Life is an Adventure . . .
A few years ago, Tom and I had an experience I will likely remember for a long time. We spent two nights and three days taking care of our two grandkids in their own home (and cribs). They were just over a year old at the time. Their parents had to be away for the first time and it was difficult for them. We were a bit anxious too, and did not sleep well the night before, making things even harder for ourselves!
As life would have it, within hours after they left, Quinn (our hearty little boy), suddenly grew listless and had a fever. Fear surged through my veins. But he responded well to medicine and by bedtime was much better.
But that night we got a violent and very loud thunderstorm. It woke up both dogs (two lovely and protective German Shepherds) and the twins. Of course, the power went out. Losing air conditioning, the upstairs quickly became sweltering. The twins started crying loudly. We quickly went to their room only to find Quinn had vomited on his sheets. We took turns holding and softly reassuring them and ourselves that everything was okay, while searching for a flashlight to clean up the mess and find new sheets!
Tom found a flashlight and brought it into the hot, dark, and now smelly room of vomit and wet diapers, and said to Quinn, “Quinnie, this is an adventure!” Quinn was at the parroting stage of language development and echoed, “An adventure!” in his sing-songy little boy voice. Very cute.
I muttered to myself, “Well, I don’t like this part of the adventure!“ My own foot pain (I had plantar faciitis at the time) and the smell of Quinn’s sick tummy made mine churn too. Tom held Quinn in his arms and I, Rowan, and as we gently rocked them back and forth we sang softly to them. Quinn chatted with “Bumpa” and Rowan snuggled in my arms and laid her little head on my shoulder . . . and, guess what? I felt something warm down my back. Yes, she vomited over my shoulder.
Another clean up, more tears, and hot sweat in our arms. But soon all was well and we sang them to sleep.
By the way, this was one time we were very grateful for cell phone connections to mommy and daddy!
Truthfully, life itself IS an adventure. From the moment we utter our first cry to the last goodbye as we leave.
Those of you who follow TSJ notices and emails know our church friend, Mary, died last week from her painful battle with cancer. We have all been sad. And I must admit, once again I do not like this part of the adventure. And I have been upset that she was in so much pain when she died. I don’t like pain myself. I don’t want anyone to be in pain in any form.
But suffering is part of life’s adventure. It is in this that we truly often find deeper levels of love, compassion, mystery, and even healing. In suffering we can discover many truths and see beauty we might otherwise miss. But we don’t have to like it, however!
At Mary’s funeral I learned something that completely put my heart at rest as I had been very upset about the pain she was in despite good medical attention. Along with the magnificent tributes by her family that warmed our hearts, we learned something very special about her last moments.
It seems that our young, kind, and multi-talented pastor was with her during this tough time of saying good -bye to earth life. He is musically gifted. The family asked him to sing knowing that Mary loved singing gospel songs and would love to hear him sing. Rev. Tim started singing and soon her family (also musically gifted) joined in. I think they they sang for nearly thirty minutes. And believe me, this would be worth hearing any time! But how absolutely sacred at that time.
My anger about her suffering was washed away because I saw that something larger than her temporary pain was provided for her. You could even call it a special gift of grace that came to her in her last hours.
Rev. Tim and her family literally sang her to “sleep,” completely cradled in the arms of her heavenly Father and a host of angels, I am sure. They noticed her lips were mouthing the words of her cherished songs. Her spirit was calm and at rest.
That could only happen because she had lived her life through the ups and downs of her own earth adventure with a profound belief in God through other times of suffering that precious family has known. No family is immune to pain. Neither is any one denied God’s grace. We just have to accept it as a gift.
Wherever you are today on your journey, [Solomon] and I hope you enjoy the adventure when you can, and when it is not exactly enjoyable, may you trust in that grace that is in the shadows of life’s messiness. And may we, like Mary, model for our children a faith that endures through all aspects of our earth adventures and points to something much larger than ourselves and our pain. It makes the bright days even brighter and carries us when we need to be held.
This morning, I woke up thinking about a biblical verse I learned when I was a child, “As your day, so shall be your strength.”
Our strength is not in possessions, achievement, or perfection. It is in the center of our being, where the Spirit lives and longs to be heard as our inner guidance system. All we have to do is listen.
Truthfully, in order to write anything at all today, I had to go to the car and get Solomon as I had left him there from yesterday’s travels. I sat him in a chair up here on our deck where I am writing. Even Tom chuckled when I brought him up. Like Tom says, “It’s that silly grin.” Maybe that is grace too?
Enjoy today.