tough times…not bad times
Sick over the weekend…moving slow so far today…posted the following over at Caring Bridge about the situation our family is facing in these days…
“These are tough times, but not bad times.”
As a member of our local public school board that is a phrase that we have used many times. Little did I know that I would find it so applicable for our family in these days.
These are tough times…
- cancer is an ugly thing
- knowing that loss is coming is so challenging…what C.S. Lewis called, “the long slow goodbye”
- juggling multiple responsibilities on multiple fronts all the while knowing that family is the most important one of all
But these are not bad times…
- my mother is indeed ready for heaven
- my father is by her side…just as he has been their entire married lives (by the way…thanks Chuck Mealy for coaxing dad to ask her out…I wouldn’t have been here without it!)
- my sister…loves God, loves Mom, loves Dad and loves me too.
- as a family we are just that…family…we like each other. We enjoy being together. Laughter is common.
This is the first that I have posted here…not because of a lack of concern. Quite simply, it is because of a lack of ability to put into words all that I am feeling in these days. Words seem so small when processing something this big.
Your kindness to our family in these days is very meaningful to us. I regularly read the Guestbook on this page with tears in my eyes. As I read I see names like…Zana Hall (my Sunday School teacher growing up), Scott Turcott, Larry & Ann Maddox (my parents have always enjoyed their friendship with you), Bud Bence and Mary Brown (my mother thinks the world of you). Each of you holds a special place in our hearts.
My message yesterday at Compass Church was to be on Generosity…your generous affection toward our family has not gone unnoticed.
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. II Corinthians 9:11
These are tough times…but make no mistake these are not bad times.
In the Beginning :: Genesis 1:1
Scripture
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Observation
Long before I ever was God was.
Long before we were God was.
Long before time as we know it began God was.
There is a sense of confidence that comes in knowing that God always has been and still is today.
To know that at the point that we would call the beginning God had already set up shop.
I don’t fully understand this thought, but I do believe it and as such my life is different today.
Application
I need to live with a courageous confidence that God is indeed in control of the world in which we live.
Prayer
Father, this day I acknowledge that you are the God of the beginning. As such I ask that you would provide the same strength, confidence and wisdom that you have provided for others. I find my source in you. Amen
Reading & Reflecting
One of my targets for this calendar year is to take the time to read through the scriptures from cover to cover. My intent in doing this is not to simply “get through it” but to allow it to “get through me” – as such, I intend to employ a method of reflection that Wayne Corderio has popularized. I also intend to do the majority of my reading using www.youversion.com which is a web resource that I have found to be extremely helpful both with the number of versions that they have available and with the reading plans that they have provided. On with the journey!
