Today was originally the day Nelson was to exit the hospital after being admitted yesterday to stop his vomiting and coughing, and to help him breathe. He enjoyed his ambulance ride, knowing that better help was on the way.

Nelson’s cousin Luke, who has always shown up when it counts, came to Rochester today,    “…just to connect and be helpful any way I can.” When he texted that he was starting the 90 minute drive, he became more help that was on the way.

Luke and Ann Sophie appeared in Nelson’s room simultaneously while Luke’s two kids hung with Will and I in a hotel lobby across the street from the hospital. No children are allowed on cancer floors.

Cousin Luke was there only a few minutes before he texted me a list of what he thought we should strive to work on for Nelson today:

1. Left arm has swelling.
2. More consistent pain management.
3. Cough suppressant to manage bronchial irritation.
4. Draining of the lungs, or a shunt to steadily remove fluid.
5. Acute anxiety med if needed at night.

By the end of visiting hours, Luke had worked his magic, and all five of these things had been addressed. In addition, a palliative care doctor will visit in the morning at the hospital, rather than having Nelson discharged prematurely to meet him elsewhere. Ann Sophie and I were relieved, and Nelson was feeling better.

As we often say, God is a very present help in trouble. He proved that again today, through Luke’s timely visit and in another way.

Since I knew I’d be partnering with little Will much of the afternoon, I decided to leave my purse in the car but slipped a credit card into my coat pocket.

Later, when Ann Sophie and I sat down to talk about Nelson at a Caribou Coffee shop (inside a hotel lobby), I reached for my credit card, and it was gone. Will and I had done lots of walking during our hours together, and somewhere along the way, it must have jumped out of my pocket.

Before sipping her hot chocolate, Ann Sophie prayed, asking God to show us where the card was. I left the table to search the sidewalk, hotel lobby, hallways, and everyplace we’d walked that afternoon, coming up empty. The hotel desk clerk said no one had turned it in. It was just gone.

Back at the coffee shop we chatted about Nelson’s busy day for 15 minutes while an older man sitting 30 feet away watched us. Ann Sophie and I wondered if he was homeless. He had a duffel bag and seemed to be trying to sleep on the hotel lobby couch. We agreed that he looked angry. His cap said “Vietnam.”

Suddenly he stood up, and believe it or not, help was on the way. He walked straight to our table. “Is this yours?” he said, holding up my credit card.

I was stunned but reached for the card, telling him what a kind and honorable man he was. He said, “I saw you wheeling the little one around and around, and when I saw it on the floor, I knew it was yours.”

After he’d returned to the couch, I borrowed $20 from Ann Sophie (I had no purse) and went over to thank him again—becoming help that was on the way to him. When I handed him the money, he said, “Oh bless you! I really need that! You don’t know how much!”

God sees to it that help is always on the way. And sometimes he even tends to it personally.

“Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the upholder of my life.” (Psalm 54:4)