Little did we know that morning
God was going to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
but you did not go alone.
For part of us went with you,
the day God called you home.
You left us peaceful memories,
your love is still our guide.
And though we cannot see you,
you are always by our side.
Our family chain is broken
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.
The moment that you died
my heart was torn in two,
one side filled with heartache,
the other died with you.
I often lie awake at night,
when the world is fast asleep,
and take a walk down memory lane,
with tears upon my cheeks.
Remembering you is easy,
I do it everyday,
but missing you is heartache
that never goes away.
I hold you tightly within my heart
and there you will remain.
Your presence we miss, Your memory we treasure,
Loving you always, Forgetting you never,
Mom and Dad, JoAnn, Justin, Jana, Jodi & Janessa
(Poems from FransCandles website, Authors not listed)
The month of February I took part in a Girlfriends Bible Study at Victory Church. The class was entitled “Pursuit of the Promised Land” taught by Marie Monville. This was the little blurb I saw on FaceBook that pulled me in: “Do you feel like life brings more problems than you anticipated? (Yes, way more.) Are you waiting for that moment when everything finally works out perfectly? (I’ve given up on that.) Do you wonder what your circumstances say about God and your relationship with Him? (All the time.) Join us as we look at the life of Joshua and his pursuit of the Promised Land. We will study the experiences of the Israelites and the battles they fought. We will see God’s love and faithfulness in the midst of their difficulties and find ourselves written upon each page. (Ummm- I will see me (and God) in their story?) So here are some of my thoughts from that Bible study, with more to come, hopefully. It was time and money well spent.
Marie opened the Bible study saying she “allowed the Lord to marinate in her heart the story of Joshua for about a year.” I loved that word picture- marinate- allowing my heart to sit in God’s Word, to meditate, to allow it to soak in. And what happens to marinated meat? It gets tender and tasty. I want to allow my heart to be tender, soft, sensitive.
The Israelites needed to cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land but they could not cross the river alone. It was at flood stage; it was a full raging river. I can see myself in that part of the story. It feels like we’ve been asked to cross a river at flood stage or maybe more accurately we’ve been dropped into a river.
But the priests did have to be brave and have faith. They had to step into the water first then wait on God. And God parted the waters and they walked through on DRY land- not wet, not even damp, the Bible says “dry land”- How amazing is that?! I too, have to take that first step into the water or maybe since I’m in the river, it’s about turning my heart towards my Father; being willing to reach out for Him, then rest in Him. That’s what the priests did, stepped into the river and waited for God and God came through and gave them dry land to walk on. How is God wanting to come through for me and am I willing to allow Him to come through or do I think I need to do this on my own? What might God want to do for me, today? What might it look like for me to walk on dry land? God also calls us to a place of boldness not arrogance. How might God be asking me to be bold, brave? God may allow a huge totally overwhelming situation to come into my life (and He did) but He also has a plan how to help me through it. Yet too often I take my eyes and heart off of Him and see the raging flooded river (the many losses and deep pain) and I feel like I’m drowning. But like Peter all I need to do is to call out to my Father. He is more than willing to carry me through the storm, to be my “peace in the troubled sea”. Isaiah 43: 2 & 3 says, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” That’s a very comforting thought, God is in the raging river with me. I also need to remember- this is not about me, its about God and Him getting glory and honor; my story is not the focal point, my story is part of God’s bigger story.
On other news, the eye doctor is very pleased with how Jana’s eyes are progressing. We’ve done eye therapy six weeks now and still have another six weeks to go and then he will do another exam and make a care plan off of those findings. We had her to Hershey for more BOTOX shots. It sure helps to keep her right arm and hand more relaxed. And the Saebo Splint therapy for her right arm and hand is reaching its six month trail period and her one therapist is very pleased that her arm and hand is in a more natural position so we will be going back to occupational therapy. And with Jana participating in Club 625 activities on a monthly basis and also working with a psychologist, we’ve decided speech therapy is no longer needed. She is quite delighted about that.
