October 24th

Psalm 16

            Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.  The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit. You show me the path of life.  In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:1-11

             “There but by the grace of God go I.”

The Psalmist is very clear that God is his only hope.  God is his refuge.  God is the One who provides all the goodness in his life.  God is his portion…the one who determines his lot.  The One who instructs, who guides, who protects.  It is God who has brought him this far and it is God who will carry him into the future.

            I have heard many stories over the years.  Stories about malpractice in the delivery room that left a child severely disabled.  Stories about a toddler receiving a contaminated injection, screaming for two days and then emerging with brain damage.  Stories about people losing jobs or being abused as children or having parents who drank themselves and their kids into oblivion.  Stories about people being hit by drunk drivers and their children being brain damaged.  Stories about children disappearing in a crowded city center and never coming back.  Stories about small bodies failing and leaving this earth too early.

            Every time that I hear these heart-wrenching stories, I recognize that I could easily be standing in their place.  All it takes is one freak accident, one moment that is out of our control, to change a life and a family forever.  One mistake to send a child deep into the IDD world.  It could be me and my son.

            I like to think that we have parented well and done a great job raising our kids…but I recognize how fragile and how tenuous this life is.  It can all turn in an instant.  And when I hear stories of other parents who did nothing wrong, I recognize two responses that I tightly cling to: Compassion and Gratitude.

            Compassion recognizes that it could be me.  Our family could be the ones with the heart-breaking loss.  The suffering people in front of me are worth listening to.  They are worth supporting.  They are worth walking with as they go through their journey.  They have dealt with pain and with loss and with heartbreak and desperately need someone who speaks hope and life and God has put me right here, right now. 

            Gratitude recognizes that it is God who has protected us throughout the years.  He has been looking out for us in ways that we know and in countless more ways that we do not know.  He has spoken wisdom into our parenting.  He has provided protection in our medications.  He has smoothed our travels.  He has allowed us to find each other when we were lost.  Without God, all of the goodness of these lives would be missing and so each and every day gratitude is a discipline that I try to step into.

            Compassion and Gratitude.  Step into those today and realize that this life that we now take for granted could have turned out very, very differently.

A moment to reflect:

How could you express your Gratitude to God by being Compassionate towards someone else?