You never know…

Posted on by

Baby MomMom was born in 1912. Arriving several weeks prematurely, she was the fourth baby in her family. Because she was tiny, the doctor told her parents, “Don’t give her a name. She’s not going to make it, so you don’t want to get too attached.”

But Mom fooled everybody; she lived to be 92. You just never know…

Nelson at 9 monthsOur firstborn nearly died at nine months with a case of croup we thought was just laryngitis. When he couldn’t sleep for all the coughing, we called the doctor, who sent us to the hospital. En route, the baby went limp, his eyes rolled back, and we were terrified.

Thanks to quick, discerning doctors, he lived, and after four days in the hospital, he slowly recuperated. When it was all over, Nate and I fell apart, realizing how close we’d come to losing our little guy. You just never know…

Fast forward to 2009, when Nate and I relocated to Michigan. His plan had been to continue full time lawyering for two more years, then gradually scale back. But “untimely” cancer arrived, and 42 days later, our plans were shelved. Nate died “ahead of schedule” at 64. We hadn’t planned on that, but you just never know…

Celebrating lifeLast February my sister Mary learned that after 70 healthy years, she, too, was slated to tangle with cancer. Since then it’s been 1 major surgery, a couple of minor ones, and 3 months of chemo. We’re all hoping she’ll live to be an old lady, and so far so good. But as she says, you never know…

None of us ever knows. The biblical Methuselah lived to be 969 years old, but King David’s baby died as a newborn.  When we were born, God didn’t promise old age, yet we find ourselves angry when someone is taken “before their time.” If they’ve died, though, it was their time. We can’t know ahead, because God doesn’t tell.

???????????????????????????????The Bible describes long life as a blessing, and everyone seems to want it. Mom was thankful for her long life and lived each day vigorously, but in her last years she often said, “Old age isn’t for sissies.” Troubles of all kinds pile high on the elderly, weighing them down with woe, and she was no exception. In order for anyone to handle those burdensome days, great stores of wisdom and godliness are a prerequisite. So when we wish for longevity, we’re signing up for the toughest challenge of our lives.

You just never know…    But then maybe it’s better that way.

”No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.” (Ecclesiastes 8:8)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. I’m thankful nausea continues to be mild.
  2. And my new feeding tube, a different system than the old one, feels much better. PTL!

Loud Objections

Posted on by

Last night at about 3:30 am, I was woken up by ear-splitting screeching coming from the woods behind our cottage. In my stupor I couldn’t decide if it was human or not, but as it continued for nearly a minute, I determined it was an animal. I found myself thinking, “Hurry up! Finish it off!” Whatever it was, it was in agony.

OwlToday I’ve tried not to envision what might have been happening out there in the dark. Was it an owl having dinner at the expense of a rabbit?

Before sin existed, every person and animal got along. One day that’ll be true again. In the mean time, much of what happens in our fallen world is unpleasant. Some of it is downright gruesome, like last night’s attack. God could have protected that poor animal and provided food for its foe another way, but he didn’t.

Even though humans aren’t attacked as food, we sometimes (like the animal being attacked) come to a place of shrill screaming. Our lives ebb and flow, dipping in and out of negatives and positives. Some of it has to do with the laws of nature just as the attack in the woods did: hurricanes, viruses, drug addictions, floods. And cancer. The labels are different for each of us, but none of us is exempt from situations that make us want to scream.

Although we often rail against circumstances, what’s rumbling beneath our objections is probably anger at God. Wise counselors say, “Go ahead and yell at him. He can take it.”

But should he have to? If we’re trying to lead godly lives, our response to the negatives ought to be, “Yes, I hate this, but because of God, I know good stuff will come from it.”

Our family has seen the truth of that repeated again and again as a result of Nate’s cancer and now Mary’s. For one thing, all of us are less likely to take the others for granted or to assume, “Life will always be the way it is today.” We’ve become aware, in a poignant way, that everyone’s hold on life is fragile. A second positive is that we’re thanking God continually for the years before cancer. As a result of living in a world that includes trouble, these two good things are now ours.

None of us would appreciate happy times if there were no bad ones. So we learn to endure, experiencing agony and uttering a shrill scream now and then, but bearing up under the misery, because at the end of it, we know there are blessings that can’t be gained any other way

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.” (Romans 5:3)

Rush to Judgment

Posted on by

photo 2This week we experienced the fun of a completed deck in our back yard. Michigan Lake and Land did an expert job, cutting no corners and satisfying my every whim. They cooperated with all my ideas, everything from building a weather-proof room beneath the deck to designing two super-sturdy baby gates that “disappear” into deck fencing when they’re locked in place.

photo 1I’ve kept my eye open for reasonable deck furniture, nothing cushy, just tables and chairs that will rain-wash well. Two second-hand tables got face-lifts with fresh paint, and I couldn’t wait to set it all up.

Once the white paint had dried (in the basement), I turned each painted piece a bit each day for a full week, making sure every edge was dry so not one drop of paint would end up on the deck.

Stepping up Then this weekend, it was time to assemble it all. After carrying each piece to the deck, I was appalled to see drops of paint on every other step and scattered at random on the boards. Squatting to see if it was, indeed, wet paint, I was crushed when the drops smeared beneath my finger.

How could that have happened after I tried to be so careful? And how was I going to get the paint off the boards without ruining the stain?

Then God answered my questions. A big bird flew overhead, letting go of a liquid deposit that landed right next to me, a white splotch that splattered just enough to toss random drops here and there. The paint spots, it turned out, weren’t paint at all, just white bird-do, an easy-off with a wet rag.

My rush to judgment was typical me, sizing up a situation without all the facts. It isn’t serious when dealing with a deck, but in the case of a person, it can be disaster. Most scenarios aren’t what they first seem, and if we refrain from drawing quick conclusions about someone, new (and usually helpful) information always surfaces.

The Lord perfectly modeled how not to judge prematurely by not doing it with us. Instead of rushing to judgment (even though he actually has all the facts), he waits patiently till we figure it out on our own.

Let's eat...Jesus mentions in Scripture that he prays for us, and surely some of those prayers are that we’ll come under conviction as needed. He doesn’t bring down the hatchet too early but hopes instead we’ll voluntarily change whatever needs changing. Eating humble pie might be part of it, and though that never tastes good, it can nourish us well.

I certainly jumped to the wrong conclusion about my blemished deck, but I do think it’s accurate to say that bird won’t repent or change his behavior. No matter. It was an easy fix with a wet rag…. followed by a thorough hand washing.

Ready for conversation“Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Pray for tomorrow’s chemo #9. Your prayers are holding back the nausea!
  2. I’m praising God that after tomorrow, I’ll be half way through!