Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
This past Sunday Tom D. filled in for Pastor Ben and shared with us from James 1. He focused on two passages in chap. 1, the first: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." The second: "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." Tom later told my sister that he had spoke this message for Mom and I.
Besides the Lord using O Holy Night, then comforting me through His Word in James 1, what I needed to hear the most is what Tom described as "One of his weird thoughts." He quoted the Scripture above from Genesis 1, then explained that he feels as though the Lord gave us time... days, seasons and years... "as signs", simply because He knew that our finite minds and hearts needed it. I needed to hear this because often times I had felt almost guiltily for wanting to kick a former year to the curb... as it were. After all, when you look at passages like those from James chap. 1, then look at a year like 2009, the seemingly obvious Christian response would be to say "No don't go 2009!! I need more trials to rejoice in!!" Yet we're not to rejoice in the trials... even Christ did not do so. Rather we are to consider it all joy.
Adam and I were both sort of at the end of our ropes earlier this week. Usually when one of us is at the bottom of the rope, the other one of us is at the other end trying to pull the "perishing" spouse back in... the Lord has worked it out like that for us in every aspect of our marriage (i.e. one sleep deprived spouse, gets much needed sleep, while the newly energized spouse stays up with the babies all night... one of us is feeling quite like James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life, and the other is Clarence the Angel, etc. etc.). At one point this past wk, I remembered how when, even before Adam and I were married, we used to talk about how we "just knew" that we were going to have "hard lives, but rich lives" together. My visions (literally visions) were of us purchasing this enormous abandon home in the N. Side of the Burgh and turning it into a youth home... or just a safe haven for the young people of the city. Later we caught the vision of serving the Lord as missionaries in the Middle East... all very "romantic",and 'grand" in a way. I never thought it would be Autism, long term house guests... or the loss of three babies in utero..., church splits, and watching my Dad, my hero, suffer tremendously and die from cancer... not so romantic... not so "huge". Yet, here we are, at the end of thirteen years... the thirteenth being one year that was full of some real trials... the Lord gave... He gave us Teodata and Santino... He gave, and gave and gave... He also took away, and although what He gave, and continues to give us, will always outweigh what He takes away, it doesn't make the loss(es) any less painful.
We consider it all joy... we have abundant, rich lives together, me and my Other Self. Our lives aren't so romantic, but Adam certainly is. We are taking the blessings with us to 2010 and the joy in and from our trials, but we're kicking the bad memories of 2009 to the curb... pressing onward to our higher calling in Christ Jesus... in a brand new season.
Thank you Lord for thirteen good hard yrs with my Adam. Happy Anniversary Habeeptee. Happy New Year to all.
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