Remembering...

     Late this afternoon, we were chatting and laughing and suddenly realized: the wreck was exactly four weeks ago today.  We looked at the clock, and it was almost 5:00 p.m.--the exact time of the accident.  It's hard to even conceive how far the Lord has brought us in four weeks.  From fear to faith, from despair to delight, from worry to worship, from believing even without seeing to seeing our belief in the miraculous.
     I drove to pick up some sushi for us girls (honey, if you are reading this: it was buy one get one free), and again, glanced at the clock--around 7:00 p.m., the time wonderful Russ and Creecy drove me to the hospital to see our girl hooked up to a ventilator and all kinds of machines just to keep her alive.  And all I can think now is how God made all things new.  He transformed pain into praise.  And kept pouring out grace and more grace every step of the way.
     I can visualize the faces of dear Beth and Will that night at the hospital before we could get there, talking with doctors, praying, doing whatever they could.  What an incredible comfort it was having them there--knowing Janie was not alone in that hospital and that she had two rocks of faith with her.  And sweet Katherine and Richard.  The Barkers with our boys.  And the Manns and on and on.  God's people holding us up in those first dark and frightening hours,  even while God's arms undergirded and lifted and held us.
     Four weeks ago tonight was surely the toughest night of our lives... but it was also the most loved we've ever felt--by our Savior and by our friends.  And so that night of August 24, 2012 will always be a night that we learned no pit is deeper than God's love,  no despair stronger than God's hope and no darkness greater than God's Light.
     "Thus far the Lord has helped us."  1Sam.7:12
     And He did.  Our Rock and Refuge and Restorer and Redeemer.  Janie's Healer and Helper.  He did it that darkest of nights.
     And He will not fail us or you now.
     Boy, it's good to remember the abyss and be overflowing with gratitude for the spacious place into which He has brought us.  A place of healing and hope.  I really think that all gratitude must begin with remembering--not just remembering God's blessings but also recalling God's deliverances and forgiveness... and the way He works all things for good for those who love Him.
     Why was Janie spared and another child on another night not?  Why tragedy and evil?  I can't answer for a sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent God.  His ways are so far beyond my ways,  His wisdom and justice so infinitely beyond mine, that I can only say "I trust You, Abba Father, even when I cannot understand.  And I praise You and thank You even in this storm.  And in the healing sunlight."      
     We do not deserve this miracle.  But then, we do not deserve forgiveness.  We do not deserve grace.  We do not deserve salvation.  We could never deserve the Savior.  And so it is all by grace--start to finish.  "For  by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph.2:8-9)
     All we can say is thank You, Father.  Four weeks later, we remember, and we praise the Great Physician--the Healer not only of Janie but of our souls.  There is a Balm in Gilead... and His powerful name is Jesus.  To God--our Healer and Helper and Sustainer--be all the glory.
     
     Exactly four weeks later, Tessa, Grace, Madeline, and Janie and a bunch of their friends celebrate with Chinese food, laughter and even singing.  God is good. All the time.  We remember and rejoice.