Dear My Life Changed,
I read what you shared and I felt compelled to throw a few thoughts in response……
But before I do that, I want to clarify one thing. Often, when I am responding to someone else and it’s about their journey, I try to use a totally messed up totally false acronym. Why do I do that?
It’s not because I don’t want to link it to your post, far from it. I do that because if Merl and I are having a public conversation about something I don’t want someone else to feel like either they are being too nosy reading our conversation or something like that. If it’s that private, then it should be happening as a private message. If it’s out on the “boards” that, to me, means it’s an invitation for anyone else to chime in who wants to and is willing to do so with proper group etiquette.
So, with that being said, a couple of thoughts in reaction to what he wrote: (and thank you for the opportunity to share…….)
I think I shared the conversation that I had at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Ronald McDonald. I was sitting in the “living room” and chatting and I said to one of the volunteers, “I was just talking and I find it amazing how it doesn’t matter how sick your child is, almost everyone is friendly, smiling, talking and it’s not a negative area, that really surprises me.”
“Oh really, that’s easy, they are at least marginally upbeat for two reasons”:
With the exception of the families where there is no hope on this side of heaven, everyone else feels like they have a chance. A chance of a longer life with their child. A chance to bring them home. A chance to see a smile across the face of their child.
They get the sense, when they walk in the door, that they are among friends and friends who “get it.” Not everyone gets what it’s like dealing with someone in your family with a substantial medical “issue.”
As someone who, on Saturday will “celebrate” the 3rd anniversary of the surgery/treatment that knocked me out of the work world, out of most of the volunteer world where I used to be able to make a difference, out of the skills and strengths that it takes to do the vast majority of the stuff I wanted to be able to do - and normally have done. Do you notice that I use the term “celebrate” in quotes? Why?
Because I don’t know why God allowed this to happen. I’m not going to lie and say, “I’m glad this happened, God, thank you!”
Nope, I can’t say that.
But I can say that I trust Him and will wait until he shows where the next step forward and then take that step, even if I’m scared.
I’d be lying. It has been too hard, not only on me but on my significantly better half who is even more significantly better than she was already. (Shout out to her - in July it will be 36 years that we’ve been facing the future together and what a ride).
Okay, I’m rambling this morning but that’s the way my brain works a lot. My brother (older) is a minister, but he’s not your typical suit and tie pastor - he’s much more the jeans and flip flops type. He did a sermon series where he looked at certain current entertainment/sports figures and attempted to see what God had to say through these guys. The only ones that I remember for sure were Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong and U-2. Don’t worry, I’m not going to write on each of them. I just wanted to talk a minute about U-2. Why in the world would a Christian Reformed preacher believe that U-2 has something worthwhile to say?
Listen, really listen to U-2, especially in the things they get mad about and how they get mad. Then ask yourself, what could you do more, what could I do more, what could the church do more of if they got mad in the right way?
I honestly don’t think that we will be able to say/see the reasons behind the things that happen like this until the other side of Heaven. It’s frankly too hard to deal with and too hard to attempt to answer. That doesn’t mean I haven’t struggled with God on that subject. I have. I still do. I’m sure I will again, maybe even before supper tonight. But that’s one of the things I’ve learned from God in all of this. He’s okay if we get mad at him. As long as we keep our minds and hearts open, we can be mad at him and then come back and listen to what he has to say and know that in some way and somehow, God is up to something. He is going to make our troubles and our mistakes and our problems into something that is or does good for someone - maybe us, maybe someone else so the best thing we can do is trust him and keep moving forward. And trust that he’s got “forward” lined up.
So, no, I don’t think I can say, “I’m glad it happened.” I do believe I can say that that I’m confident that someone, somehow, somewhere is going to find themselves closer to God because of what these three letters can do to you and me and the guy down the street.
And that is part of the reason I write.
TV