God's Hands

It was the day before surgery--Sunday, March 2, 2003. Everything was all set. . . at least we hoped it was. We went to church, as was our usual habit. Ken and I were in the "Ambassadors" Sunday School Class, which was comprised of mostly married couples, like us. People were making special efforts to find us and let us know they were going to be praying for us the next week. I nodded my head a lot, because if I tried to speak, I would break down in tears.

I tried real hard to pay attention to what Gary, our Sunday School teacher was saying, but my mind was such a jumble. I was SO SCARED. About half-way through the lesson, I heard the piano upstairs playing "God on the Mountain". The tears I had been fighting all morning escaped and poured down my cheeks. I had mentioned that song to either Keith or Joan the week before. Said that it had come to mean a lot to me in recent weeks. Well, they arranged with David, our Music Minister, to sing that for our family that day.

Before Keith started his sermon, he said that he wanted Ken, me and the boys to come to the front of the church for a few moments. He said he felt led by God to have special prayer for us as we prepared for the surgery the next day. He said if anyone else wanted to come to the front and pray with us, they could. I think the entire congregation, choir and all came to the altar. Everyone that was close enough put their hands on us and the ones who weren't close enough put their hands on the people in front of them. I don't remember the words spoken in that prayer, but I DO remember feeling the hands of God touching us and embracing us through the hands of those precious, precious people.

Here are the words to "God on the Mountain". It still comforts me to this very day.

God On The Mountain (words and music by Tracy G. Dartt)

Life is easy when you're up on the mountain
And you've got peace of mind like you've never known.
But then things change and you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith for you're never alone.

For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.

You talk of faith when you're up on the mountain.
Oh but the talk comes easy when life's at its best.
But it's down in the valley of trials and temptation
That's when faith is really put to the test.

For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.