God's Grace is Enough

As many of you know, the past several weeks have been quite hectic and trying for me, Page, and the rest of my family. In short, within the span of 15 days we experienced the death of my grandfather, my father, and a close friend's 20 day old baby.

I have debated for some time as whether or not to post this on the blog, but I feel God will receive much praise and glory by sharing the grace he has given us, so I have decided to do so. Here is a quick run down of our last few weeks:

Page and I, along with our dear friends David and Jamie Knight, left for a “vacation” to Puerto Vallarta Mexico on Friday, September 12. On the evening of September 13, I received word that the Lord decided to bring my Papa (my grandfather) into His presence. After tossing and turning, I finally went to sleep only to wake a couple hours later with severe nausea. This began an adventure of uncountable “bed to toilet” trips.

Finally, after three days of being limited to the bedroom and bathroom I was able to emerge Tuesday, September 16 for dinner. Shortly after dinner I called to see how PaPa’s funeral went. It was then that I was informed that my dad (biological father) had been given only a few more days to live – his seven month battle with lung cancer was coming to a sudden, unexpected end. We were not scheduled to return to Raleigh until September 18; however, my father was in the hospital in Atlanta. After trying to rearrange our flight and travel details, we had to keep our original schedule

We arrived in Raleigh really late on the evening of September 18. Just a few hours later at 3:30 AM on September 19, I received word that my dad had passed away. So we got up on Friday unpacked from our vacation and repacked to go to Atlanta. We spent the weekend in Atlanta ministering to and being ministered to by family and friends.

We returned to Raleigh on September 22 and we thought for sure things were going to calm down….When we came home from church on Sunday, September 28 there was a message on our answering machine from Missael, a young man who I have been discipling for about 7 months. In a frantic, tearful, frightened, panicked voice he was trying to get in touch with us because his three week old baby had just passed away. Since that time me, Page, and the rest of our small group have been ministering to Missael and Judy, his fiancé.

While I would not wish these few weeks on anyone, it has given me a greater view of my God. And for that I am forever grateful. Psalm 73:25-28 has been ringing in my ear and heart declaring God alone is sufficient. My soul savors Romans 8:31-39, which reminds me that nothing can separate me from the love of God.

May we give God the glory for…
-Praise that my grandfather lived 94 years longing to know Jesus and make him known (he shared the good news of Jesus with the Chaplain at the hospital!)

-Praise that I had seven months of the most intimate conversation with my dad during his battle with cancer; it was during this time I was able to share the gospel with him and hear him profess faith in Christ

-Praise that Missael and Judy, who are both new believers, have grown closer to each other and Christ through their loss

-Praise that the members of our church have stepped up to minister to Missael and Judy during this difficult time

-Praise that, by God’s grace, I was able to be part of two funerals and encourage those hurting from the deepest pain imaginable with the true hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ

-Praise that Page and I are surrounded by Christians who shower us with the love of Christ – we cannot count the number of emails, phone calls, cards, text messages of encouragement that we received

-Praise that God’s is sufficient even in the midst of difficult circumstances

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-16