart's constant prayer for my two precious little girls waiting at home for us.

The Lord had already led us to live without insurance and we trusted Him to provide for Joshua's expenses. As the bills came in, we contacted each billing agency, asking if we could wait a few weeks until most or all the bills had come in. We could then see what payment arrangements could be made for each of them. The expenses were staggering, and we were surprised to receive so many individual bills! We understood having an ambulance bill for me and a bill for transporting Joshua between hospitals, but the hospital where he was born had about five or six bills. (Pathology? I had a baby, not surgery!)

We had some savings to work with. Our church designated an account specifically for us and money came in from family and friends. Prayer went out through the ministry we were part of, and someone we still have not met sent money to help with our need.

A well-meaning person recommended a certain funeral home to us thinking that services provided for infants was free. This was not the case. It was another large expense, expected to be paid within one month. But God pays for what He orders. The first bill we received was for the ambulance and it was the last one to respond to our settlement appeal. That bill was completely forgiven. To God be the glory, ALL of Joshua's medical expenses were settled in just six months!

My parents gave us money to purchase a headstone. The day we were ready to make our selection, the person at the monument company showed us a sale notice in the paper. In addition to an engraved picture of Jesus with three lambs, the name and date, and wording of our choice, we were able to have the other side of the headstone engraved at no extra charge!

The "front" of Joshua's headstone reads, "He obeyed the Voice of his Creator." We had told Joshua what basic position he should be for birth and about when we expected his birth. But we would always add, ". . . unless the Creator tells you something different." Although Joshua had been head-down at our last prenatal checkup, he did a somersault and came out bottom first. (I had pictured him that way a few days before his birth.)

This was good because he had hydrocephalus (commonly called "water on the brain), and his head had already begun to swell. His position, combined with being six weeks early, made for a relatively easy and uncomplicated delivery.

He also obeyed His Creator when it was time to leave us. After visiting with us the last night at the hospital, my brother told his wife it was as if he could hear Joshua saying, "I love you. I'd like to stay with you, but Jesus is calling me. I have to go. I love you."

The "back" of his headstone has beautiful script writing\ with his name at the top and then "For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me" (Genesis. 22:12b).

A friend donated the cemetery plot. The Lord even provided a couple to "babysit" the site for us and we often find floral arrangements when we visit the cemetery.

The Lord provided a special blessing to help overcome our grieving. About one year and one month after Joshua's birth, Anna Faith was born. The Lord blessed me with the easiest labor and delivery so far--instead of pain with each contraction, I had only a mild soreness. The intensity increased as labor progressed, but the recognizable pain was not there! This was part of our Lord's provision at the Cross where Jesus took upon Himself not only our sin, but all the curse associated with our sin. I was very blessed and very grateful for that experience!

In 2007 the Lord blessed us with a new house, a new job, and another son. David has always been one of my favorite names and I always knew I would either marry a David or have a son named David. Isn't God good to us? You would think we would have named our first son David, but our loving Lord knew so much better!

I told Jeff the week we were engaged that I would like to have a son named Joshua so that was our first choice for a boy. It sometimes brings tears to my eyes to think how much God cared about my desire to have a son named David. He made sure we did not give that name to the son we were not permitted to keep. So today I still have a David! David's middle name is Seth because, like Eve, I felt that, "For God . . . hath appointed me another seed instead of [Joshua]" (Genesis. 4:25).

In 2010, Daniel Joseph was born at home. However, when the midwife came for his 24-hour checkup, she told us we should take him to the emergency room at the Children's Hospital immediately. He was admitted to the hospital around midnight. When the doctor came in and began talking to us about Daniel's physical issues (which were entirely different from Joshua's), the tears came.

I told her we had had a baby die at this hospital and we needed to take this baby home alive. I reminded her every day and she worked with us until Wednesday afternoon, when she told us, "If you want to take him home alive, you need to take him home tonight."

Friends from church passed the word that we would host a "Welcome Home Party" after Wednesday night activities. About 70 people rejoiced with us in Daniel's life.

The hospice nurse (which God provided at the last minute through a service we had heard advertised on Christian radio) encouraged us to take turns holding Daniel and telling him what we would have liked to do with him as he grew up. What a treasured time with our precious son! We were able to have him home for about 12 hours and this Christian hospice service was free!

Daniel lived for 5 1/2 days but his expenses were still huge. The dynamics had changed for us as well. Jeff lost his job just three months before Daniel's birth. Yet we had already been experiencing God's provision. The day after the lay-off, I was at Aldi and found several meat packages with "$2 off" stickers. A neighbor brought us day-old bread, thinking we could use it for our chickens. We made sure they could see us taking some to the chickens, but we ate most of it ourselves. Another neighbor down the road emptied the chest freezer when their son moved out and discovered that he had left several meat packages behind. He didn't want them, so she offered them to us. Wow! Several packages of specialty cuts wrapped in butcher paper! We ate well when Jeff was out of work!

Another thing that happened the day after the lay-off was that we discovered our lateral lines needed replaced. The Lord provided professional help at a discount and a friend who came to help with that project also gave us money he had been saving for a desired purchase, but felt he should give to us.

Shortly after Daniel's decease, my brother stopped by with an envelope from an anonymous donor(s) containing a large sum of money. Our church again designated an account for us as well.

A friend went with us to negotiate our bills. Jeff believed the Lord revealed to him the total amount to be paid. The man at the office for the Hospital did not think our low settlement offer would be accepted, but God answered our prayers with a yes. "The heart of the king is in the hand of the LORD” (Proverbs 21:1).

He called the next day and said we could come right over and pay. He was surprised, but we were not. When negotiating with the Physicians' bill, they were very willing to accept our offer once they understood Jeff had been unemployed.

We were surprised the next week to receive a third bill, this time from pathology. Our doctor had tried to help diagnose Daniel's situation so they could better pursue treatment and so they could tell us about how long to expect him to live. We called the man at the hospital to enquire about this unexpected extra bill. He was surprised as well, but said we should not expect any more. We called the pathology office about it, and when they learned that Daniel was already deceased, they said they would forgive the bill as soon as they received a copy of his death certificate. So the total medical cost was exactly the amount our Lord revealed to Jeff. To God be the glory, ALL of Daniel's medical expenses were settled in just two weeks! Even when Jeff was out of work!

Again, about one year and one month after Daniel's birth, our son Jeffrey Isaac was born. Jeffrey was born the day after Jeff's 45th birthday, so his first name was the obvious choice. The name Isaac came from Genesis 21:6: "And Sarah [that's my name!] said, 'God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.'"

I hope this account (there is so much more) will be a blessing to you and even if your circumstances and finances appear impossible to face, Jehovah Jireh, the God Who sees ahead, is ready to meet your need and bring glory to Himself.

Remember, God always pays for what He orders.

SARAH BEDFORD
Guthrie, Oklahoma, USA
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Picture: Jeff and Sarah’s family: Mary (18), Charity (16) {Joshua, 10 days and with Jesus}, Anna (13), David (10) {Daniel, 5 1/2 days and with Jesus}, Jeffrey (6 1/2), and Elijah (3 ½).