I recently played a game on FB which asked the question: what do you see? A series of abstract pictures were shown and you had three choices of what you saw first as you looked at the pic. The idea being that in the end they would be able to tell what type of person you were and what your job/profession was. I got "Writer".
Some might suggest I write too much but you will be disappointed today. Of course I am not sure why you are reading this...never mind.
I have gone through the busiest 10 days in many years but I feel I can finally breath again. They were good days but extremely tiring. Emotionally I woke up a few nights concerned for the day to come. I had little control over what would happen except that I needed to trust God. As a chaplain but more importantly as a follower of Jesus, I got to practice loving those who were doing something I totally disagreed with: taking the life of someone else. I have never had to face a place in my life where I thought there was no hope and that assisted suicide was my only option. Yet there I was saying good-bye to a man I had known for several years, 1 1/2 hours before he was going to leave us. I hope none of you ever have to experience that.
Ecclesiastes 3 talks about the seasons of life that we all go through. The Byrds, a rock band from the 60's made these bible verses famous with the song "Turn, Turn, Turn". I saw much of that bunched into the past 10 days. I officiated 3 weddings (on the same day) aside from the event I mentioned above. I spent two days of First Aid/CPR training at Toronto Police College with the idea that I would be able to perhaps save a life one day. My niece had her engagement party as she prepared for life with the man of her dreams. I participated in the Invictus Games Multi-Faith Celebration as wounded soldiers from around the world gathered to compete. Soldiers who had lost limbs and who had mental health issues associated with their tour of duty. There was more but that's all I will share for now.
I go back however to that question: what do you see? Many see no hope and yet others fight through. It reminds me of Joshua and Caleb in the Old Testament when they went out to spy the land. They and the other spies all saw a strong army that would most assuredly destroy them should they try and pass through. When they went back to Moses with their report, everyone except Joshua and Caleb insisted that they should turn back and not engage this enemy. They all saw the same enemy but only two saw God. They knew God would be on their side and they would be victorious.
Whatever you are facing today, God is on your side. That is not a cute saying but rather fact. One last story from the past 10 days. A young staff member at the long term care where I work, recently went through 6 months of treatment for cancer. She was back at work this week and even with her short hair, she looked absolutely radiant. We talked about her time away and she said something that touched my heart: "my faith in God is the only thing that kept me going". What a tremendous testimony!
10 days in my life that actually had nothing to do with me but impacted me just the same. There is one more thing...I held a Memorial Service at one of the long term care facilities this week. We do this every 6 months and invite family members who have lost loved ones to attend. One daughter stood up and shared how I had done a reading called Footprints in the Sand when her mom left with the funeral home. We call it a Service of Farewell. Without my knowledge, it was her mom's favourite reading and speaks of Jesus carrying us in our most difficult times and that is why there is only one set of footprints in the sand. This daughter had made 25 copies on beautiful stationary of this reading and we handed them out to each family member. Plenty of tears.
Ok, I will really stop there. God bless you!
Some might suggest I write too much but you will be disappointed today. Of course I am not sure why you are reading this...never mind.
I have gone through the busiest 10 days in many years but I feel I can finally breath again. They were good days but extremely tiring. Emotionally I woke up a few nights concerned for the day to come. I had little control over what would happen except that I needed to trust God. As a chaplain but more importantly as a follower of Jesus, I got to practice loving those who were doing something I totally disagreed with: taking the life of someone else. I have never had to face a place in my life where I thought there was no hope and that assisted suicide was my only option. Yet there I was saying good-bye to a man I had known for several years, 1 1/2 hours before he was going to leave us. I hope none of you ever have to experience that.
Ecclesiastes 3 talks about the seasons of life that we all go through. The Byrds, a rock band from the 60's made these bible verses famous with the song "Turn, Turn, Turn". I saw much of that bunched into the past 10 days. I officiated 3 weddings (on the same day) aside from the event I mentioned above. I spent two days of First Aid/CPR training at Toronto Police College with the idea that I would be able to perhaps save a life one day. My niece had her engagement party as she prepared for life with the man of her dreams. I participated in the Invictus Games Multi-Faith Celebration as wounded soldiers from around the world gathered to compete. Soldiers who had lost limbs and who had mental health issues associated with their tour of duty. There was more but that's all I will share for now.
I go back however to that question: what do you see? Many see no hope and yet others fight through. It reminds me of Joshua and Caleb in the Old Testament when they went out to spy the land. They and the other spies all saw a strong army that would most assuredly destroy them should they try and pass through. When they went back to Moses with their report, everyone except Joshua and Caleb insisted that they should turn back and not engage this enemy. They all saw the same enemy but only two saw God. They knew God would be on their side and they would be victorious.
Whatever you are facing today, God is on your side. That is not a cute saying but rather fact. One last story from the past 10 days. A young staff member at the long term care where I work, recently went through 6 months of treatment for cancer. She was back at work this week and even with her short hair, she looked absolutely radiant. We talked about her time away and she said something that touched my heart: "my faith in God is the only thing that kept me going". What a tremendous testimony!
10 days in my life that actually had nothing to do with me but impacted me just the same. There is one more thing...I held a Memorial Service at one of the long term care facilities this week. We do this every 6 months and invite family members who have lost loved ones to attend. One daughter stood up and shared how I had done a reading called Footprints in the Sand when her mom left with the funeral home. We call it a Service of Farewell. Without my knowledge, it was her mom's favourite reading and speaks of Jesus carrying us in our most difficult times and that is why there is only one set of footprints in the sand. This daughter had made 25 copies on beautiful stationary of this reading and we handed them out to each family member. Plenty of tears.
Ok, I will really stop there. God bless you!
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