Deep Thoughts Today

Well, well, well.

Just kidding. I have a lot of serious stuff on my mind and thought I'd just lighten myself up a bit! Our sweet cousin Sara (who I just got to see at the baby shower I went to this past weekend) was pregnant, 16 weeks at the shower. About 16 months ago, she gave birth at 38 weeks (I think) to a Trisomy 18 baby who had passed away in utero. This past Tuesday she had an ultrasound, and they couldn't find a heartbeat. Her baby boy was delivered a few days later. Knot in the cord.

Yesterday they found the body of a young man who had gone missing on the Kalamazoo River on May 21 or 22. He and his friends were "celebrating that the Rapture hadn't taken place." They were tubing down the river, his friends lost sight of him, and he wasn't a good swimmer.

Before I go on, let me just say I certainly wouldn't want to be Harold Camping on Judgement Day.

The number of tornadoes on record so far this year is more than ever recorded in history. And we're not done yet. The known death toll (not counting the missing) is higher than the last NINE years of tornadic fatalities. I had a cousin whose wife was killed. He's all of 33 and left to raise 4 children on his own. The tsunami in 2006. The earthquake in Haiti in 2010. The earthquakes in Japan in 2011. I am not a "The End Is Near, The Sky Is Falling" person. But when the writing is on the wall, the writing is on the wall. SO much suffering.

Anyway. We've all asked the questions: why do bad things happen to good people? Why do evil people seem to prosper? Well, the answer is this: life is unfair and sometimes it really stinks. Yup. No deep theological debate. God created man. He gave us free will (who would want a relationship with a robot?) Man screwed up. We're paying the price. This earth is broken and dying.

Romans 8:20-23 (NLT): "Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us."

Let me add a personal footnote: Hallelujah for the new body!!!! Mine is DONE.

Mark 13:7-10 NKJV: For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. “But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations."

The reason I make it through every day is because I know that there is a God in Heaven. Jesus has gone before me to prepare a place in His Kingdom...for ME. And I will be perfect. And there will be no tears. No sorrow. No crying. NO PAIN. Just perfection. Think about that today, will you? And try to encourage someone with that Hope.

Why I Have HOPE

You know, having a chronic illness really bites. It stinks. It's unfair. It's crappy. It's changed my life forever. But you know what? It's all good.

How can I possibly say that? Well, for one, my life is better than it was before. I have more fulfilling relationships, I'm more patient, I love more deeply and am quicker to forgive. I appreciate the beauty around me.

Before I got too sick to work, I worked 55+ hours a week. I was on call 24/7. I was stressed out more than any one human being should be. I drank too much. I was in inappropriate relationships. I didn't see the light of day much, and I didn't appreciate all that I had.

Now I look out my back window and see open fields. Every season I say is my favorite. The winter fields covered with a blanket of pure white snow...only marred by the occasional animal track. In spring, everything turns that bright yellow-green and the buds bloom on every living thing out there. Summer time, everything is lush and green and abundant. And autumn...may be my favorite. The trees are amazing, but even the fields turn yellow and purple and maroon and wheat-colored. It's simply stunning.

But do you know what gives me the most hope? Because I KNOW that someday, when this fleeting life is over, I will be perfect for eternity. Jesus said so. And I believe Him. When compared to eternity, the number of MY days here on earth is barely a drop in a bucket compared to the number of days in eternity.

So if it stinks? Oh well. If I have 20 bad days in a row? I'll have 20 MILLION great days in heaven. I will be whole. I will sing. I will swim. I will run. I will do what I have not been able to do ever...throw my little boy up in the air and catch him. I don't care how big he is!

I have bad days. Lots of them. But I have good days too. And the BEST day down here is the worst day in eternity. Because then, I shall see God face to face, and He will put His arms around me, and hopefully tell me the words I long to hear: "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

This song is by Jeremy Camp, and it's called "There Will Be A Day."

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that tries to grab
The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,
That we will enter in this rest with wonders anew

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

There will be a day with no more tears,
no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place,
will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long
You feel your walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone

Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting

I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always
will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery
This is why this is why I sing….

There will be a day with no more tears,
no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place,
will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face

There will be a day,
He’ll wipe away the stains,
He’ll wipe away the tears,
He’ll wipe away the tears…..there will be a day.