Party of four

Party of four

Monday, May 27, 2013

On the road again....

In more ways than one we are "on the road again"!

Reyn has been driving now for over a week....what a blessing!  He was so happy to get his keys back after 6 months of catching rides to/ from work and to any other destination.  For those of you that don't know, in the state of Georgia if you have a seizure you cannot drive for 6 months.  At 6 months your risk of seizure drops significantly so it is legal to drive again.  So this is a BIG milestone!  Reyn officially has his freedom back ;)

I would be remiss if I didn't say THANK YOU to all of you who helped by offering to give Reyn a ride somewhere over the past 6 months!  A special thank you to Hank Bradford who picked Reyn up almost every day for work!  ( If you need a root canal and live near Marietta, GA, Hank is your man!). What a HUGE blessing when you have a toddler and newborn at home.  The morning routine is insane!  And a BIG thanks to Sharon Aird for dropping Reyn off on so many afternoons.  We would not have survived the past 6 months without you!

Reyn and I leave tomorrow for Duke.  He has a follow up MRI and appointments with the doctor on Wednesday.  Please be in prayer for this visit.  We ask for a routine follow up and good news all around!  I will update after the appointment but please pray for my nerves as well.  Reyn is cool, calm and collected but I on the other hand feel a little anxiety starting to creep in.  We truly covet your prayers and are grateful for your friendship.

Love,

Jordan

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Why?

WHY?  It is a short word but there is so much more behind this word.

When Reyn was first diagnosed, my first question to God was "Why?"  It can be a terrible question to wrestle with.  The most interesting part to me is that we often present this question to God with a sense of entitlement and the thought that "You owe me an answer on this one!"  Maybe the rest of you aren't so bold but God knows how to deal with me and put me in my place when necessary.

So, God answered my question in such a clear way a couple of weeks ago.  He brought two verses to my attention while I was listening to a sermon by Charles Stanley.  The best part was that He brought the same verse to my attention 3 times that very week from unrelated material.  Finally, I said, "Ok, I get it God."

Here are the verses.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4  "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

Isaiah 55:8-9  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Thank you God for hitting me over the head with these!  There are simply some things here on this earth that we will not understand but God sees the tapestry of our life from beginning to end and we are called to TRUST Him.  And even though I knew 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 to be true, it was seeing that thought expressed through God's Word that brought it to life for me.  Often times the trials in our lives become our ministry and testimony to others.  We never could have identified with a family facing such an overwhelming diagnosis 6 months ago, but today I can truly empathize with a family facing a scary medical diagnosis.  My only hope is that God uses us to help others in these situations and bring glory to His Kingdom.

This morning our day started off very early.  My typically "great sleepers" woke up at 5:30 and 6:45.  So I decided to turn on Charles Stanley yet again.  Our 2 year old is at that stage where he repeats EVERYTHING he hears...so yes, we must be extremely careful.  But Charles was quoting John 14:6 - (Jesus speaking)  "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  Immediately Jackson (our 2 year old) yelled at the top of his lungs "I AM THE WAY."  And I thought, yep, so many times we think we are the way and we have all of the answers.  But we know deep down that is not the case.  I know that many of you reading this blog do not necessarily believe the Bible to be God's Word but we as Christians believe His Word to be true.  I hope that you also find these verses to be true and that you believe in your heart that GOD LOVES YOU.  Because He does.  I am reminded of that this Mother's Day as I look at my children and know the love I possess for them.  It's amazing to me that God loves me more than that.

So I leave you with Happy Mother's Day to all of the mamas!