Every encounter Jesus had, he had it with purpose.
His purpose.
This has struck me as something I think most of us wish we did more often.
In a random series of events one day last week, I had lunch with the President/CEO of Fine Airport Parking. He began to tell his story. A midst the chatter at the table, I hung on every word. If you want to be great, you learn from the great.
I didn't have much time but I knew I wanted to ask one question. I had purpose, a goal in the brief time I had.
I've been fortunate enough to spend some time with my father in law in the past week. I listen to him talk to his son, his grandkids and wife. He is the one person that will talk theology with me. I'm gonna miss that. The time spent with him is a treasure. A true treasure. I don't know how to emphasize that enough.
There is purpose. There is intent. There is 'the knowing' that this meeting could be the last.
The stuff with my FIL has been life altering, heart changing and focus shifting. I'm grateful to those that have walked the path before us & brought us comfort.
I'm not sure any of this makes sense. The journey thus far has been so mind blowing that it can be hard to absorb, and even for ME to put into words, but I am trying to be mindful of His nearness,
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." -Psalm 34:18
Live with Purpose.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Shattered Screen, Shattered Hearts
Matt is back from Kenya.
When people ask, "How is Matt recovering?" I want to tell the truth but most aren't ready to hear what I truly have to say.
Truth is, he hasn't. He won't. He can't.
Cooper dropped my iPad a few days ago. I was in the lobby of our karate school when he told me what he had done.
I looked at the iPad this morning, shards of glass were stuck to the case. If I touch it, shards of glass stick in my finger tips. The screen is completely shattered.
Just like our lives right now, shattered.
I look at that screen and I see my family and our hearts. We are broken, shards of heartbreak & pain protruding from each one of us. If you touch us, you will feel our pain. You will see our tears. You will hear our cries.
Our hearts are shattered.
It feels like this isn't happening but it is.
I'm sitting here, typing this while Matt is sleeping next to me. So much on his shoulders right now. The weight of his family. The weight of his job. The weight of jet lag still lingering a bit. The weight of pain. The weight of loss. Shards of glass piercing his heart.
Our family will never be the same.
Our family will be stronger.
Our family will be better because from great sorrow comes great victory!
So yeah, Matt is back from Kenya and he loved every single second of it.
When people ask, "How is Matt recovering?" I want to tell the truth but most aren't ready to hear what I truly have to say.
Truth is, he hasn't. He won't. He can't.
Cooper dropped my iPad a few days ago. I was in the lobby of our karate school when he told me what he had done.
I looked at the iPad this morning, shards of glass were stuck to the case. If I touch it, shards of glass stick in my finger tips. The screen is completely shattered.
Just like our lives right now, shattered.
I look at that screen and I see my family and our hearts. We are broken, shards of heartbreak & pain protruding from each one of us. If you touch us, you will feel our pain. You will see our tears. You will hear our cries.
Our hearts are shattered.
It feels like this isn't happening but it is.
I'm sitting here, typing this while Matt is sleeping next to me. So much on his shoulders right now. The weight of his family. The weight of his job. The weight of jet lag still lingering a bit. The weight of pain. The weight of loss. Shards of glass piercing his heart.
Our family will never be the same.
Our family will be stronger.
Our family will be better because from great sorrow comes great victory!
So yeah, Matt is back from Kenya and he loved every single second of it.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Perspective
I always thought I had perspective.
That's probably what people say that don't have perspective.
I realize now, I did not have perspective.
That's probably what people say that now indeed have perspective.
The Bible talks of our life as a vapor, "you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." James 4:14
I always thought I understood just how quickly life can change.
That's probably what people say that have never felt life fall out beneath them.
While Matt was in Kenya, the family got word that my Father-in-Law has cancer.
Perspective.
A biopsy was ordered and done.
Matt returns home from Kenya and two days later hears even more devastating news on his Hero.
Perspective.
Vapor.
Life literally changed within a matter of days and continues to change quite rapidly.
The man that gave life to my husband, the man that raised my husband, the man that taught my husband the love of Jesus, the man that baptized my husband, the man that prayed for me before he knew me, the man that stood in front of me and married my husband and I, the man my kids call "Grandpa" or "Papa."
He will soon be healed.
Vapor.
"So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
If you don't hear from anyone in the Knox family or we miss an appointment or we fail to ask about something that is important, whatever. Please show every one of us some grace because right now we are hurting but we rejoice in our hurting hearts because God is still oh so very good.
Perspective.
Heaven.
That's probably what people say that don't have perspective.
I realize now, I did not have perspective.
That's probably what people say that now indeed have perspective.
The Bible talks of our life as a vapor, "you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." James 4:14
I always thought I understood just how quickly life can change.
That's probably what people say that have never felt life fall out beneath them.
While Matt was in Kenya, the family got word that my Father-in-Law has cancer.
Perspective.
A biopsy was ordered and done.
Matt returns home from Kenya and two days later hears even more devastating news on his Hero.
Perspective.
Vapor.
Life literally changed within a matter of days and continues to change quite rapidly.
The man that gave life to my husband, the man that raised my husband, the man that taught my husband the love of Jesus, the man that baptized my husband, the man that prayed for me before he knew me, the man that stood in front of me and married my husband and I, the man my kids call "Grandpa" or "Papa."
He will soon be healed.
Vapor.
"So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
If you don't hear from anyone in the Knox family or we miss an appointment or we fail to ask about something that is important, whatever. Please show every one of us some grace because right now we are hurting but we rejoice in our hurting hearts because God is still oh so very good.
Perspective.
Heaven.
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