Accept Healing…Don't just look at it.

For the last few days, I have noticed a slight cold coming on, something I have been trying to fight since I realized it was happening. The welcoming of summer intersected with an unwelcome illness. Nonetheless, life goes on and work must take place. Every morning I walk Franci to school, a short time but always beautiful. Not to mention her school overlooks the Colosseum, a detail I often point out to show how God has blessed the family. As routine, yesterday we walked to school. We talked. We memorized a bible verse (which is nothing short of amazing!). And we said hello to our friend who sits at the bottom of the stairs that lead to her school. As I dropped her off, I walked back into what I thought was going to be my normal walk back home. I put my headphones in and began to walk when my thoughts were interrupted by the kindness and generosity of our friend. He speaks broken Italian. I hardly speak Italian. So, our communication is a result of our mad skills in hand gestures. He didn’t say much, but he reached out his hand, I thought to shake mine good-bye, but in it he had a candy. I thanked him repeatedly as I know he doesn’t have much to call his own. Of course, in that moment…and as a child of the 21st century, I thought “I have to instagram this! God is so faithful to teach me how to be generous with little.” He is teaching me that in more ways than I can count. Stripping me of all the ways I would “give” to others, and showing me the blessing of new ways to be generous when I don’t have a dollar to my name. I promised myself, I would save this piece of candy as a remembrance of God showing me His love and grace in this time. As true as it is, that God provides even when we have nothing to give, I missed the biggest point He was trying to teach me, until this morning.

Again, our friend met us with a “Ciao” and a candy for both Franci and I. I was so grateful and thanked him again. But as I began to walk back home, I had a moment of realization. This candy that I promised I would save and look at to remember God’s faithfulness, wasn’t a candy. It was wrapped like a candy, but inside held something I didn’t expect. Healing. This cute little piece of candy with writing that didn’t made any sense, was actually a cough drop. Instead of giving me something I can look at to remember Him, God was offering me something I could use in the healing He wanted to offer. It was like God was saying, 
“Yes, that would be cute if you kept it in a box and let it rot forever. But I want to give you something that will actually bring you healing, not just a visual of what healing looks like.”

Sometimes God offers healing in unexpected places, but in order to be healed we must accept the process in which God will allow healing to begin. For me, it was not just accepting the cough drop, but allowing myself to begin the healing process with it. No, it wasn’t a magical cough drop and I am not completely healed physically yet, but I realized as much as God offers healing we must allow ourselves to step into it with Him. God is faithful in offering, we must be faithful in receiving, even when it doesn’t make sense, or comes from a place we don’t expect.

Healing isn’t just a pretty piece of candy that can be saved and looked at to hope that God will one day heal you. That cough drop wouldn’t do my healing any good if I just looked at it. God doesn’t give us the promise of healing so we can see how cool it would be if He healed us. He says “here, eat this and allow healing to begin.” Where does God want to heal you? What ways is He offering to? Accept it. Begin the healing. So all in all…Eat the cough drop, people!