NOTE: For those who have followed this blog I apologize for a delay in posting. On March 10, 2010 we had a devistating fire that completely threw me off my routine. I posted the following article on my personal blog days after the fire. We hope to be fully back to posting articles in the coming weeks. God Bless.
It began with the emergency call code from Angie to me. [ NOTE: If you don't have one of these I recommend it. When I'm in a meeting or otherwise unavailable at work I press "ignore" when she calls which sends her call immediately to voicemail. She then redials and I know to answer because it's an emergency.] During my Wednesday morning meeting in Austin I answered to hear that our house (in Merkel) was on fire. Considering the situation she was surprisingly calm, frantic yes…but definitely not hysterical. Once the front windows broke and flames with smoke rushed from the house we both knew it was best for Angie to go next door to her parent’s home and wait instead of watch. As she was walking in I could hear through the phone the horns blowing for firefighters to evacuate and let it burn.
The fire department was on the scene within minutes of Angie’s call to 911. We found out later someone passing the house had called earlier so they got a head start. Even with the quick response there was nothing that could be done. Our house burned from a mix of accidental ignition of a heat source warming the dogs and 35 mph (with gusts to 50) winds. Even with seemingly initial success in controlling the blaze, the fire and wind created a blow torch effect that would require more water to extinguish than the two Merkel trucks and seven Abilene trucks could possibly pump. The responders fought until exhausted and made the correct choice to retreat, there wasn’t one thing in the house worth even an injury. Thank you to the Merkel VFD and Abilene FD for their efforts, you just can’t beat nature.
I have thanked God every day for Amie’s presence at our house on that day. She only periodically helps Angie clean the house but without screaming for Angie to come downstairs when she saw the smoke, Angie would have been in the shower on the second floor and endangered at best. I’m thankful Angie didn’t open the door to the back porch where the blaze was raging, the wind would have certainly blown the flames into her and Amie and I would be typing this from the hospital She could have thought she could save the dogs (they got out anyway) or put the fire out with her kitchen extinguisher (too late for that) but she had the presence of mind under pressure to just evacuate.
The community of Merkel is phenomenal…I will certainly write more on this in the coming weeks, we would not be as strong right now without the hundreds of our friends and neighbors who showed up to help.
Service to community and help to fallen comrades are tenets so engrained in the ethos of the Texas Army National Guard that we were almost overwhelmed with support. It took direct orders and a promise of future help to keep these Great Americans away. I will always be grateful to God for the blessing of working with such a great organization.
So we find ourselves at zero. Even with the donations of clothes and essentials from the community we still can fit our earthly possessions into the back of my truck. We have always talked big talk that we don’t put any stock on earthly things but the talk falls flat when we actually lose everything. An inventory runs in our minds of all the things we lost…
It’s not so much the loss of stuff that causes sadness but the loss of the memories connected to the stuff. We are saddened to think of losing Angie’s wedding ring, wedding dress, childhood doll “Susie,” cookbook collection, and high school cheer uniforms (into which she still fit!); Chelsea’s impressive collection of books, cheer and dance gear, senior scrapbook, and American Girl dolls; Chera’s sports medals, cheer gear, scrapbooks, snow globe collection, and artwork; The Bible I carried through combatin Iraq and my Jeep (it’s a jeep thing you wouldn’t understand) [Note: Monkey is safely secured at my parent's house because my mother rightfully decided years ago I wasn't responsible enough to have him yet] .
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust [and fire] destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust [and fire] do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20 (NIV)
On Wednesday night we had a family meeting in our hotel room to discuss the importance of the day. I believe that with every life changing event there WILL BE change. It’s up to us to make it positive. After a family hug we all confirmed that stuff didn’t matter and our memories will survive without the stuff. More importantly, we had each other.
The GREAT thing is we are only at zero in terms of possessions. We are blessed beyond description in so many other ways.
- We still have treasures in heaven by the grace of God through Jesus Christ
- Our family has never been closer and each are stronger
- We live in the greatest community in the world
- I work for an organization dedicated to service to others
- Starting at zero gives us the unique opportunity to rebuild with focus on what’s REALLY important
We are thankful and at peace…Shalowm
“Boys! Settle down! Come over here. Stop bothering your brother and listen.”
“Yes father,” they replied in unison jostling each other as they sit at his feet.
“Remember the stories I’ve been telling you?” The father replied.
“Yes, father”
“Boys it’s so important that you remember. Carry these stories with you and remember them always. You will tell your children these stories so that our identity as a people will never be forgotten.”
“Father, tell us about the animals” one replied.
“No. NO! I want to hear about the fruit and flowers in the garden.” The other one yelled.
“Okay boys settle down” the man chuckled, “I will tell you both, because it was a wonderful time, a time that will live in my mind as both joy and deep sorrow.
Everything was perfect. Your mother and I would awaken every morning with an incomparable joy, we loved each other, and we loved our home. It was a time of peace and happiness, we had no worry and everything we needed was provided without work or effort.
My dearest cousin’s husband is dying. How odd that phrase when , in fact, we are all dying, just at different times. For an atheist the idea of death must be one of great loss and despair. To have as your only hope, “like the little dog rover, when you’re dead you’re dead all over,” would not be extremely comforting. I suspect most atheists don’t remind themselves of death very often. Yet, we are surrounded by it. Every day the local paper reports them in the “obit” section. I am very happy to report that my cousin’s family are not atheists and have a comfort available to them that is not the case for people that prefer to “go it alone” without God. There are days when my cousin’s husband just wants to go on and leave the old shell behind, but he lingers. Even in asking, “why,” we know, if we’re honest in our quest for the answer. I believe the answer is the one given by one actor to another in a movie I saw once. One asked the other on the occasion of leaving this life for the next, “It’s hard to let go isn’t it?”
Physical life is precious, it’s a gift of God, yet, eternal life is so much more a gift. The transformation from one to the other is a great mystery. In his great novel, “If Winter Comes”, A.S.M. Hutchinson describes how a young man named Freddie Perch who had just been killed in the war (WW I) came back to help his mother die. He was the type of son that would never allow his mother to even cross a road without him. And here he was to help his mother cross the greatest road in her life.
She was moaning…. That inhabitant of her body had done its preparations and now stood at the door in the darkness, very frightened. It wanted to go back. It had been very accustomed to being here. It could not go back. It did not want to shut the door. The door was shutting. It stood and shrank and whimpered there….. It was old Mrs. Perch that stood there whimpering, shrinking upon the threshold of that huge abyss, wide as space, dark as night …
Do you have a good friend? What a great blessing if you do! If you have several as I do, then you are many blessed. In the great movie, “A Wonderful Life”, the angel Clarence wrote in the book he left George, “ no man is a failure who has friends”. The wise Solomon said that there is a friend that can be even closer than a brother. I suspect that kind of friend is what we call a “true” friend.
Friends are the flowers of life – what a dismal place this would be without friends. Storms will come and go and when they do, friends are what carry us through when we’re weak and weary – too weak, too weary to take one more step. Shakespeare had Cassius say in his play, “Julius Caesar”, “ a friend should bear his friend’s burdens”. Perhaps Shakespeare was restating what the apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians, “carry each other’s burdens…”. And what a blessing to have the Greatest Friend of all. “What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear…..”.
I think the following poem by the great poet, Henry Van Dyke says so much of what a true friend is.
A MILE WITH ME
By Henry Van Dyke
O WHO will walk a mile with me
Along life’s merry way?
A comrade blithe and full of glee,
Who dares to laugh out loud and free,
And let his frolic fancy play,
Like a happy child, through the flowers gay
That fill the field and fringe the way
Where he walks a mile with me.
And who will walk a mile with me
Along life’s weary way?
A friend whose heart has eyes to see
The stars shine out o’re the darkening lea,
And the quiet rest at the end o’ the day,-
A friend who knows, and dares to say,
The brave, sweet words that cheer the way
Where he walks a mile with me.
With such a comrade, such a friend,
I fain would walk till journey’s end,
Through summer sunshine, winter rain,
And then? – Farewell, we shall meet again!
Every Sunday my family participates in a worship service at our community’s nursing home. On most Sunday’s we shake hands, hug necks, sing for the residents and listen to a message from the Word. On one particular Sunday morning I received so much more.
As I was preparing for the service an older lady wheeled herself towards me by carefully walking her feet in front of her chair. As I approached her with my best Sunday morning “glad to see ya” attitude she grabbed my arm, pulled it to her face and slowly pet me. She pulled me down close to her face and asked, “Is your name Scott?”
“No ma’am, my name is Greg. That’s Scott over there” I replied.
She continued, “This morning I let the cows and the dogs out into the pasture and they are trampling everything down in the field.”
Realizing her consciousness was based in a reality from years past, I mumbled faux words of agreement and encouragement. I was playing along to enhance her reality but beginning to pull away when she grabbed my arm again and said, “Is your name Robert?”
“No ma’am, my name is Greg.”
“Are you my son?”
“No ma’am,” I gulped, realizing engaging in further deception would likely lead to hurt. She continued with a new story about setting a match to the pasture and burning all of the trash, I didn’t catch the details being distracted by the mission of extracting myself from the situation saying something like “Ok, I understand, have a good day” while patting her gently on the back.
As I was walking away she called to me, cupping her hands around her mouth and calling in a loud whisper that came out like a fained yell “Hey, I love you.”
In a moment, my heart was broken.
Throughout the service I fixed my eyes on the precious sister and thought:
- Even when everything else is failing, Love is still present.
- My love had been superficial, based on my comfort and reality – not on hers.
Peter wrote about the love Christ intended for believers, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart” I Peter 1:22 (TNIV). The message is clear, Christians are purified by the blood of Christ and obedient faith in order to love each other so deeply, it never leaves regardless of the condition.
Later in his letter Peter continues, “… all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” I Peter 3:8 (TNIV). Like he was writing these words directly to me I know my love in those moments was neither empathetic (like-minded), sympathetic, compassionate, or humble. Rather is was based on MY feelings, MY reality, and compassion for MY comfort – not humble at all. I suspect most Christians struggle to develop the kind of love Christ commanded when he answered the teacher of the law who asked him about the most important commandment:
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 (TNIV)
Love God (check), love myself (check), love others (well…). Even though her mind was tricking her consciousness, the elder sister taught me two valuable lessons:
- Love deeply to the very end
- Love others as they are, not as I am
Spreading the gospel on Twitter? Use these suggested Christian tweets related to this article:
- Even when everything else is failing, Love is still present http://ow.ly/rjrL
- Love deeply to the very end and love others as THEY are not as I am http://ow.ly/rjrL
- The elder sister cupped her hands and called in a loud whisper like a fained yell “Hey, I love you.” http://ow.ly/rjrL
- … all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble http://ow.ly/rjrL
- Christians are purified by the blood of Christ and our obedient faith in order to love each other deeply http://ow.ly/rjrL
- …you have purified yourselves…so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart http://ow.ly/rjrL
“All the glory is due you! You are the Holy One! You’re the One, You’re the only One!”
I listen as my family and I sing these words. We sit together as one unit, one band of people suffering through a tragic loss; if you only knew what we had been through. You wouldn’t believe it if you could hear us singing these words with all of our hearts. You wouldn’t believe that just a little over a month ago, we lost one of our family members to cancer. A little girl, we loved her without measure and now she is gone. We are upset and we do struggle through life sometimes. However, you would never believe it if you could hear us now. We hold our heads high as we show God that we trust His judgment. “You’re the One, You’re the only One!” We know it, we believe it, and we sing it with pride… together.
Chelsea Chaney is a 17 year old Christian who loves God and Christ. She is a leader and inspiration to her family and friends. In addition to being active in the church, she is the captain of the high school varsity cheer squad, senior class president, student council president, book club president, and publicist for the Spanish club.
And my daughter…
The book of Acts presents a beautiful picture of early Christian believers and their natural desire to be together. The model then was clearly not just a Sunday morning assembly but a model of assembly together, focusing on each others needs and praising God as one.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47 NIV)
I attended a small town congregation on Sunday and there was a good 20 feet between groupings of family and friends during worship, not as I imagine when reading Acts. If you are a new Christian, seek out a church family who love one another and worship as one every chance they get. If you are part of a congregation that on Sunday mornings resembles a doctor’s office waiting room during flu season, don’t leave – be the one to bring people together. A healthy Christian community focuses on assembling together not just on the assembly.
