Memorial Day

I realize this is quite late. Would love to have posted something on Memorial Day itself, but we've been knee deep in germs and all the other "fun" stuff of life.

As I reflect on Memorial Day, I again am thankful for all the brave men and women who have sacrificed their own lives for my freedom. Obviously, my gratitude goes first to all those in my family from the great great greats who fought in the Civil War to my great grandfather in WWI, my grandfathers (all 3 of them!) in WWII, my father-in-law in Vietnam. I am honored and proud to be related to each of them.

Happy Memorial Day!

Embracing Pain

While in the doldrums a few months back, crying and praying and feeling miserable, and then feeling miserable because I was miserable!, God ever so gently told me that I'm too afraid of pain. More specifically, I felt like He asked me to embrace it. Even typing the phrase, I'm struck again by how odd it sounds. Embrace pain? Isn't it natural to shy away from what hurts, whether it's a simple headache or something more serious like a strained relationship? Yet as backwards as it sounded, as soon as I "heard" Him say it, it made sense. He showed me how I had become so pain-averse, I wasn't allowing pain to accomplish its purposes. Whether I was reaching for the Tylenol at the slightest inkling of a headache, obsessing about germs in and on my kids, or shying away from potentially uncomfortable conversations, He made it clear that I needed to be willing to feel, even if it meant hurting.

As I pondered His message and tried to figure out all it entailed, I heard an interview with Kay Arthur in which she said, "Don't run from the pain. Feel it. Allow it to accomplish the purpose God has, in His sovereignty, allowed it for. Then seek to heal so that you are equipped to minister to others." Her comment confirmed what I'd thought I heard Him whisper.

Weeks later, I heard Dennis Rainey say, "Too many Christians think Christianity occurs on a romantic balcony, not a spiritual battlefield." He's right. I think it is so easy in our culture of abundance and ease to forget that this world is not our home. To overlook the fact that Jesus told us to expect trials. To see the example of our Saviour, enduring the horror of the cross, for the glory on the other side.

I would never have chosen those dark, desperate months, and I dread the possibility of going through it again. However, there is something deep within me at peace with the prospect of facing a similar circumstance in the future, only for one reason: the closeness I felt to my Saviour during that time was indescribably sweet. He proved Himself faithful, His promises trustworthy, His love deep, His Sovereignty real. I see the miraculous things God has done since and would not go back for anything. I stand in awe of what He has brought out of such a dark time in my life.

The other day I heard a song by Laura Story that immediately became a new favorite. It beautifully described some of these vague ideas I'd been trying to put into concrete thoughts for months. May it be thought provoking and encouraging for you as well.

Blessings

by Laura Story

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

All the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know the pain reminds this heart

That this is not, this is not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise