A time for rain

We all know that life brings both the good and the bad, the rain and the sun. This past week has been no exception. The first part of the week was nothing but one graduation celebration after another - cheering students on into the next phase of their lives.

Only hours after the last graduation we attended, however, we were given an unpleasant reminder that life is unpredictable, and tenuous. We got a call early Thursday morning that one of our students had sustained a terrible injury from a fall during her grad night celebrations, and had to be taken to the emergency room in an ambulance.

We've spent most of the past four days in the hospital, holding hands, praying, talking with her family, checking with nurses and doctors, calling friends from school and church, and basically trying to help any way we can. I'm physically exhausted, but times like this have a way of spiritually sharpening you, reminding you what's most important in life. My dishes are piling up, and it's ok.

People keep asking me how I'm doing, and it just feels weird to respond to that. Has it been an easy week? No, but how can I complain of a little temporary tiredness when I get to go home and sleep in my own bed at the end of the night? (I won't lie and say I'm fine, but then I feel guilty for sounding complain-ey) I'm really not even sure how I should blog about this - I don't want to be insensitive, self-centered, or insincere. What can one say in this sort of situation?

Right now, there is an amazing young woman who has her flight booked for the Guatemala mission trip in two weeks, laying in a hospital bed without use of her legs. I don't get it. I'm really praying that the Lord wants to see her standing up in Guatemala, testifying to the power of prayer and a God that performs miraculous healings. And, I'm praying that His purposes in this crazy event will someday, somehow make sense.

I know that God is good. And, He often decides to work in ways that we just don't get until later, if at all. So, how that happens and what it looks like here remains to be seen. For now, we're taking it one day at a time.

Your prayers for this student are appreciated.

"Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord..."