By Grace Booth, Picayune, Mississippi
I was feeling pretty low. It was the week before I was scheduled for gallbladder surgery, and I couldn't escape my worried, gloomy thoughts. The surgeon was highly recommended but was new to me - and he didn't have the best bedside manner. My sister, an experienced operating-room director, who usually put my mind at ease about my medical care, had moved away recently.
This would be my first time facing an operation without her right there by my side.
I was on my own. What if something goes wrong? I tossed and turned all that night.
The next day I decided I had to get my mind off of everything. A good book, that'll do the trick, I thought. I headed to the bookcase in my guest bedroom to get something to read. Next to the bookcase was a stack of novels I had picked up from a library sale over a year ago and had not gotten around to putting away. Right on top I spied a best-selling mystery novel.
This will keep me distracted, I thought. Mysteries are my guilty pleasure.
I sat down in the bedroom, opened the book and began to read. I couldn't believe it - the book's prologue began with a woman awaiting surgery! She was also feeling worried, struggling with knowing if she had chosen the right hospital, the right doctor.
"This is a team effort," the doctor assures her. "We mustn't forget someone very important," he continues, "the most important member of our team. Do you know who that is?"
I read on, breathless.
The doctor pats the woman's .hand gently and points upward. "God," he tells her.
That doctor's words stopped me cold. The connection couldn't have been stronger or the circumstances more real to me.
My life wasn't only in the doctor's hands, it was in God's as well. Just the words that I needed to hear. Immediately I felt more confident and hopeful about the upcoming surgery.
And the most amazing thing? The character's name. It was the same as mine - Grace.
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