The best kind of friend is a praying friend.

祷告同伴乃为良友。

The  is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

耶和华靠近伤心的人，拯救灵性痛悔的人。-诗篇34篇18节

The morning after our son, Allen, was born, the doctor sat down in a chair near the foot of my bed and said, “Something’s wrong.” Our son, so perfect on the outside, had a life-threatening birth defect and needed to be flown to a hospital 700 miles away for immediate surgery.

儿子艾伦出生后的隔天早上，医生在我床边对我说：“孩子有问题！”艾伦外表看来很好，但因先天缺陷而有生命危险，需要送到1,100公里外的医院进行紧急手术。

When the doctor tells you something is wrong with your child, your life changes. Fear of what lies ahead can crush your spirit and you stumble along, desperate for a God who will strengthen you so you can support your child.

当医生说你的孩子有问题时，你的生活就再也不同以往。对未来的害怕令你焦心忧虑，踌躇不前。这时，你渴求上帝能赐给你力量，让你能陪着孩子继续走下去。

Would a loving God allow this? you wonder. Does He care about my child? Is He there? These and other thoughts shook my faith that morning.

你心里疑惑：慈爱的上帝会允许这样的事发生吗？祂在乎我的孩子吗？祂真的与我同在吗？那天早上，这些想法摇动着我的信心。

Then my husband, Hiram, arrived and heard the news. After the doctor left, Hiram said, “Jolene, let’s pray.” I nodded and he took my hand. “Thank You, Father, for giving Allen to us. He’s Yours, God, not ours. You loved him before we knew him, and he belongs to You. Be with him when we can’t. Amen.”

稍晚，丈夫希蓝来到医院，得知孩子的情况。医生离开后，希蓝说：“乔琳，我们来祷告吧！”我点点头，他就牵着我的手祷告说：“天父，谢谢祢将艾伦赐给我们。他是祢的，不是我们的。在我们认识艾伦之前，祢就已经先爱他，他属于祢。当我们无法跟艾伦在一起时，求祢与他同在。阿们。”

Hiram has always been a man of few words. He struggles to speak his thoughts and often doesn’t try, knowing that I have enough words to fill any silence. But on a day when my heart was broken, my spirit crushed, and my faith gone, God gave Hiram strength to speak the words I couldn’t say. And clinging to my husband’s hand, in deep silence and through many tears, I sensed that God was very near.

希蓝总是沉默寡言。他很少说出他的想法，因为他知道我是个活泼健谈的人。但当我心碎了，失去信心时，上帝却让希蓝有能力说出我无法倾诉的心声。我紧握着丈夫的手，默默地流着泪，但在这当中，我却感受到上帝就在身边。

How has God used people to strengthen you when your spirit was crushed? Share your story at Facebook.com/ourdailybread.

当你心灵破碎时，上帝如何透过一些人使你得着力量？

Psalm 34:11-18New International Version (NIV)