Sometimes God Whispers, Sometimes He Shouts

Dena and I met for prayer last night after a summer of sporadically meeting. Our prayer time has become such a comfortable, easy, blessed time of assurance that the pressure of "needing" to meet every single week is no longer an issue. We know we will pick it up as soon as we are both available and God is already there waiting for us.

Last night as we were catching up with each other's lives for the past few weeks, we agreed that this summer we had both experienced life altering events. Dena compared these events to the first time you get glasses or after you've had glasses for a while and you get new ones. Suddenly the world has a little sharper focus, colors are brighter, you can see bark on the trees. That's how our life altering events have been and now we can see the hand of God a little more clearly. Dena's event involved birth, mine involved death. Which may seem unfair or sad for me, but if we have placed our trust in God, then our response to these events has to be I will continue to trust You and "thy will be done."

Dena and Greg have their first grandchild, Ash. Dena sees the miracle of life, of birth, how each person is created by God. Their family has changed, they have a new normal with the joyous addition of Ash. To say that Dena is entralled, completely enraptured, head over heels over Ash doesn't really give justice to how much she loves this baby. Love oozes out of her as she talks about him and about her daughter, Emily.

I lost my dad. I see how precious life is, how fragile life can be. Our family has changed too, we have a new normal with the loss of my dad, but this change will never feel normal. However, I have been shown how a person can live a quiet life and watch for opportunities to make a difference in someone's life and make use of that opportunity. My mom and dad had the privilege of getting to know a family who are very good friends with Barb. Their daughter got married a few weeks ago and my mom, along with Nicki, went up to Minneapolis for the wedding. The young bride and her husband mentioned in their wedding program, the memory of people who had passed away who had meaning in their life and they included my dad. My mom was so honored that they did this. They, in turn, took the opportunity to return the blessings my mom and dad had given them. It encourages me to watch for those chances. I can be the rock that gets thrown in the water and causes the ripples. I don't have to be famous or have a whole bunch of money to cause a ripple.

I am reminded to take the life altering events God sends me and learn from them and be thankful for the lessons. The ones that bring joy and the ones that bring sorrow.

Continuing to Praise,