Good Courage .
Jeremiah 29:11-13 KJV

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Psalm 27:13,14 KJV

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

I am not qualified to issue any kind of advice about trusting in God and his divine wisdom in the midst of tragedy. I only know that when confronted by great evil, great good breaks through and thrives. As I watched the coverage of the murders at VA Tech this past week, I pictured in my mind the dorm where I had lived, the location of the first two murders. I remember feeling so liberated and relishing my first taste of real freedom as a freshman student. I didn’t do a very good job at maneuvering in that role, but the love for that school, the students and the town remains some thirty years later.

I know I wanted my daughter, in college in northern Virginia, with my here in Richmond when I first heard the news. It was a similar response to the one I had on 9/11, desperately wanting my husband and children in my house, in my physical presence—with me. My heart breaks as a parent. I cannot begin to fathom the agonizing grief of losing a child. I shake my head, unable to grasp the magnitude of the loss to this world of so many good, bright, outstanding human beings. The future was forever changed in two short hours.

I can speak volumes on my thoughts and emotions as a parent, as a former student, as a Hokie football fan, as a human being. As a Christian, I don’t feel qualified. I can relate what the Bible says about forgiveness, hope, grieving, the future. I cannot make sense out of the murders and subsequent suicide, though. I found myself marveling at the grace and dignity with which the families of the dead students conducted themselves, and at how well-spoken and thoughtful the students have been as they not only process the entire event for themselves, but serve as the face and the heart and the soul of Virginia Tech.

More than that, I cannot do. I cannot explain or begin to understand how all this fits into God’s divine plan. I can only trust that it does – that it will. I don’t believe He wanted this to happen! I do believe He began working in the hearts and minds of thousands of people all over the world, the moment the news of the shooting rampage at VA Tech hit the airways. I have already seen communities and states and nations come together to honor those lost. Beyond that, I have seen how God is using tragedy and agony and loss to spark something that may never have been ignited otherwise.

Those truths don’t make it any less painful or difficult to endure. They are, rather all we have to hang on to in the midst of the struggles in our lives—both large and small. To a person, everyone I’ve seen and heard—families, students, faculty—have had “good courage” and give me hope for the future—which God does hold in the palm of his hand.

My prayer today is that you take special note of the way God is working in your heart and in your mind. And that you do everything you can to make this world a better place.

Mary

Labels: shooting, Tech, VA Tech, Virginia Tech

  ¶ 8:15 AM

  Hopelessly In Love .
Joshua 1:8

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.

Vocabulary changes once God enters into the conversation.

If you base every decision in your life upon what God would want you have a much higher responsibility to be thoughtful and serious about your decisions. I’m not just talking about the big, life-changing decisions like who to marry, or when/whether to have children, or if you should accept a job that will require you to relocate. I’m talking about every decision that will impact your day. Should I go to the gym? Should I go to the food bank and volunteer? Should I go to the organizational meeting for the new bible study? Well, if I go, I’ll feel better and I’ll be doing something good for my body/soul/world. The choice seems pretty easy, doesn’t it? But then the phone rings and you decide to talk to your best friend for 30 minutes, and then you have to pick up a couple of things at the grocery store, and you really should pay some bills . . . Don’t get me wrong! All of those are necessary, or at least important!

Speaking only for myself, all too often I allow the necessary and important things to interfere with the things I should be doing to keep in line with God’s desire for my life. I’ve shared at orble.com -- http://www.orble.com/mary-1/ -- that any changes we intend to make in our lives require inviting God into the scenario. I do meditate day and night upon the words of God now. I had stopped doing so for few months, and I found myself in a pretty dark, scary place. I had for some inane reason decided I was going to take charge of my own life. I was going to do exactly—and only—what I wanted to do at any given point in time. Fortunately, God waited for me to realize the folly of my ways. He knows my abilities and limitations and doesn’t hold them against me!

God designed me to write. I have written poetry and had an extremely active imagination as far back as I can remember – before I could even write, my mind was creating stories and I have always viewed the world from a storyteller’s point of view. I am artistic in other ways too and they give me joy, but I don’t long for the opportunities to be creative in other ways. I am inspired to create something sometimes, but I absolutely cannot help but write. A friend asked me some time ago how it felt to “need to write” and I struggled to explain it. I guess had I had my wits about me I would have reminded her (and myself) of the Holy Spirit and how God manifests God’s self in each of us through the Spirit. My writing is truly spirit-inspired, because I could never use such powerful, power-filled words on my own.

They come from God and that is what I mean when I say vocabulary changes once God enters into the conversation. My ability to write is from God. I have made a choice to be a writer. I don’t know if I’ll ever get rich (that has never seemed to be in the cards for me!) I don’t know if I’ll ever reach who it is God intends for me to reach with my words. But I know this: He intends for me to write. He made me a writer to my core – and I am genetically predisposed as well as spiritually infused to write. So I have made a choice to abandon myself to God and leave my future, and that of my family, in His hands. I was encouraged by these from a devotional by Jon Walker at Purpose Driven Life ministries:

Hopelessly in love
. . . The thing is – and this is what deflates all my excuses and rationalizations – abandoning myself to God is a choice. The only thing hindering me from a deep, deep abiding relationship with God is – me. It is my unwillingness to give up those things that distract me from God and my stubborn refusal to make time with God a priority in my life are also choices I choose.

My prayer today is that you fall hopelessly in love with God. And that you meditate on the book of His law day and night.

Mary  ¶ 11:03 AM