This is a copy of a letter I sent to acquaintances who were going through a health crisis. It is a testimony to where we have been and what we have learned.
September 14, 2012
We want you to know that you and your family have been in our hearts and in our prayers. Our hearts break when we think about the pain you are both experiencing. On one hand we are so sorry that you are facing this time of uncertainty and this horrible life changing situation. However, on the other hand, we have also come to accept (and believe) what God says in II Corinthians 7:10. "The kind of sorrow God wants makes people change their hearts and lives. This leads to salvation and you cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has brings death."
We have learned that there are times that God either takes us into the deep water or He allows us to be taken into the deep. He doesn't take us there to drown us—He takes us there to cleanse us and prepare us for His use. Peter had spent the night fishing in his own power and came up empty. When Jesus tells Peter to go fishing again, He was very specific on where He wanted him to go. "Take the boat into deep water..." Peter responded by saying, this doesn't make sense Lord, "but you say to put the nets in the water, so I will." He chose to willingly do what did not make sense, and when they did as Jesus told them, "they caught so much fish that the nets began to break."
We have a choice on how we are going to respond when Jesus asks us to go to the deep water. We can fight it. We can deny it. We can try to avoid it. We can be angry about it. We can go unwillingly. Or, we can surrender and say—this doesn't make sense Lord, but I am willing to follow you even if it doesn't make sense. I will do what you ask instead of what I want. I surrender ALL to you. And when we get our hands out of the way, we can SEE the hand of God as HE works—and we are blessed by HIM. He takes us into the deep so He can change us, teach us, bless us, and use our stories to bring honor and glory to His name.
We've never had the opportunity to share with you what God has done in our lives and how He has changed us when He sent us into the deep and we submitted our will to His. We are just ordinary people, but God has chosen to do extraordinary things in our lives. As we look back we can identify those times of "deep water" and how God used them to shape our lives when we responded by seeking His will. Jesus has allowed (and continues to allow) situations and circumstances in our lives to change us from forgiven—to surrendered. The first time we really entered the deep was when my best friend was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer while in her 20's and died soon thereafter. We walked with their family during the fight for life and surrender to death. She left two very young children. I knew nothing on how to handle "living" while my friend was dying. God used that time to teach me about illness and the stages of dealing with death. He taught me about forgiveness. He taught me to not think "why my friend" or "why me" and instead took me to the understanding and realization of "why not me." What God taught me during that time has been used with countless classes of young people as I share with them the TRUTH of God's faithfulness in life and death.
Another deep water time in our lives came in 1995. My husband was in a truck accident and the C-2 and C-3 vertebrae in his neck were fractured in six places. His hip and his collar bone were also broken. However, none of the fractures were found at the time of the accident. His neck fractures were not discovered until weeks later. C-2 is the area of the spine that controls your breathing—and it had four fractures in it. It is called a Hangman's fracture because the fracture of that vertebra is what causes death in a hanging. He underwent surgery to fuse the vertebra together using bone from his hip and C-clamps to hold them together. The doctors told us the fractures were so precarious that at any time during the months he went undiagnosed, he could have died from just a sneeze or someone patting him on the back. Two families besides our own depended on my husband for their income. For four months he could do nothing. God taught us that we were too dependent upon ourselves and that our dependence was to be solely upon Him. When we learned to trust God, He built our faith up and we learned what it meant to depend on Him for our survival—physically, financially, and spiritually.
He used that experience in the deep to prepare us for the next set of deep waters—our daughter choosing to walk away from God's will for her life. God taught us perseverance as we surrendered our daughter to Him and stood firm on God's Word. It was a long ten year journey. What we learned during this time is what fueled my passion to teach and impact the lives of 7th grade girls.
As you know, we are currently in the deep again—and we have been here for almost six years. I wish we could have shared our story with you earlier, but maybe it was never shared earlier for such a time as this. How vividly I remember us wanting God to release us from the lawsuit early on. Now we can honestly say that we are SO grateful that God did not answer our prayers of desperation. We were praying the wrong prayer. He, in His Sovereignty, had us right where He wanted us. He wanted us to desire Him and nothing but Him. He took us to a place where we had no control so He could show us that HE is in control. He continues to teach us. There are some things you can only learn in the "deep." There are no short cuts, but along with the pain there are precious promises and blessings as well. Isaiah 66:9, "... I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born." God wanted to change us, and He continues to do so.
We would not change one single day of this long journey. Had He answered our early selfish prayers the way we wanted we would have missed out on seeing the hand of God at work in our lives and in those around us. Was it always easy? No. If my sister and brother-in-law are successful in pursuing their deceit and false accusations it will mean the loss of our earthly possessions, our home, and our family business. It would mean not only our livelihood but the livelihood of our son and his young family as well. Not many people know this because it is not something we talk about or focus on, but not only were we not paid for the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the work we did; it has also taken us hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend ourselves against their deceit and false accusation. We didn't (and don't) have that kind of money. We have watched God provide for us in amazing ways when we took our hands off, and opened our hands to God will. It took surrendering ALL—again. We literally drove a wooden stake in the ground where we would see it every day. That stake represents our fears, our pride, and our lives. We came to the place where we were willing to say (and mean) no matter what. LORD, we are serving YOU, we are following YOU, we are submitting to YOU, we are seeking YOU—NO MATTER WHAT. Like Peter, we have experienced His overwhelming blessings. We have seen a glimpse of the Almighty Lord and the mere human words of Holy, Holy, Holy, are not adequate to express our appreciation, love, and awe of Him.
We've learned the deep is not a place to avoid, it is a place to embrace. No matter what—life or death; earthly possessions or no earthly possessions; home or no home; family business that began in 1957 or no family business; the decision has been made and the stake is in the ground. We will not be moved. Our fears of the unknown are gone. Anxieties over our future are gone. Not through our own gifts, strengths, abilities, or power. We are just ordinary people who trust an extra-ordinary God as He reveals His will in and for our lives. Our faith continues to increase exponentially. We have come to realize that we are not victims of a lawsuit, we are the recipients of a Blessed Event, and that includes the lawsuit and the betrayal of loved ones.
To keep God's story to ourselves and to not share how He ministered to our lives through an elderly woman with advanced dementia would bring dishonor to His name. So, we share it with you in hopes it will encourage you while you travel this journey that God is taking you on. I am enclosing HER NAME WAS JANE: A True Story About God's Faithfulness. I am also enclosing a picture of Jane as I knew her so you can have a visual of who God used to minister to us. I hope it will be an encouragement to you.
Father God,
We come to you right now praising you as the maker of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind. Your Glory is above all, in all, and is all. Your mercy is never ending. We are grateful Father that you have surpassing greatness. We acknowledge you LORD as Yahweh of our lives. We thank you for providing your son Jesus for our Salvation. LORD, we bring to you right now _____ and _______ and their entire family. You know the pain, suffering, and anguish they are feeling. We thank you for the way you have used their lives to minister to other people and to ourselves. We pray that you and others would minister to them. We thank you, Father for being their Savior. We thank you, for being their Hope. LORD, you have called them into the deep. We take comfort in knowing that you have not taken them to the deep to drown them but to reveal yourself to them, build them up, and to bring Honor and Glory to your name. LORD, we know that you have the power to heal _____'s body and to provide for him many more years on earth. That is our desire LORD. But LORD, we also acknowledge that it is not our will that is important. It is only your will that we desire. So Father, we pray that you will reveal your will in and through _____'s life. LORD, you have given _____ the gift of teaching. We pray that the teacher would also be teachable. We ask Father that you would change ____, _____, and their family's hearts and lives to be more like yours as they seek your face. May their hope, strength, and guidance come from you and you alone. What we pray for them Father, we also pray for ourselves. We give them to your hands and we open ours. LORD, we ask that you bless them and bless them indeed. It is in your Almighty name that we pray. Amen.
Next Entry: Luke 18:1–43
September 14, 2012
We want you to know that you and your family have been in our hearts and in our prayers. Our hearts break when we think about the pain you are both experiencing. On one hand we are so sorry that you are facing this time of uncertainty and this horrible life changing situation. However, on the other hand, we have also come to accept (and believe) what God says in II Corinthians 7:10. "The kind of sorrow God wants makes people change their hearts and lives. This leads to salvation and you cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has brings death."
We have learned that there are times that God either takes us into the deep water or He allows us to be taken into the deep. He doesn't take us there to drown us—He takes us there to cleanse us and prepare us for His use. Peter had spent the night fishing in his own power and came up empty. When Jesus tells Peter to go fishing again, He was very specific on where He wanted him to go. "Take the boat into deep water..." Peter responded by saying, this doesn't make sense Lord, "but you say to put the nets in the water, so I will." He chose to willingly do what did not make sense, and when they did as Jesus told them, "they caught so much fish that the nets began to break."
We have a choice on how we are going to respond when Jesus asks us to go to the deep water. We can fight it. We can deny it. We can try to avoid it. We can be angry about it. We can go unwillingly. Or, we can surrender and say—this doesn't make sense Lord, but I am willing to follow you even if it doesn't make sense. I will do what you ask instead of what I want. I surrender ALL to you. And when we get our hands out of the way, we can SEE the hand of God as HE works—and we are blessed by HIM. He takes us into the deep so He can change us, teach us, bless us, and use our stories to bring honor and glory to His name.
We've never had the opportunity to share with you what God has done in our lives and how He has changed us when He sent us into the deep and we submitted our will to His. We are just ordinary people, but God has chosen to do extraordinary things in our lives. As we look back we can identify those times of "deep water" and how God used them to shape our lives when we responded by seeking His will. Jesus has allowed (and continues to allow) situations and circumstances in our lives to change us from forgiven—to surrendered. The first time we really entered the deep was when my best friend was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer while in her 20's and died soon thereafter. We walked with their family during the fight for life and surrender to death. She left two very young children. I knew nothing on how to handle "living" while my friend was dying. God used that time to teach me about illness and the stages of dealing with death. He taught me about forgiveness. He taught me to not think "why my friend" or "why me" and instead took me to the understanding and realization of "why not me." What God taught me during that time has been used with countless classes of young people as I share with them the TRUTH of God's faithfulness in life and death.
Another deep water time in our lives came in 1995. My husband was in a truck accident and the C-2 and C-3 vertebrae in his neck were fractured in six places. His hip and his collar bone were also broken. However, none of the fractures were found at the time of the accident. His neck fractures were not discovered until weeks later. C-2 is the area of the spine that controls your breathing—and it had four fractures in it. It is called a Hangman's fracture because the fracture of that vertebra is what causes death in a hanging. He underwent surgery to fuse the vertebra together using bone from his hip and C-clamps to hold them together. The doctors told us the fractures were so precarious that at any time during the months he went undiagnosed, he could have died from just a sneeze or someone patting him on the back. Two families besides our own depended on my husband for their income. For four months he could do nothing. God taught us that we were too dependent upon ourselves and that our dependence was to be solely upon Him. When we learned to trust God, He built our faith up and we learned what it meant to depend on Him for our survival—physically, financially, and spiritually.
He used that experience in the deep to prepare us for the next set of deep waters—our daughter choosing to walk away from God's will for her life. God taught us perseverance as we surrendered our daughter to Him and stood firm on God's Word. It was a long ten year journey. What we learned during this time is what fueled my passion to teach and impact the lives of 7th grade girls.
As you know, we are currently in the deep again—and we have been here for almost six years. I wish we could have shared our story with you earlier, but maybe it was never shared earlier for such a time as this. How vividly I remember us wanting God to release us from the lawsuit early on. Now we can honestly say that we are SO grateful that God did not answer our prayers of desperation. We were praying the wrong prayer. He, in His Sovereignty, had us right where He wanted us. He wanted us to desire Him and nothing but Him. He took us to a place where we had no control so He could show us that HE is in control. He continues to teach us. There are some things you can only learn in the "deep." There are no short cuts, but along with the pain there are precious promises and blessings as well. Isaiah 66:9, "... I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born." God wanted to change us, and He continues to do so.
We would not change one single day of this long journey. Had He answered our early selfish prayers the way we wanted we would have missed out on seeing the hand of God at work in our lives and in those around us. Was it always easy? No. If my sister and brother-in-law are successful in pursuing their deceit and false accusations it will mean the loss of our earthly possessions, our home, and our family business. It would mean not only our livelihood but the livelihood of our son and his young family as well. Not many people know this because it is not something we talk about or focus on, but not only were we not paid for the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the work we did; it has also taken us hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend ourselves against their deceit and false accusation. We didn't (and don't) have that kind of money. We have watched God provide for us in amazing ways when we took our hands off, and opened our hands to God will. It took surrendering ALL—again. We literally drove a wooden stake in the ground where we would see it every day. That stake represents our fears, our pride, and our lives. We came to the place where we were willing to say (and mean) no matter what. LORD, we are serving YOU, we are following YOU, we are submitting to YOU, we are seeking YOU—NO MATTER WHAT. Like Peter, we have experienced His overwhelming blessings. We have seen a glimpse of the Almighty Lord and the mere human words of Holy, Holy, Holy, are not adequate to express our appreciation, love, and awe of Him.
We've learned the deep is not a place to avoid, it is a place to embrace. No matter what—life or death; earthly possessions or no earthly possessions; home or no home; family business that began in 1957 or no family business; the decision has been made and the stake is in the ground. We will not be moved. Our fears of the unknown are gone. Anxieties over our future are gone. Not through our own gifts, strengths, abilities, or power. We are just ordinary people who trust an extra-ordinary God as He reveals His will in and for our lives. Our faith continues to increase exponentially. We have come to realize that we are not victims of a lawsuit, we are the recipients of a Blessed Event, and that includes the lawsuit and the betrayal of loved ones.
To keep God's story to ourselves and to not share how He ministered to our lives through an elderly woman with advanced dementia would bring dishonor to His name. So, we share it with you in hopes it will encourage you while you travel this journey that God is taking you on. I am enclosing HER NAME WAS JANE: A True Story About God's Faithfulness. I am also enclosing a picture of Jane as I knew her so you can have a visual of who God used to minister to us. I hope it will be an encouragement to you.
Father God,
We come to you right now praising you as the maker of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind. Your Glory is above all, in all, and is all. Your mercy is never ending. We are grateful Father that you have surpassing greatness. We acknowledge you LORD as Yahweh of our lives. We thank you for providing your son Jesus for our Salvation. LORD, we bring to you right now _____ and _______ and their entire family. You know the pain, suffering, and anguish they are feeling. We thank you for the way you have used their lives to minister to other people and to ourselves. We pray that you and others would minister to them. We thank you, Father for being their Savior. We thank you, for being their Hope. LORD, you have called them into the deep. We take comfort in knowing that you have not taken them to the deep to drown them but to reveal yourself to them, build them up, and to bring Honor and Glory to your name. LORD, we know that you have the power to heal _____'s body and to provide for him many more years on earth. That is our desire LORD. But LORD, we also acknowledge that it is not our will that is important. It is only your will that we desire. So Father, we pray that you will reveal your will in and through _____'s life. LORD, you have given _____ the gift of teaching. We pray that the teacher would also be teachable. We ask Father that you would change ____, _____, and their family's hearts and lives to be more like yours as they seek your face. May their hope, strength, and guidance come from you and you alone. What we pray for them Father, we also pray for ourselves. We give them to your hands and we open ours. LORD, we ask that you bless them and bless them indeed. It is in your Almighty name that we pray. Amen.
Next Entry: Luke 18:1–43
No comments:
Post a Comment