Proof of God's love

It's one thing to know in your head that God loves you, but something quite different to feel that love. Today my mom called and told me that she was headed to the hospital with my aunt, whose blood pressure had spiked dramatically. My aunt is a quadriplegic and has been in a wheelchair for about 35 years, and is quite the inspiration to us all. Nevertheless, any health issue is cause for concern and my mom's call left me reflective of the time we've spent with my aunt but uncertain of the future. These times of uncertainty tend to leave me spiritually vulnerable and I immediately felt under attack by the evil in this world, telling me that I might never see my beloved aunt again and trying to overwhelm me with fear. I left work praying for my aunt's health and that God would see us through this. In the span of about 10 minutes, I felt like I received multiple "signs" from God that everything was going to be OK and to just trust Him.

• I rarely listen to the Christian radio station anymore but I switched it on in the car and the first song I heard was "Blessed Be Your Name" by Tree63. The song was an instant reminder that we are to praise God in every situation, good or bad.
• I saw a spare tire cover on the back of an SUV that said "Don't worry, be happy!" I couldn't help but smile and think that I couldn't argue with that simple directive.
• The afternoon was absolutely gorgeous (70-degree weather) and a driver near me had his sunroof open and his hand out of the sunroof, coasting through the air. I know it sounds odd, but I felt like God was telling me that even though there were situations outside my control, God was holding me steady and taking me in a certain direction - like the driver was holding his hand against the flow of the wind.
• As if "Blessed Be Your Name" wasn't enough, I switched the radio station again and heard the familiar lyrics of an old Jimmy Eat World song: It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride, everything (everything) will be all right, everything (everything) will be all right (all right!)

I was encouraged by these little incidents and even more heartened by the news that the doctors stabilized my aunt and she is home now. Hopefully they'll get to the bottom of why her blood pressure was so high, but for now we are just grateful that she is OK and with family.