Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Two-Month Retrospective

The Lord woke me up early on Monday morning. He used my daughter to do it, but I know it was Him. I can't remember ever being wide awake at 4:00 am, but I was that day. I soon realized that it was the twenty-seventh—exactly two months since my husband, Brent, had been critically injured in an attempted robbery at the bank where he works. As I lay there, I started enumerating the things I have learned from this experience, and I want to share some of them with you here.

For the reader or two who may not be aware of what I am talking about... On the morning of October 27, Brent arrived at the bank where he works to find a gunman in his office holding his close friend and co-worker, Matt, hostage. The gunman's intention was to rob the bank, but Matt and Brent arrived earlier than he anticipated and foiled his plan. The vault is on a timer, and the loan officers do not have access to the code to open the vault. Otherwise, they would have gladly accommodated him!

In the events that followed, Brent was gun butted in the head, suffered a dislocated shoulder, and was shot through both thighs with what we later learned was a .357 Magnum. Miraculously, the bullet hit no bones, nerves, or blood vessels. After seeing the entry and exit locations of the bullet in Brent's right leg, one doctor said that it was "an act of God" that the bullet did not hit his femoral artery. Thankfully, Matt suffered no physical injuries. However, he had been held at gunpoint for nearly thirty minutes before Brent arrived. We are confident that Matt's actions that morning saved Brent's life.

Brent's recovery and return to normalcy have been miraculous. He will always have scars and aches and pains as a result of the physical injuries he sustained, but it could have been so much worse, and we are thankful that it was not. Anyone who believes in the sovereignty of God understands that there is a purpose in the circumstances He allows in our lives, and that being the case, we should always be attentive to what He is trying to teach us through our experiences. I know that there are things I will never understand this side of heaven, but where I can know and understand, I want to be faithful to use the lessons I have learned to grow as follower of Jesus Christ. As I told a friend of mine, I do not want to go back to being who I was before this happened.

That being said, following are some of the things I have learned through this experience:

1. How you react to and handle circumstances largely determines how your children will react to and handle them.

Brent actually called me himself that morning to let me know what had happened. (He neglected to tell me that he thought he was bleeding to death!) He calmly and very succinctly told me there had been an attempted robbery, he had been shot in the leg (no "s"!), and to meet him at the emergency room. After making a few phone calls, during which I was quite shaken, I was able to calmly communicate to my children what had happened, that I had talked to Daddy myself, and that he was fine. We then sat on the floor together, and I prayed. Before I had finished, my friend Bronwyn had arrived to take charge of the children, and her husband, Philip soon took me to the hospital.

Bronwyn took the children on to school, and later, my mom arrived in town and took them back to our home with her. She told me a about their conversations that day. The children had many questions, and they were somewhat fearful that first night, but by the time we came home the following evening, they seemed to be fine. They still occasionally ask if the robber has been caught (He has not.), but they do not seem fearful or to have otherwise been affected. We have not tried to hide the truth from them, and we take every opportunity we can to glorify the Lord before them. I believe that, like for us, this experience has strengthened their faith.

2. His grace IS sufficient.

My children have handled these circumstances so well because I have handled them so well, and that has been by the grace of God. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a crier. I am not easily emotionally manipulated, but if there is genuine emotion to be experienced in a situation, I am likely to experience it. I have often wondered what people sitting around me in church think of me, I am so prone to tears. However, beyond shedding a few tears while making phone calls that morning and reacting to the doctor's report at the emergency room, I did not cry at all. I was amazingly calm. I never questioned why this had happened to us. I rested completely in the sovereign will and unfailing love of the Father, and He was faithful. I can now say with confidence that I have known the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

3. Grown men still cry.

I was extremely touched by the number of men who expressed their love and concern for Brent. The visits, phone calls, text messages, emails, cards, and Facebook postings encouraged him and kept him occupied during the days he was not able to be up and about. Not a few of our male visitors wept openly upon seeing Brent for the first time after the shooting. Many of them prayed with him. Brent is a very quiet and reserved man, so it is easy for him to assume that he doesn't have that many friends. This experienced has proven otherwise.

4. Do not underestimate or undervalue the Body of Christ.

When I refer to the Body of Christ, I don't just mean our home church, I mean fellow believers throughout our community and the people they are in contact with all over the world. Hundreds of people we don't even know were praying for us, and we could tell! (See number two, above.) People we barely know sent cards and brought over meals. When we started getting out again, Brent was hugged and encouraged wherever we went. I have never felt so loved in my life as I was during this time that, in human terms, should have been unbearably difficult. God places his children in the Body for our benefit and His glory, and when we neglect His design and our place in it, we shortchange ourselves and the potential for blessing.

5. There are no insignificant acts of grace.

I can't take credit for that pithy phrase. I heard it first from my pastor several years ago, and I never forgot it. It has proven especially true in recent months. I think people, myself included, often don't do anything to minister to people in crisis because we don't know what to do, and we don't know what to say. Brent and I have learned that it doesn't really matter. Just being there is what matters. There were a number of people who drove to Savannah to the trauma center and just sat in the waiting room, never able to see Brent, but we knew they were there. We had visitors that I would have never expected. They often didn't say very much. They certainly didn't attempt to wax eloquent or philosophize on the situation. One woman whom I had only met once or twice and whose daughter was in a coma on another floor in the same hospital came down to speak to me and gave me all of the money in her pocket so I could buy a Diet Coke. Just letting someone know that you are there and that you care, matters.

I have learned some other things that I won't share here, and as time goes by, I'm sure God will reveal more, but for now, I want to be faithful to the spirit of II Corinthians 1: 3-7:
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
You have shared in our sufferings. I hope that through what I have written here you will share in our comfort.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Way to Rest for the Heart

I am currently reading The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. Following is a passage from the book that will encourage you. Tozer quotes Isaiah 42:16 and 45:2-3 in this text.

To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never quite being certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.

There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over management of our lives the moment we turn to faith in Him. Here is His promise: "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will do unto them, and not forsake them."
Let Him lead thee blindfold onwards,
Love needs not to know;
Children whom the Father leadeth
Ask not where they go.
Though the path be all unknown,
Over moors and mountains lone.
--Gerhard Tersteegen
God constantly encourages us to trust Him in the dark. "I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by name, and the God of Israel."

It is heartening to learn how many of God's mighty deeds were done in secret, away from the prying eyes of men or angels. When God created the heavens and the earth, darkness was upon the face of the deep. When the Eternal Son became flesh, He was carried for a time in the darkness of the sweet virgin's womb. When He died for the life of the world, it was in the darkness seen by no one at the last. When he arose from the dead, it was "very early in the morning." No one saw Him rise. It is as if God were saying, "What I am is all that need matter to you, for there lie your hope and peace. I will do what I will do, and it will all come to light at last, but how I do it is My secret. Trust Me, and be not afraid."

With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Piper Sermons on Love in I Corinthians 13

Last week in class, I read from a couple of John Piper sermons to help us better understand the characteristics of love listed in I Corinthians 13. As promised, following are the links to those sermons.

What Love Does and Does Not Do

Dying as a Means of Loving, Part 2

Grace Note

I took this photo at George L. Smith State Park on November 20, 2010. The park includes a 412-acre cypress lake. That morning, as I was reading Isaiah and occasionally looking out the windows at the lake, I encountered Isaiah 55:13:

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

There is no way that it was a coincidence that I read this passage while overlooking a 412-acre cypress lake. I never cease to be amazed by God's unfailing love and the evidences of his grace in everyday life.

Speaking of God's unfailing love or "chesed," Michelyn directed me to this post last week. Don't miss it!

Reading Habits

I try to read three blogs on a regular basis: (1) Desiring God Blog, with which you should be familiar since I link to it regularly, (2) Challies.com, and (3) Ligonier Ministries Blog. The first two are very accessible for the lay person. The third can be pretty intellectual, but it is worth the effort. I confess that I skip the occasional Ligonier post that is beyond my ability to adequately concentrate.

Out of all three of these blogs and the variety of contributors they include, my consistent favorite is Paul Tripp. He posts at Desiring God Blog, and his writing always blesses me. You can find his most recent post, "The Shortest Distance Between Points," here. Click on his name at the top of the post to read more of his posts. Tripp is also the author of many well-respected books, including The Age of Opportunity, a parenting book that I strongly recommend. Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands and War of Words are on my Amazon wish list.