Our Ebenezer stones at Jack's grave.
May 23, 2006, was the hardest day that Katherine and I have ever faced in our marriage. On that Tuesday morning, we had to put our sweet puppy Jack, a 2 year old golden retriever, down because of cancer. Later that same day, Katherine was admitted into the hospital to take care of a miscarriage. The next day, I would fly to Colorado to begin my assignment at Frontier Ranch. That day was a painful day, a day that Katherine and I had to lean on the Lord for strength from. He was our strength though, and we were able to walk through it by His grace.
Fast forward to May 23, 2007. Katherine and I took Bo, our new golden retriever, to visit Jack's resting place on this earth. It was Bo's birthday - he was one year old. The same day that meant death for Jack meant life for Bo. He had no idea that we were visiting our faithful friend, Jack, whom Bo hears about all the time. He was just happy to be alive. And we were happy that Bo was with us.
Add to that the fact that our unborn baby had been lost on that fateful day a year ago. This year, we were able to visit Jack with Mary Kate, our 7 week old baby girl. She has no idea that we had lost a little brother or sister just a short time before she was conceived.
Our God is faithful! He has promised to give us life to the full. This does not mean life without pain or heartache. It means life to the full. A life without heartache, without pain, would not be a life that pushes us to something more. God knows our needs; He knows our deepest desire for all that can be. And He longs to meet us in that place. Through the pain and hardship that this life brings, He is able to meet us and walk with us.
As Katherine and I remember May 23, 2006, we have Bo and Mary Kate as our Ebenezer stones, gifts that the Lord has given us to remind us that "thus far the Lord has helped us," and He will continue to help us all the days of our lives. I'm so thankful that we serve a God who walks through the good and bad of life!
In C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Susan and Lucy ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to describe Aslan. They ask if Aslan is a man. Mr. Beaver replies, "Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion-- the Lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh!" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and make no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."
We do not serve a "safe" God, but He is good! He's the King, I tell you!
2 comments:
Wow, that's awesome...So awesome to remember His faithfulness. Praise the Lord.
That is awesome Joel, really, really awesome. I love that!!! Man, that quote at the end killed me! In a good way obviously. The fellowship of Christ's sufferings...it is a most precious gift that we often try to escape because we have a backwards theology of who God really is and we don't realize the aspects of God that we are missing in our attempts to avoid heartache. It's a hard truth to grasp...but we do not truly know Christ if we do not know His sufferings. This made me cry and brought a tremendous amount of joy to my heart all at the same time. I'm so grateful for your love for the Lord. You guys are truly an inspiration to me. I LOVE YOU!!!!
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