...across the room to attend.....

ATTEND: meaning....

verb: To go or be together with;

to supervise or take charge of;

listen, hear, harken, care for, tend, mind,

watch, cherish, cultivate, foster, minister, nurse, nurture, serve, defend, guard, protect, safeguard, shield, supervise,

accompany, bear, chaperon, join, link

Some time ago, as I was praying for a friend of mine who was going through some personal struggles I heard myself asking the Lord to “attend” to my friend in her difficulties. While I prayed a visual of my mother came to me and as I continued to pray I imagined that God was attending to my friend the way my mother used to attend to me.

I come from a family of six. As we were growing up most times if one of us caught a cold or flu we would all take turns being sick. At our house as soon as someone was sick my mother would open up the davenport in the Living Room, a room we were not allowed into during the week, and make up a bed. On a little table by the bed was a glass of 7-UP and beside the table a bucket! Most of our bedrooms were on the second floor so having the sick child in the living room on the main floor was much more convenient for my Mom to look after us. Throughout the day she would come into the Living Room to wipe my face with a cool cloth. If I had a fever she would pour a little Wonder Oil onto my forehead and let it trickle through my hair. Since Wonder Oil is largly alcohol the cooling sensation was heavenly! By the way, you could buy this concoction in the grocery stores back then! I think it is now probably only sold in pharmacies. If my tummy was really upset she would make a drink that consisted of 1/3 cup warm water with a little sugar and a small amount of wonder oil in it. I couldn’t wait for her to offer this drink to me because it felt so good going down! Sadly, many times it would come back up almost as fast as it went down! Hence the bucket! Sometimes she would come in to sponge bathe me, change my P.J.’s, comb my hair, and fluff the pillow. She always made me as comfortable as possible and she did it with such tender loving care. My sisters and I have often commented on how when we get a bad cold or flu we still wish we could have our mother around to attend to us, with the Wonder Oil in hand!

I can’t begin to tell you how this visual affected my prayer for my friend! I just KNEW God was right there with her in her trouble, comforting her in her pain, soothing her weary soul, infusing her with strength in her struggle, and pouring on the oil of joy for her inner pain. That's when I knew that my friend was in the best hands possible.

God is SO GOOD!!