All things..

...work together for the good of those who love the Lord. Romans 8:28

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:7

Today was a very tough day. This morning, after one of my girls decided not to show up at cheer practice, her stunt group (working with a sub) had an accident that resulted in the 7th grade captain having a broken shoulder. There are conflicting reports about what happened. Some say she was being cradled and was dropped, other girls say she was in load-in, and fell out. I personally never saw her in the air, but I wasn't standing right there and didn't see it as it happened, the lady who works at the cheer gym was.

I did not envision my Saturday in a tiny exam room in the ER being told that one of my girls was going to be rushed by ambulance for emergency orthopedic surgery. On my "fun things to do" list, it was right at the bottom, but unfortunately, that's exactly what I did. I am so thankful that her mother was there when it happened, but I am very sorry that it happened at all. It is an accident that I feel could have been avoided if everyone had been where they should have been when they were supposed to be.

Her mother, being very wise, was understandably upset, but said to me "I firmly believe that all things happen for a reason. We may not know what the reason is right now, but there is one, and she will be ok in a few weeks."

I must say I have to agree with her, but I have thought and thought and thought, and I cannot fathom the reason why she had to break her shoulder.

After a long day dealing with this horrendous situation, my youth group went out, and on then on the way home, I had several missed phone calls from the mother of one of the girls in the group. Her daughter was not able to attend our night out due to a prior commitment. Anyway, this mother said that out of nowhere, her daughter became hysterical, saying "My friend is dead! My friend is dead!" They tried to get her to slow down and tell them what she was talking about, but she wasn't able to. All she could tell them was "Tracy will know," so they had been frantically trying to get in touch with me. Clearly, I didn't know.

Apparently, one of the sweet, teenaged girls from our cabin at church camp over the summer was killed in a car accident this afternoon. She and the girls in my youth group had kept in touch, and Lexi had found out when she started seeing RIP messages posted on this young lady's facebook. My girls are beside themselves, as I'm sure are all of this girl's friends and family.

Now, just when I thought things couldn't get much worse than my sweet Cree breaking her shoulder, I found out that precious Kaitlyn had lost her life.

It's a hard time to say that "All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord," because it doesn't seem like much good could come out of either of these things. However, it makes me think of Bethany Hamilton.. Her arm was amputated just where Cree's is fractured, and if so much good can come from the total loss of her arm, then something good must be going to come from Cree's fracture. So far, the only thing good I can think of to come from Kaitlyn's death is the fact that she is now in a better place with our Lord Jesus, and I know this because my sweet Lexi prayed with her when she received Christ over the summer.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us "I know the plan I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." In learning about Bethany's life through the Soul Surfer Bible study series, It is easy to see that God does in fact have a plan. What Jeremiah 29:11 does not promise us, though, is that we will always understand that plan. It may be really hard to see the plan He has for us, and it may look like things are just happening in a haphazard sort of way, but God sees the whole picture even when we do not.

Tonight, we saw Lion King 3D. This sort of brings to mind the perfect illustration of God's plan. If we watch a 3D movie and fail to put on the special glasses that have been provided for us, most of what we see doesn't make much sense. It's a series of blurs, odd colors, and varying degrees of light. However, when you put on the 3D glasses, the picture becomes clear. It's vivid, and almost alive; it stands out, and makes more sense than it ever could have in a plain, 2D, or blurred form.

I have to believe it's the same way with God's plan. If we look at the events of life as disconnected and from our own human perspective, the lines get blurred. Nothing is clear, it doesnt' make sense, and it's just a series of "things." But, the moment we begin to dig deeper, seek Him in prayer, read His words in our Bible, and look at things from his point of view, it begins to make sense in a beautiful way. Just like in the movie, we may not know the outcome for quite some time, but the scenes themselves will start to pull together and have a sense of purpose.

I don't know why Cree has to be in so much pain with a broken bone, or why it had to be on my watch. I don't know why Kaitlyn, and her friend Kelcie, had to lose their lives in a car accident. I don't know why their friend Regan survived, but I know that God knows. And if I can do my best to remember that, and try to seek His perspective rather than my own, I will eventually come to terms with it all.

That is when my hope will be strong and secure, because I will know that He, and my Christian family, will share in my sorrows, as well as my comforts. And that is worth all the world to me.