Thursday, June 26, 2008

BLESSED BE YOUR NAME


There seems to have been a thousand things that have gotten in the way of me writing this post about our day at therapy last Wednesday. But no more. I'm not going to get up until this is done.

Because it was sooooooooooooooooooo good!

God is always good. He doesn't just do good things. He is good. God defines the word good.

Remember when Jesus asked the rich, young ruler, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is God." Matthew : 19 : 17.

I have learned there are times we praise God, not because of what we see, but just because of who He is. Sometimes, a cloud of pain and disappointment blind us to the good things He is doing in our lives. The cloud blinds us to the gifts He has given. We know the gifts are there, but we can't see them through the haze and fog of our pain.

I'm sure you have heard the song, "Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt and Beth Redman.

Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful,
Where Your streams of abundance flow,
Blessed be Your name.
And blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place,
Though I walk through the wilderness,
Blessed be Your name.

Blessed be Your name when the sun's shining down on me.
When the world's "all that it should be,"
Blessed be Your name.
And blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering,
Though there's pain in the offering,
Blessed be Your name.

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise.
And when the darkness closes in, Lord,
Still I will say,

Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your name.
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your glorious name.

You give and take away.
You give and take away.
But my heart will choose to say,
"Lord, blessed be Your name."


We have praised God in the suffering. We have pushed through the pain to do it. But Wednesday was not one of those times.

The sun was shining on us Wednesday and we knew who had sent it.

Ethan was apprehensive about going to therapy. He doesn't like for people to feel sorry for him or for them to think he is mentally disabled. So, we had a talk about what rehabilitation means. It means the therapist and the insurance company believe a person can get better. That they can get back much of what was lost. It means they believe a person can relearn how to do things or develop other ways of doing them. I told Ethan that to me "rehab" means working hard to do our part in the miracle God has performed and is performing. God chooses to do things for His children in many ways. I also reminded him, that the four months he was in a coma, he didn't qualify for therapy. No one thought he was going to live, much less wake up talking!

The sun was shining on us as we actually got to therapy fifteen minutes early. Ya'll, that just doesn't happen with us. I almost took a picture of the clock!

Right before they called Ethan back, he once again said he didn't want to go. I don't want to ever minimize what Ethan is feeling. I live with him every day and I know I can't even begin to understand. I brought up something Ethan is very passionate about: the young guys in Iraq, and their bravery. After that, he decided doing therapy was nothing.

Occupational therapy was first and Jim went back with him while I waited in the waiting room. I had my Bible and a Beth Moore book called, "Breaking Free." I've read it umpteen times. But I wanted to read the chapters on God's Unfailing Love again.

There were quite a few older patients sitting in the waiting room with me. A mother came in, pushing her little girl in a stroller. The little girl was about 18 months and she looked like a baby doll. She had been born with special needs and was there for "early intervention therapy." With my degree in special education, the thought of early intervention for this little one was fascinating. She looked around the room to find someone to make eye contact with. I smiled at her and kept reading my book. It was obvious she wanted to play, so I put my book down and walked over to her.

I knelt down in front of her stroller and told her if she wanted some attention, I was there to fill the job. I tickled and rubbed her little, bare feet. She smiled all over and my heart melted. After a while, I went and sat back down, still making faces at her. She made them right back. Her mom looked at my book and said, "I love Beth Moore." Well, what a conversation starter! We talked about the different Beth Moore Bible studies we had done and what they had meant to us. She told me about the nursery at her church and how the women love her special baby.

This beautiful mom told me about what a miracle her baby's life was. About the heart surgeries and the struggles they had already gone through. I told her about our miracle. It didn't take long for us to be sitting there in the waiting room praising God for what he had done in our lives and in the lives of our babies. Her baby 18 months and my baby 25.

We talked about how we didn't know how we had been able to do all that we had been asked to do for our children. And we both agreed, it really hadn't been us. It had been God. He had carried us and was still carrying us. I felt like I had known this precious mother forever. That is what it means to be of One Spirit. We have the same Father. The same Saviour. She is my sister. And how wonderful that this beautiful, special baby girl has a mother that loves God.

By that time my heart was so full I can hardly stand it. A baby to play with and someone to talk to about Jesus. Way too much!

Jim and Ethan came out of OT and were talkative and excited as they shared with me about the last hour. We walked next door to the hospital and found the cafeteria. We had a nice, quite little break. So many times, especially when we are away from home, things are unpredictable. The wheels can fall off real fast. But Wednesday things went smooth. Jim and I both noticed.

When we came out of the hospital to go back next door for speech therapy, Jim said, " I feel like I am on vacation at a resort." The flowers around the facility were gorgeous. The lawn looked like it had been cut by hand. The sky was a beautiful color of blue. And even though it was unbelievably hot, there was a breeze blowing in off the gulf. All good gifts.

The plan was for me to go into speech with Ethan but it didn't work out that way. I once again waited in the waiting room. My little friend and her mother weren't there but I enjoyed the time I had to read. I read the verses that Beth Moore spoke of in the chapters about Unfailing Love, and I also read Psalms 107. That particular Psalm is full of warnings. But it is also full of God's unbelievable mercy. The Message calls this mercy, "God's marvelous love, His miracle mercy to the children He loves." That would be me! .

An older woman walked past me and she asked me if I was reading a Bible. I said, "Yes, ma'am." She said, "Oh, I have some of those at home." For some reason, that made me feel sad. I remembered when my Bibles sat at home. Sat unopened and unread. I hoped that woman's Bibles weren't like that.

Jim and Ethan came out of speech, laughing, telling me all about the tips and ideas the therapist had used to help Ethan slow down his speech and to speak louder. We laughed all the way to the car as we were clapping and counting to help Ethan with his speaking rhythm and cadence.

God tells us in Proverbs 13 : 12 that "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." The opposite is true. Hope makes the heart well.

The trip home was relaxing. Even the radio talk show that Ethan likes to listen to wasn't as loud and obnoxious as usual.

We praise God in the storms, sometimes because we have to. If we don't remind ourselves who He is, we know we don't have a chance. If we don't run to Him, we know we will be blown away. But I don't ever want to forget to praise Him and thank Him for the calm. Days when the sun is shining. We seem to go through periods when we see more clouds than sunshine. I wonder though, could it be because we look for the clouds? Because we have come to expect them? I know there will be hard days. Days when it seems nothing is going right. But maybe there are some days when the sun is shining and we just don't see it.

God, give me eyes to see. I want to expect the sun to shine.

Thursday morning I woke up and the first thing I thought was, "God, you were so good to us yesterday. Things went so smoothly. It was such a nice day."

Then, I believe God caused me to remember something I had forgotten. Several days before, I had gone for a walk by myself. I had my i-pod playing and with tears running down my face, I asked God, "Could it just be a little easier? Could you just make it a little easier, at least for one day?

And He did.

I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill.
Psalm 3 : 4

He really did.











2 comments:

  1. Beautiful. I am so glad He gave you a good day. I pray He will give you a good week coming up. That you will see Him in everything you do. Thanks for sharing. LOVE YOU. MaryLois

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  2. Cheri you have such a wonderful way of getting things across in an interesting way and so positive!! It was very uplifting to read your blog and I am glad that Ethan had a good day in therapy. I hope all continues to go well. Say hello to him for me.

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