I haven't been posting a lot because I "decided" that nobody really cared about what I had to say anyway, so why bother? Tonight, I had one of those "ah-ha"--hit me over the head--moments when I realized that it didn't really matter WHAT anyone else thought! What really mattered is that when I felt compelled to share my thoughts, it didn't matter one iota whether a single person read my posts or not! Sometimes you just gotta talk.......or write! So here goes...........
I realized tonight as I listened to some of my Bible Study friends that I had so much on my heart that I wanted to share, and it didn't really matter to me whether a single soul besides myself read it anyway! I want to continue to remind myself that God has been SO gracious to me.........to us! When I first returned to Bible Study in the fall of 2005 (after Jon's aneurysym), we did Beth Moore's study on John, the Beloved Disciple. In that first week, she addressed the meaning of the name, John, which is "God has been gracious." I remember how profoundly that affected me! GOD HAS BEEN GRACIOUS!!! Jonathon is alive, and he is thriving! How many aneurysm patients can claim that? Especially, how many BRAIN aneurysm patients--especially those with the degree of damage the statistics said Jonathon would have--can claim that? With the prognosis we were initially given for Jonathon, how can I possibly question God's infinite wisdom and plans for my son? I have to remind myself that this is THE God who gave His own Son to pay for my iniquities! One word............WOW!
Jonathon has returned to college; he is living independently on-campus. He is enrolled as a FULL-TIME student; what more could I ask for at this point in his life? Sure........it's a struggle at times, but isn't life a struggle? I have to constantly remind myself that God hasn't brought Jonathon to this point in his life to now abandon him.............He wants Jonathon to enjoy a future and to prosper! Does Jonathon's future look the same as his brother's and his sister's does? NOT REALLY.............but does Jonathon HAVE a future? ABSOLUTELY!!! And who am I to question what his future really holds? Jonathon indeed has a future, and THAT is what I need to continue to remind myself! God promised each of us hope AND a future!
Praise HIM!
"Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance!
I just want to praise him; I just want to praise him!"
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
We Live
I woke up this morning and couldn't get the lyrics to "We Live" by Superchick out of my head. I kept singing:
"There's a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost her son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be the last time she'd trade with him for a little more time
(so she could say she loved him one last time)"
I then continued to sing the chorus:
"We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love"
So the first part of the lyrics is pretty depressing, right? Anyway, WHY I couldn't get that song out of my head didn't connect until later today when Jeff and David delivered our old, but still usable, washer and dryer to a needy family in our area. Last weekend, in an effort to clean out our storage unit, we decided to swap our washer and dryer for ones we had in storage from when our daughter, Blair, moved away. We then asked a friend of ours who works in an area of the county that is made up largely of single-parent, low-income families if she knew of a family who might be in need of our old but still functional washer/dryer. To our delight, she said, "Yes, I do!" Hence, the delivery today......
What we had no idea prior to today was the background of the family to which they would be delivering the washer/dryer. David and Jeff met our friend in the parking lot of the school where she works and proceeded to the family's home. They dropped off the appliances and as they walked back to our truck, our friend told David that the mother to whom he had just delivered the washer/dryer lost her 20-year-old daughter between Thanksgiving and Christmas of last year to a brain aneurysm. I didn't accompany David and Jeff for the delivery, but let me tell you that when David told me what had happened, I nearly fell to my knees! How awesome is our God that He would so beautifully orchestrate our lives that we could help another family who was in need and who had experienced a similar tragedy, although without the same results?
Even more affirming of His power was the fact that when I got in my car today (after David told me what happened), the song that was playing on the radio was "We Live" by Superchick! What struck me most upon hearing it was the following line:
"And tragedy's a reminder to take off the blinders
and wake up (to live the life)
We're supposed to take up (moving forward)
With all our heads up
Cuz life is worth living"
Yes, tragedy IS a reminder to "take off the blinders"! I am eternally grateful to our Father who taught me through tragedy to view the world and to see His love differently. Would I change the course of events so that my son never experienced what he did? Of course! Would I want my own life to remain the way that it was prior to this journey? NO WAY! I truly see how God used "all things" to work for the good of those who have been called according to His purpose!
"There's a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost her son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be the last time she'd trade with him for a little more time
(so she could say she loved him one last time)"
I then continued to sing the chorus:
"We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love"
So the first part of the lyrics is pretty depressing, right? Anyway, WHY I couldn't get that song out of my head didn't connect until later today when Jeff and David delivered our old, but still usable, washer and dryer to a needy family in our area. Last weekend, in an effort to clean out our storage unit, we decided to swap our washer and dryer for ones we had in storage from when our daughter, Blair, moved away. We then asked a friend of ours who works in an area of the county that is made up largely of single-parent, low-income families if she knew of a family who might be in need of our old but still functional washer/dryer. To our delight, she said, "Yes, I do!" Hence, the delivery today......
What we had no idea prior to today was the background of the family to which they would be delivering the washer/dryer. David and Jeff met our friend in the parking lot of the school where she works and proceeded to the family's home. They dropped off the appliances and as they walked back to our truck, our friend told David that the mother to whom he had just delivered the washer/dryer lost her 20-year-old daughter between Thanksgiving and Christmas of last year to a brain aneurysm. I didn't accompany David and Jeff for the delivery, but let me tell you that when David told me what had happened, I nearly fell to my knees! How awesome is our God that He would so beautifully orchestrate our lives that we could help another family who was in need and who had experienced a similar tragedy, although without the same results?
Even more affirming of His power was the fact that when I got in my car today (after David told me what happened), the song that was playing on the radio was "We Live" by Superchick! What struck me most upon hearing it was the following line:
"And tragedy's a reminder to take off the blinders
and wake up (to live the life)
We're supposed to take up (moving forward)
With all our heads up
Cuz life is worth living"
Yes, tragedy IS a reminder to "take off the blinders"! I am eternally grateful to our Father who taught me through tragedy to view the world and to see His love differently. Would I change the course of events so that my son never experienced what he did? Of course! Would I want my own life to remain the way that it was prior to this journey? NO WAY! I truly see how God used "all things" to work for the good of those who have been called according to His purpose!
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