Sunday, November 23, 2014

A Thankful Heart

Image from: http://follow2serve.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/thanksgiving-and-mondays/


It's been almost five months since that phone call that froze my heart. It's been almost five months since I stood outside watching them load my son on a helicopter to fly him to another hospital better equipped to save his life. It's been almost five months since a doctor stood in the ICU explaining how much damage had been done to Tim's liver in the wreck. It's been almost five months since the ER nurse that first cared for him went home crying after her shift and told her husband that Tim likely wouldn't make it. It's been almost five months. It feels like yesterday and it feels like ten years ago. So much has happened in five months.

Today, just five months later, Tim seems perfectly healthy. There's a tiny scar from the chest tube, and a couple miniscule scars from IVs, but that's all the outward sign that he ever skirted the edge of the Valley of Death. Over the last five months, God has knit his liver back together, returned full function to it, and healed his lungs. The last obstacle Tim was dealing with was the big collection of blood in the liver. Today, we learned that in the last three months, it has reduced by half. Today, that same doctor that stood in the ICU with a grave face telling us how dangerous the liver damage was stood smiling and telling us he was releasing Tim. Five months ago, Dr. Tartt stood by Tim's bed and told him to avoid moving as much as possible so the liver could clot and stop hemorrhaging. Today, he stood by Tim and told him to do whatever activities he was comfortable doing. What a difference a few months can make. Actually, what a difference God makes!

I'll never know how many prayers were lifted on Tim's behalf. We got hundreds of phone calls, emails, texts, and Facebook messages telling us people were praying. I heard from people from churches I'd never even heard of saying Tim was on their prayer list. The archery community stepped up and did a fund raiser for his medical bills and we got cards from people Tim had shot with across the state. I'll never know how many people prayed for Tim. But God does. He heard every single prayer, counted every tear, touched every heart. And He chose to answer our prayers with the outcome we had been praying for. And for that, I am forever, deeply, beyond description, thankful. There are no words to describe the feeling of watching your child nearly die. And there's no description for the feeling you get when you understand that your child will live. I know some of you have stood in my place. I know some of you didn't get the answer you had begged God for, but instead, heard the awful crushing news. I can't pretend to know what that's like.

Here's what I know for certain. God is good. And He is good all the time. When He answers our prayers in the way we asked, He is good. And when He says no, He is good. And when He says wait, He is good. And when we have no idea what He is doing, when we just can't understand why He is letting something happen, when our world is crashing down around us, He is still good. Our inability to see the big picture does not change His goodness.

This week is Thanksgiving. Many people across our land will lift prayers to God to thank him for all He's done for them, provided for them, and helped them. My family has so much to be thankful for every year, but even more so this year. And regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in, you too have much for which to be thankful.

Thursday, millions of “Thank you, God” prayers will ascend. I wonder how many will be said this Wednesday though. Or this Friday. Or next week. It is so very easy to take things for granted when they are going smoothly. It's easy to just cry out to God for help when we are desperate and forget to return in gratefulness when our situation changes, just as nine out of the ten lepers did when Jesus healed them. But living a life of gratitude, finding things to be thankful for every day, regardless of our circumstances, changes us. It changes our outlook, it reminds us of our dependence on God for all things, and it keeps us looking up toward Him rather than focusing on ourselves. Thanksgiving should not be reserved for a day, or even a week, or even just the month of November. It should be our attitude every day, every minute.


I have a long way to go to get to the “all gratitude, all the time” place in my life. I hope I'm making progress. I hope you are too. And I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving, knowing that if you are reading this, I have thanked God for placing you in my life.

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