An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth's crustMost of the time, microquakes are so slight they can't be felt. Other times, they're strong enough to get our attention. They also occur frequently throughout the day (see the USGS's Latest Earthquakes map.)
Microquakes of a sort often occur in life. Various factors intersect and clash, disrupting our lives for a moment or longer. Damage may be noticeable or nonexistent, and the disruption may be momentary or long term.
Two such microquakes recently occurred in our lives. It began with a call from my daughter, who was on her way to the doctor in regards to a pain in her side. A lot of activity ensued, and twenty-four hours later, she was waking up after a three-hour surgery in which the surgeon removed a cyst, her appendix, and a portion of her colon because it looked, to his practiced eye, cancerous.
As the shock of the ground trembling beneath ones feet during a quake can cause a person to momentarily freeze in place, so to we froze in place as we absorbed the shock of that news. As we gathered our wits and waited for the biopsy results, we began making plans to travel out of state to help our daughter and her family.
We had two immediate concerns to face. First, my husband had taken that weekend off, which would have worked to our advantage in this situation, but we were going with friends, and they had booked a cabin in the mountains for the four of us and it was too late to cancel. Second, our precious West Highland Terrier, Grace, who we had rescued nearly nine years before and who, at the age of 16 years and almost 10 months, was facing her last days. I was against kenneling her and wanted to cancel the trip to the mountains, paying our portion of the cabin so our friends could still enjoy their weekend off, but when the situation with our daughter arose, we had little choice. My husband felt Grace couldn't make the long journey, but was stable enough to make it through the week in the care of those who knew her past abuse and health situation, and who had watched her for nearly a decade. Being the worry wart that I am, I wasn't sure.
I hate being right. Despite heroic efforts on the part of the kennel owners, who kept in constant contact with us, our precious Gracie passed away the day after we arrived at my daughter's. It was as if Grace had waited until we weren't around before finally giving up, or giving in to that which we'd fought so hard to avoid. Even while my heart rejoiced that the biopsy results came back negative--our daughter was cancer free--it grieved for a pup we loved, and because we weren't there for her at the end.
I wanted to be angry at something, but I knew I couldn't. Gracie was very old. She died on the day she turned 16 years, 10 months. She wanted to go before that, but we fought it, forcing her to eat honey and Karo-brand syrup to raise her dangerously low sugar level. I want to be mad at my husband, who felt the long, near cross country trip would have been too difficult for our girl to endure, but the reasonable part of me knew he was right. I'm upset, but I recognize both situations are microquakes, normal upsets that occur in this fallen world. Had my daughter's diagnosis been different, her microquake would have turned into a life-shattering clash of tectonic plates that could have wrecked a lot of damage in her and in the lives of those who love her.
I want to be mad, but I find my heart focusing on those things for which I'm grateful. We weren't with Grace at the end, but had we been, we would have forced her to continue to live when it was clearly time for her to go. Instead, she was with people at the kennel and then at the vet who genuinely cared about her and who had a great deal compassion for her. My daughter doesn't have cancer. The surgeon was so surprised, he sent the results to another doctor for a second opinion, which backed up the initial results. However, whatever it was, it was found and removed before it could worsen. Even with her pain, she feels more energetic than she has in some time. I also got to spend some unexpected time with my grandsons when I didn't expect to see them until autumn.
The apostle Paul reminds us all things work together for those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. We're also reminded the Lord never leaves or forsake us. None of this came as a surprise to our mighty God. Vision is clear in hindsight, and I can see now how we had to be separated from Grace so she could finally go and how smoothly everything fell into place so we could rest before a long trip that would exhaust us.
Both situations shook me up, but though my heart is sore, I'm grateful for my daughter's diagnosis and for the years we were able to spoil Gracie.
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| Gracie |