Rubber Duckies and Hotel Prayer Altars.

"Because I love my duck, and that is why I can't be bothered, love my duck, so let the army run amuck." VeggieTales, "King George and the Ducky"

Yesterday, the pastor referred to a man in the Bible named Mephibosheth and I immediately had to VeggieTales song from King George and the Ducky running through my head.

The triplets were five years old when Mason was faced with his first big surgery. We had traveled to St. Louis for the operation and watched VeggieTales the entire way there. Everyone was exhausted from travel and so the night before the surgery, all five of us were in one hotel room where Wade and the kids were sleeping soundly. I was wide awake. Wide awake.

Summer of surgery.

As stealthily as possible I crept to the bathroom with a pillow, and my Bible. I was desperate for a word assuring me that Mason was going to be ok....I was desperate for assurance.

For the days leading up to the surgery my precious friends in Minnesota had surrounded me with love, hugs and prayers. But repeatedly I had heard from wise leaders that I had to "let go of Mason and trust God with his life" like Abraham did when he was willing to lay Isaac on the altar.

I couldn't. I really couldn't. I could not bear to tell God that it was ok if Mason did not survive surgery.

And so the guilt of the whole thing was weighing on me heavily. I was afraid for my child. I was scared and exhausted and my Mama-heart was so worried.

And then I remembered King George and the ducky....I mean the tune was forever glued to my brain. I was never going to forget King George. This particular VeggieTale was based on King David. George loved taking baths with his rubber duck and one day he saw another duck and began to covet it. A lightbulb went off in my head -- David (the real King David not the VeggieTale version) had been described as a "Man after God's own heart," and yet, he sinned. He saw a beautiful woman and wanted her for his own wife even though she was married. He sinned.

Suddenly, I was desperate for all the facts. I needed to read the story and so I opened my Bible to read about David. But instead of opening to the story of David and Bathsheba, I opened to another story altogether. One I had never noted.

"The king [David] asked, 'Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?'

Zibo answered the king, 'There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.'

When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, 'Mephibosheth!'

'At your service,' he replied.

'Don't be afraid,' David said to him, 'for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul and you will always eat at my table.' " Samuel 9: 3, 6-7 (NIV)

Oh my goodness, this young man with special needs was being welcomed to the table of the King forever! God was showing me how much He cared for my sons -- how much He cared for Mason. I closed the Bible, took a deep breath, and praised God right there in the middle of the hotel bathroom before I took my pillow back to my bed and slept a peaceful sleep.

Mason and Mom, Summer 2015

Can I tell you today that God is faithful to meet us exactly where we are -- even if it requires a cute cartoon and a rubber ducky to get us there!