Everything HE Has…
Last night I attended a memorial service for Emma Faith Ullery. Emma was born with Trisomy 18 and she only lived for about two hours but God has used her to impact many. The faith displayed by Emma’s parents, Kyle and Corie, was inspiring. They only had a brief time with her but they praised and thanked God for that time. In the service Pastor Rollie mentioned how Kyle’s grandpa talked about how, right now, they were seeing everything God has to offer.
That made me reflect on the amazing gift that God gives us over the span of our life. What usually took years to witness was unfolding before us in the last few days. They experienced the courage and strength to get through this that comes from strong faith, trust and belief in Christ. They experienced the power of prayer as hundreds or more called out to God for those precious moments He blessed them with. They experienced the wonder of life as Emma was born. They experienced the community of family and friends as all gathered around. They experienced love as they held Emma. They experienced death as Emma went home, to be with the One who had created her. They experienced fellowship as their brothers and sisters in Christ gathered around them, lifted them up in prayer and loved them. And finally, they experienced the comfort and calming of a loving God. It was the whole cycle of life in fast forward. Everything our God offers us… we just need to accept it and Him through His son Jesus Christ.
It has been amazing and overwhelming to have experienced this gift all at once. To see it played out so briefly but so powerfully. It takes most of us many years to realize and experience this gift let alone to appreciate it for the blessing it really is and many never reach that point.
Thank you Kyle and Corie for the example of shear faith you have been to us all and thank you LORD for being the awesome God that you are.
For those of you unfamiliar with Trisomy 18 here is a video from another family that experienced it too and a tremendous display of their faith and courage in God.
Step into the Light
A while back I was in someone’s office and I noticed the following verse hanging on the wall… John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
It made me think about the times during my Christian walk that I’ve experienced periods of darkness. More often than not because I was follow Jesus.
I think that’s why we continue to experience at least spots of darkness at times, because we never completely follow Jesus. Even the strongest believer and straightest follower gets lost along the way at times.
Now, I don’t mean that God is punishing us for not obeying Him but that we are not receiving the blessings we could because we have not been obedient to Him in the first place.
When we step out of the light we are in darkness and the further we stray from the light the darker it gets. It seems so simple yet, sooner or later, one way or another, we always seem get there…
