"Now I am at peace." -Nathan Hoy
Nathan's had the wildest dreams from his medication and sleep patterns the past four nights. A couple of days ago, I was sitting next to him while he was sleeping, and he turned his head toward me, smiled, laughed, and said, "Now I am at peace"...all while asleep.
What an amazing patient he's been. Strong, not a complainer, and such a trooper. We're heading home from the hospital today, and we'll be walking the road of healing and recovery together over the weeks ahead.
I have lots of prayers...one being that we're all open and receptive to what God wants to say to us and how He wants to heal and grow us in multiple ways through this experience.
I am prayerful that God will grant the patience and grace that will allow each of our family members to smile and say "Now I am at peace" in the days ahead.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Kingdom breaking through #5: compassion
God's Kingdom comes on earth through His heart of compassion lived out through the loving actions of His people. We're experiencing that through the prayers, love, concern, and kind actions of people all around us as our son deals with two surgeries this week.
This experience gives me fresh waves of sympathy and empathy for my neighbor in need. It reminds me of the power in the encouragement, prayer, and presence of others.
The Kingdom breaks through with this reality:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Kingdom breaking through #4: inner vs. outer
I wouldn't share this post except for the fact that this conversation happened the day before Nathan's unfortunate injury on the basketball court.
It was a snow day on Wednesday and Nathan, Sara, and I were hanging out at home. Sara was in the bathroom braiding her hair, and Nathan went in to chat with her. As I walked by I caught Nathan flexing his right arm in the mirror and saying something like, "Look at those guns!" He was oohing and aahing about his strong arms (and yes, he really does have a strong, lean body). I remember acknowledging his "guns" but also telling him that God cares about our heart and character more than our outer looks and that our physical looks can change in an instant; our character is what matters most.
The next afternoon, he broke that right arm real good. That right "gun" will definitely atrophy for awhile, and the surgeon mentioned that this is a precarious and complicated surgery-one that will likely result in stiffness of the elbow and inability to fully straighten his arm again.
This incident highlights the Kingdom reality of what is of lasting importance. It brings these Scriptures to mind:
1 Samuel 16:7 "..The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
1 Timothy 4:8 "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
It was a snow day on Wednesday and Nathan, Sara, and I were hanging out at home. Sara was in the bathroom braiding her hair, and Nathan went in to chat with her. As I walked by I caught Nathan flexing his right arm in the mirror and saying something like, "Look at those guns!" He was oohing and aahing about his strong arms (and yes, he really does have a strong, lean body). I remember acknowledging his "guns" but also telling him that God cares about our heart and character more than our outer looks and that our physical looks can change in an instant; our character is what matters most.
The next afternoon, he broke that right arm real good. That right "gun" will definitely atrophy for awhile, and the surgeon mentioned that this is a precarious and complicated surgery-one that will likely result in stiffness of the elbow and inability to fully straighten his arm again.
This incident highlights the Kingdom reality of what is of lasting importance. It brings these Scriptures to mind:
1 Samuel 16:7 "..The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
1 Timothy 4:8 "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
Kingdom breaking through #3: God's promises
In the early a.m. hours Friday, as Nathan and I were settling into a room in the hospital after surgery #1, Nathan asked, "Why me? Why did this have to happen to me?"
I told him that we often ask this question in the struggle and suffering of life, but we don't often get clear answers from God to that one. I told Nathan that I asked this question a lot when we lost our first baby 15 years ago. And though God may not answer that clearly nor does the Bible promise a trouble-free life (it promises us precisely the opposite), God DOES promise often in His Word that He loves us, is with us, and will not leave us.
He is enough and there is great comfort in His promises and presence.
I told him that we often ask this question in the struggle and suffering of life, but we don't often get clear answers from God to that one. I told Nathan that I asked this question a lot when we lost our first baby 15 years ago. And though God may not answer that clearly nor does the Bible promise a trouble-free life (it promises us precisely the opposite), God DOES promise often in His Word that He loves us, is with us, and will not leave us.
He is enough and there is great comfort in His promises and presence.
Kingdom breaking through #2: God's sovereignty
God's Kingdom truths break through in powerful ways through worldly trials.
Our plans were altered the second Nathan landed and broke his arm. Instead of the plan to sit at a table eating pancakes this morning for our annual traditional trek to the Hartman Reserve Maple Sugar Festival, Nathan was wheeled into surgery about 30 minutes ago.
Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 20:24 says, "A person's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?"
Through circumstances like this, God reminds us that He alone knows the future. God sees with Kingdom and eternal lenses, and He wants us to do the same. There's much going on here beyond the temporal and physical realm. Do we trust in God's sovereign plan? Do we trust that He's good and can make good from the trials in our lives? Can we surrender our lives to His ongoing work in Christ to transform our hearts, character, lives to make them more Christ-like?
We are not in charge. But there is one who is much more capable with our lives than ourselves.
Our plans were altered the second Nathan landed and broke his arm. Instead of the plan to sit at a table eating pancakes this morning for our annual traditional trek to the Hartman Reserve Maple Sugar Festival, Nathan was wheeled into surgery about 30 minutes ago.
Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 20:24 says, "A person's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?"
Through circumstances like this, God reminds us that He alone knows the future. God sees with Kingdom and eternal lenses, and He wants us to do the same. There's much going on here beyond the temporal and physical realm. Do we trust in God's sovereign plan? Do we trust that He's good and can make good from the trials in our lives? Can we surrender our lives to His ongoing work in Christ to transform our hearts, character, lives to make them more Christ-like?
We are not in charge. But there is one who is much more capable with our lives than ourselves.
Kingdom breaking through #1: gifts and gratitude
Gifts and Gratitude.
One book on my "to read" list is One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp. It's about recognizing and naming very specifically the gifts God gives to us daily and God's power found in gratitude. I do believe God has perhaps given us one thousand good gifts in just the past mere 36 hours.
-a broken arm rather than a broken head.
-grandparents and an uncle who were down on the court right now next to Nathan while I turned my van around down the block after receiving a call that he had gotten hurt.
-paramedics who know how to splint arms and move bodies carefully.
-An athletic director/asst. principal at Carver who handled the situation with care and skill.
-pain medication rather than having to rely on biting down on a stick or drinking whiskey. :)
-health insurance coverage.
-a twin sister who has a deeply compassionate heart and loves her brother so much.
-a dad who works hard to provide and whose job includes health insurance. A dad who is always calm, cool, and collected. A dad who loves his son.
-a big support network of friends and family across the community, nation, and world who pray, encourage, and love well in person or from their knees, facebook, phone calls, emails, and texts.
-a highly recommended orthopedic surgeon.
-first world medical facilities, staff, and multiple options for care.
-medical facilities that were less than a block away from the incident.
-a first surgery that cleans the wound and protects against infection.
-a friend who brings me a nutritious smoothie for breakfast at the hospital.
-a doctor friend who works here and who brings up a dvd player and movies for N.
-another friend who somehow knows Nathan likes Whopper malted milk balls, who gave him a nice pack of colorful Sharpies for cast signatures, who prays unceasingly.
-family friends who send a roll of thin mints with well wishes attached.
-a friend who brings Burt's Bees lip balm just at the right time, as the one lip balm we had was just about gone.
-an aunt who brings favorites...cream soda, movies, a small Hawkeye hoop
-a grandma who watches N so that the rest of us can go cheer Sara on in the annual Variety Show. (outstanding show...this was itself a gift in many ways).
-friends who try to help me eat well by bringing nutritious snacks; friends who cater to Nathan's sweet tooth and bring what appears to be an entire movie theater worth of junk food into the room.
-visiting and praying family, friends, teachers, coaches
And these are just a sampling of the good gifts God has given us the past few days!
The Kingdom of God does indeed break through all around us in a given day, not only with the gifts God gives us, but also with the powerful, transforming gift of gratitude for these blessings.
One book on my "to read" list is One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp. It's about recognizing and naming very specifically the gifts God gives to us daily and God's power found in gratitude. I do believe God has perhaps given us one thousand good gifts in just the past mere 36 hours.
-a broken arm rather than a broken head.
-grandparents and an uncle who were down on the court right now next to Nathan while I turned my van around down the block after receiving a call that he had gotten hurt.
-paramedics who know how to splint arms and move bodies carefully.
-An athletic director/asst. principal at Carver who handled the situation with care and skill.
-pain medication rather than having to rely on biting down on a stick or drinking whiskey. :)
-health insurance coverage.
-a twin sister who has a deeply compassionate heart and loves her brother so much.
-a dad who works hard to provide and whose job includes health insurance. A dad who is always calm, cool, and collected. A dad who loves his son.
-a big support network of friends and family across the community, nation, and world who pray, encourage, and love well in person or from their knees, facebook, phone calls, emails, and texts.
-a highly recommended orthopedic surgeon.
-first world medical facilities, staff, and multiple options for care.
-medical facilities that were less than a block away from the incident.
-a first surgery that cleans the wound and protects against infection.
-a friend who brings me a nutritious smoothie for breakfast at the hospital.
-a doctor friend who works here and who brings up a dvd player and movies for N.
-another friend who somehow knows Nathan likes Whopper malted milk balls, who gave him a nice pack of colorful Sharpies for cast signatures, who prays unceasingly.
-family friends who send a roll of thin mints with well wishes attached.
-a friend who brings Burt's Bees lip balm just at the right time, as the one lip balm we had was just about gone.
-an aunt who brings favorites...cream soda, movies, a small Hawkeye hoop
-a grandma who watches N so that the rest of us can go cheer Sara on in the annual Variety Show. (outstanding show...this was itself a gift in many ways).
-friends who try to help me eat well by bringing nutritious snacks; friends who cater to Nathan's sweet tooth and bring what appears to be an entire movie theater worth of junk food into the room.
-visiting and praying family, friends, teachers, coaches
And these are just a sampling of the good gifts God has given us the past few days!
The Kingdom of God does indeed break through all around us in a given day, not only with the gifts God gives us, but also with the powerful, transforming gift of gratitude for these blessings.
Friday, March 1, 2013
the Kingdom breaking through in the midst of bones breaking through
Funny how it is. God is always speaking to us. Always wooing and pursuing relationship with us. Always moving in His truth and grace in our lives. We can often go about our daily routines aware of these spiritual realities in our heads, but it is most often when an unexpected sharp corner comes about in our lives that we "wake up" to spiritual realities in fresher and deeper ways that move our hearts and mark our lives. I've seen this play out in my life, and I'm seeing it over the past 30 hours.
My thirteen year old son, Nathan, was playing for his 8th grade basketball team yesterday when, in the final two minutes of the game, he was on a fast break drive to the basket, went up for the lay-up, was flagrantly fouled by the opponent, and landed hard on his right arm. The result was an ambulance ride to the hospital and two fractures through his humerus bone...one horizontal break in which the bone broke through the skin, and then a vertical break down through the remainder of the humerus that joins to the elbow. So, he has 3 pieces of humerus, all of which has not been a bit humorous.
Nathan went into surgery last night so that the surgeon could wash the wound and prevent infection. They put a temporary cast and sling on the arm to keep it immobile today, and he's getting lots of pain medication as he awaits surgery tomorrow a.m. to repair the arm.
In the midst of this sudden and unexpected turn of events, there are many reminders and signs of the Kingdom breaking through. I don't want to miss these Kingdom gems, nor do I want Nathan to miss them....even if it's not until some post-surgery reflecting one day down the road.
Look to the next posts to see how God, in His faithfulness and goodness, brings His Kingdom to light in the midst of life's darker times.
My thirteen year old son, Nathan, was playing for his 8th grade basketball team yesterday when, in the final two minutes of the game, he was on a fast break drive to the basket, went up for the lay-up, was flagrantly fouled by the opponent, and landed hard on his right arm. The result was an ambulance ride to the hospital and two fractures through his humerus bone...one horizontal break in which the bone broke through the skin, and then a vertical break down through the remainder of the humerus that joins to the elbow. So, he has 3 pieces of humerus, all of which has not been a bit humorous.
Nathan went into surgery last night so that the surgeon could wash the wound and prevent infection. They put a temporary cast and sling on the arm to keep it immobile today, and he's getting lots of pain medication as he awaits surgery tomorrow a.m. to repair the arm.
In the midst of this sudden and unexpected turn of events, there are many reminders and signs of the Kingdom breaking through. I don't want to miss these Kingdom gems, nor do I want Nathan to miss them....even if it's not until some post-surgery reflecting one day down the road.
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