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Monday, October 23, 2006

TWENTY FOUR HOURS AT A TIME..... 

All my life I’ve heard older people say, “You never know what the day will bring.” When I was young it seemed an odd thought…….but as the years rolled by and I became older, I finally had the understanding of my elders. If you stop and think about each day this past week, I’m sure there were some unexpected things that happened…some of them good, some bad and some on a normal scale.

Yesterday was good and bad.

Little Brady celebrated his first birthday with family and presents. Of course he’s too young to know why all the fuss but that little guy never quit smiling. Children just have fun wherever they find it…..they don’t have to understand it. With stacks of gifts, a cake all his own to play in, all the picture taking and people pouring so much attention on him, he looked at times like he was humoring our expectations. Mostly, he just had a really nice day with the rest of us….whatever.

Of course, he couldn’t know that today he would travel with his mom and dad to St. Louis in preparation for surgery on Wednesday. Becky has written of the premature closing of the soft spot on his head…..something that is serious and none of us had ever heard of. As time went on the doctor became more insistent that they have an MRI and sure enough, it was a big problem.

Last night Becky called to tell us a co-worker of hers phoned that her brother-in-law had gone fishing with a friend and hadn’t returned home. Their empty boat had been found on the lake and the search was on to drag the area in hopes of finding their bodies. Today, it was learned they were found and the families are trying to cope with the reality that their loved ones are gone.

This morning I had an email from a very nice lady in Nova Scotia who said she was praying for Brady and Rocky. The wonders of computers just seem to go on and on. We throw these daily blogs out on the Internet and never know who is reading them and standing beside us in prayer. I think it is commendable in this busy day and age that someone would read and take time to write and send pictures of her world. You are a special lady……and you made my day!

We don’t know what day Becky will find out about the promotion, how Brady will come out from his serious surgery, how the families of the two men will go on without their loved ones or how Rocky will fare after his next treatments……..but by faith we believe it will all work out OK.

There is so much about life we don’t understand but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason for what happens to us. There is always an unseen hand upon our lives, guiding and protecting us through uncertain times. God in His mercy chooses not to let us see beyond each day…….today, this moment, is enough.

Essentially Esther