Life Together

Today we got in the mail the brochure for the 63rd Annual Pepperdine University Bible Lectureship which will be held at Pepperdine May 2-5, 2006. The theme is "Life Together - The Heart of Love & Fellowship in 1 John". The text quoted is I John 3:16 [not John 3:16 - another good verse] which reads:

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."

I was thinking about how God has answered so many prayers for Klint and Rachel this past year. Rachel is still recovering from surgery. She can't wait to start her special driver's rehabilitation course to see if she can qualify for a limited driving privileges license. Her inability to drive and get out has been hard on her and the family. She is still adjusting to her loss of peripheral vision and some of her diminished memory issues. But, she manages to care for Abbey and do all the day-to-day things necessary to care for her child and husband. If someone had said to me when she was in the Henry Ford Hospital ICU last August that Klint and Rachel would be participants in a major university lecturship speaking on the topic "When your wife has 30 minutes to live (Searching for a God we cannot see)" in May 2006, I would have said "Impossible!" Me of little faith! Seeing Klint and Rachel's pictures in this brochure humbled and reminded me of God's faithfulness and power.

I don't comprehend how God uses tragedy and loss to shape and mold our lives, but I believe it is so. Klint and Rachel have a testimony to share that will inspire and lift others up. I would have never wanted Rachel to suffer what she has been through; but, I thank the Lord for answering our prayers and restoring Rachel's health to the point where she can be a wife, mother and servant in the kingdom of God. Life really is all about laying our lives down for others. Our conduct and the way we act do have consequences far beyond what we can see in one lifetime. God is good all the time. We just have trouble seeing it when the world comes crashing in on us at times. When one actually begins to grasp that concept through faith, it leads to great joy even in the midst of sorrow. I can attest to that!