The Blanket

Serendipitous encounter. That’s the phrase that best describes my meeting with Dana Boyd. We were two women, stuck in airport with excess time, coffee and words.

Dana captured my heart with her thoughtful, sincere ways. Bottom line——–something clicked. We live states away but we stayed in touch and I guess, as they say,”the rest is history.” Dana has contributed on DoAhead Woman in the past but it is with gratitude and excitement that I announce her status as regular contributor.

She’s featured on the contributors page but for her official debut I thought I’d make her bio easy to reach. I know you will enjoy getting to know Dana as much as I will enjoy sharing her! Meet. Dana. Boyd!

Dana is a lifelong lover of words with a passion for sharing stories of the heart—both her own and others. Her writings draw from her experiences as a woman, a writer, a wife, a mother of three, and a Bible-believing Jesus follower. She is a defender of truth, an avid proponent of common sense and a recovering (often relapsing) perfectionist still learning to lean in to grace. Her writing is an honest outpouring of her introverted heart, driven by a longing to inspire others to feel deeply, think critically and act compassionately.

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“Aero Med is here.”

Fear drenched my entire being as my sister ended the call. I raced the helicopter to the hospital and won, only to wait a quarter-hour eternity for it to deliver my 20-year-old nephew.

Cracked skull, nicked artery, bleeding on both sides of his brain—his injury was critical. He would need emergency neurosurgery.

You’re never prepared for that call…emotionally or physically.

You just drop everything and go. And never do you feel more helpless. Or so desperate to help.

As I prepared to leave the hospital, late in the night, I tossed a deficient question at my sister: “What do you need?” I fully expected to have nothing to offer her. She fully expected the same. But, with a playful grin, she teased, “I wish I had my new blanket.”

The blanket.

It was a gift from me to her, about 10 days earlier. You know those fluffy throws that are so soft and warm they just melt around you in a buttery hug? Yeah. One of those blankets.

Of course, there was no reason I should have had any blanket with me that day…let alone that blanket. BUT…seriously, friends…can you believe there is a “but” right here in this story? Well here it is: earlier that same day, I had been running errands. And I stumbled across the. very. same. blanket. And I bought it. For me. That day.

Wanna guess where that blanket was at that very moment? In the trunk of my car…in the parking garage…at the hospital.

I don’t know what that does to you. But let me tell you, to this very day, the memory drops me to my knees. Because in the midst of the biggest things of life, the littlest things can mean the most.

That velvety blanket was like a gift straight from heaven. Like God bending down, pulling us close, and whispering,

I’m here, my daughters. I’ve got you.

That first very long night in the ICU, and for many to follow, my sister curled up under the warmth of a blanket wrapped in providence. What comfort. What grace!

I’m sure some are snickering. Others may think: “Who cares?” Perhaps you see it as an insignificant coincidence. A matter of sheer “luck.”

But oh, sweet friends…to me, in that moment, it was so much more. To me it was, and it remains, evidence of the divine, perfect, all-encompassing love of Abba Father. A God who cares so much about me…about my sister…that He was preparing, in advance, little comforts that would carry peace and strength into our hurt. Before our needs even existed—He knew. And He provided.

Can you even wrap your mind around that?

Every last detail of my life—of your life—it matters to Him.

Luke tells us: “even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” Luke 12:7

David sang about it:

“You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.”

Psalm 139: 2-5

Take that in for a moment. The number of hairs on your head. Each time you pause to rest your weary legs. Every thought before it leaves your tongue. He knows all of it. Every minutia.

He is wholly attentive.

Intimately involved.

That is the love of our Abba Father, Papa God.

A perfect, life-changing love.

What comfort that should bring us. Every day, in every circumstance.

He knows what we will face today, tomorrow, next year. He knows all the good, the hard, the amazing, the devastating that life in this fallen world will bring our way. And He loves us through every moment.

He meets every need.

And even beyond that, He blesses us—sometimes quietly—by sprinkling us with tangible demonstrations of His goodness and compassion.

The blanket was only one of several drops of grace rained on us by heaven that night four years ago. One of so many simple things that, in their perfect timing, were priceless gifts…explicit symbols of “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” (Eph. 3:18b-19a)

That’s the kind of love—the kind of relationship—our hearts long for. And it’s what we each have available to us, with an Almighty Father who will never leave us, never forsake us, never fail us.

So in the good times and in the bad, pause. Look around you. Pay attention to the little details. And you will start to notice His provision. You will start to see the real and powerful evidence of His hand. His mercy. His grace. His love. In your life…and everywhere.

Your DoAhead Friend Dana,