He gives. He takes away: Lets Suffer Well!

Suffering is a real thing. We all face it. It is so easy to say, "well, so many people have to worse than me," but that isn't a fair statement. Pain is pain, and we all understand what it feels like. 

Recently I have been made aware of the realness of suffering. Not current suffering, but that fact that I will face suffering - and probably a lot of it, in my life. This realization came from the life of a man name Job.

Job was a amazing man of God. His life was full of blessings and God allowed Satan to take it all away. By all, I mean ALL. Even his children.... all ten of them died. The important thing to understand is that God Himself allowed the suffering. Job understood that, and worshiped God through his pain.  Yes, he did have times of questioning and felt anger toward God... but he continued to worship. 

More than likely, you have heard of Job, but you probably have not heard of Brittany. Brittany is a young mother of two who daily faces intense suffering similar to Job. She writes this: 

"Hudson and Leila have late infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis better known as batten disease. It took 7 years to get a correct diagnosis on Hudson and as soon as was diagnosed, Leila had a grand mal seizure and was immediately tested and shown to also have battens. Some of the symptoms that helped us know that something was wrong with Hudson (now 8 1/2 years old )were the onset of vision problems and seizures. He first showed major personality and behavior changes. His ability to learn completely stopped and his speech faded very quickly. Clumsiness followed and he sustained a terrible injury to his leg that almost took his life. He now has poor circulation in his arms and legs. his stomach is refusing to empty properly which had led to body fat and muscle mass loss.

Over time, Hudson has suffered mental impairment, worsening seizures, and complete blindness. He cannot speak at all and has no motor skills. He is in a wheel chair and he mentally and physically can only do what a 6 month old can do. Leila is currently going blind and she can no longer go down stairs alone. she is mentally under 2 years old, even though she physically is about to turn six years old. They are both beautiful amazing babies! God has truly blessed me with gorgeous amazing kids! I am enjoying each day with them!! This disease will end their lives between 8-12 yrs old. But as for today they are being lent to me to enjoy. -Brittany"

................

I will never forget the day years ago that I went to the hospital with my parents to visit Hudson and Brittany. I remember leaving confused. Confused to how there was a big smile on Brittany's face while her sweet little boy lay in a hospital bed in pain. Confused of how Brittany had a smile on her face knowing she potentially would have to say goodbye to sweet Hudson one day. 

Recently, I have come to understand why. I understand why Brittany continues to smile. Brittany smiles because she loves God. She doesn't love God for His gifts, but she loves Him for who He is. She doesn't love Him because she has healthy children, a bunch of money, a perfect job, or perfect life - she simply loves God for who He is. She doesn't praise God for the good days, she praises Him everyday. 

I feel confident that like Job, Brittany has faced days of anger, doubt and questioning. I know that she probably doesn't feel as strong as I view her. Brittany is no super hero, she is just like you and me, but her strength has encouraged me. Her continual joy has convicted me. If Brittany can have joy during a trial this big, I can find joy through my trials. 

The God of blessings and the God of suffering are the same God. 

Lets prepare our hearts for suffering.  Lets be a Job. Lets be a Brittany. 

Lets love God for God.... not for His gifts! 

Lets suffer well. 

 The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." - Job 

(Job 1:21)

A Colorful Promise

(I wrote this in my journal while I was leaving Kampala last May. I recently re-read it and decided to share.)

Sitting on a plane waiting for the departure from Kampala and African rain begins rolling down the small plane window. With this beautiful rain comes the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. More unique than any one I have ever seen, I could see its beginning and its end. I sat in awe as I stared at it over amazing African landscape with confidence that God must have painted this breathtaking picture in the sky.

The past few weeks of my life my eyes have been opened to much pain, suffering, and injustice and it breaks my heart. Its hard to know that I am leaving this place to go home to a family, shelter, an abundance of food, and clean water when over 10,000 young boys are sleeping on the streets of Kampala. It is even harder to know that even through all my prayers... God is still going to let them sleep there tonight.

I think about this, and then I think about this rainbow... and I remember the promise of my sovereign God. Genesis 10:13 says, "I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth." God makes many covenants to the earth like in psalms 38:28 which says, "For the Lord loves justice, and He will NEVER abandon the godly." or Psalm 9:18 which says, "But the needy will NOT be ignored forever, the hopes of the poor will NOT always be crushed." Or Psalms 9:9 which says, "The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble."

Looking at this beautiful rainbow I know with confidence that God is reminding me of a promise. God promises to be a shelter for these boys, He promises their needs will not always be ignored, and He promises that He loves justice and will NEVER abandon the godly. He doesn't promise any of us comfort. He doesn't promise any of us shelter, food or clean water. He doesn't promise life is always going to be fair. But the promises He does make are much greater than these.

Ironically, one of my new friends name is Musoke. Musoke means rainbow. This young boy lived on the streets for many years and  now is part of the API family were he has a bed, food, and a lot of people who love him. Most importantly, he loves and worships the God who provided it for him. He is an perfect example of exactly what his name means - the promises of God are so evident in his life. 

The same God who provided for Musoke can and will provide for all 10,000 street boys of Kampala... and for you and me.

How amazing that God can remind me of this mind blowing truth through something as big and beautiful as a rainbow?

Adventures of Trent and Jordan: That's a Wrap, Folks!

Today we had a blast at the pool and followed it up with a Sonic Happy-Hour run!

Then off we went for the last day of Super Summer Adventure - Home Edition club which was a huge success! Water games, a cookout and all the works! So incredibly thankful for my awesome church!

To end our week right we had a bonfire with a bunch of my incredibly awesome friends, which was Trent's idea.While we were there, Trent (and everyone else) even got to see a bunch of snakes eat a bunch of mice. Cool, right?!  A couple s'mores and a lot of fun later, we finally headed for home.

Clearly, I let him stay up way to late because we had our first argument of the week. It didn't really matter because he feel asleep before either one of us could even win.

Tomorrow is His Birthday so I just wrapped presents and booby-trapped our house!

(There are balloons behind the plastic. Hoping it works... the balloons should all fall on him when he opens the door.)

In the morning, bright and early, we are heading to meet our parents and family for birthday breakfast at Trent (and mine's) favorite - Cracker Barrel! After a good meal, Trent and I will part ways! Raleigh (and me) will miss him for sure!

Clearly, I am tired. You could probably tell by the brevity of this post.

It has been a great week of adventures! Looking forward to tomorrow morning's grand finally!