Faith Through the Journey

Stuff…

For my husband and I, the good news is that we haven’t moved for 29 years. However, the BAD news is that we haven’t moved for 29 years!!! For those of you who have stayed in one place for that long, you know the almost overwhelming accumulation of “stuff” that can happen. When we moved into our house in 1985, our son was 18 months old. In subsequent years, we added two daughters and all the “stuff” that growing children require. About 5 years ago I did a major cleanout of all the kid “stuff”, including Happy Meal toys, birthday party goody bag toys, and more dolls and balls than we could ever use again. I tried to keep the most durable toys for future grandchildren, but we did get rid of quite an accumulation of “stuff”.  We grew up in the north, where every house has a basement which is used mostly for storage. In Texas, we used our garage. Our cars have never been inside…

It’s time to do a second pass at our “stuff”, now that all of our children have moved out of our house and have their own addresses. No more college apartments, U-Haul trailers, or “stuff” coming back into our house. This process may take us the rest of the year, but we hope that before too long there will no longer be boxes and closets full of boxes and things no one wants any more! 

My mother has been downsizing repeatedly since my dad went to be with Jesus almost 12 years ago. Her goal is to leave NOTHING for her children to deal with–and we are grateful! We can have memories without a large collection of things with which we will have to contend, or try to incorporate into our homes. We have the treasured mementos, things which will always remind us of the home we had and the parents we love. We also have memories, which no one can take from us. Jesus understood the place of “stuff”, and how it can rule our lives. In Matthew 6:19-21, He said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I think of this every time someone I love goes to heaven, for they are my “treasures”. One day, this earth will be gone and the only things that will last are the eternal souls and rewards we have accumulated in heaven. 

I have an iPod shuffle that I listen to at various times during the day (and night), and one of the favorite songs to which I listen is “We Shall Behold Him” by Sandi Patty. Listening to that song transports me to the presence of the Lord, and I become even more anxious to see my Savior face to face. When we reach heaven, the “stuff” that mattered to us here on earth will mean nothing. How blessed are we to know that our Heavenly Father has already prepared everything we need for our eternal life in heaven. We won’t need “stuff” any more!

The Ordinary Days

I began writing this blog a little over two years ago as a method of keeping in touch with many family and friends who were walking with us through our most recent Crohn’s Disease experience. When my husband recently asked me if I was planning to write again, I thought about it and told him I wasn’t sure I had anything to write about! My life these days seems rather ordinary, nothing too remarkable or earth-shaking. The most consistent things in my life now are my morning Bible readings and my daily trips to the gym. I started reading through the Bible again in January, and I’m very thankful that my daily “ordinary routine” has allowed me to make this a habit. I think it’s been said that if you do something for 30 days it becomes a habit, and it’s been almost four months since I began the systematic reading of the Bible. The gym routine has also become a habit, although sometimes that causes a little more angst than the Bible reading! There are mornings that I have to do a lot of self-talk when I’m going through my 1-1/2 hour regimen, convincing myself that I need to do ALL of it as long as I’ve made the effort to go to the gym! 

It’s now been a little over two years since my 6th Crohn’s surgery, and I am very healthy! Forty years after I was diagnosed with this disease, I have been able to graduate from college (with 2 majors and 2 minors), be married to my best friend for nearly 33 years, give birth to three fabulous children, watch them grow up and graduate from college, see two of them married, and become a grandmother to the most adorable little boy on the planet! Of course, I know that there are other grandmothers out there who may have their own nominees for the cutest grandchildren on earth, but that is how we’re supposed to feel about these amazing little people. My parents were absolutely right–if they had known grandchildren were so much fun, they would have had them first! 

My “ordinary life” this year has included trips to Boca Raton, Florida and Hawaii with my husband on business, our grandson’s first birthday celebration, a visit to our daughter and son-in-law the weekend they closed on their first house, and a visit from our youngest daughter and her friend from Connecticut (she’s one of our three Aggies and misses Texas A&M VERY much!). We’re gradually sorting through our children’s stuff that still resides at our house and passing it on to them, and enjoying the sweetness of the time we have to be “just the two of us” again. Our comical dog, Riley, still adds the “kid” element to our daily lives, although we can put her places and make her stay there! 

The mental and emotional aspects of long-term illness are not always on parallel tracks with the physical. When I came out of surgery two years ago, the active Crohn’s Disease and its damage had been removed. Technically, I was physically Crohn’s free at that time, no longer plagued by its debilitating symptoms. Apprehension about the disease’s return, doubt that I will ever be completely free of this disease in my earthly life, fear that at any time it could again devastate me physically, those are things harder to put aside. We’re doing everything we can to prolong remission, and yet we know the possibility of recurrence is always there. This fact alone keeps us tethered closely to our Heavenly Father. At one time I told our pastor that I felt Crohn’s Disease was the Lord’s method of keeping me on a tight leash, never getting too far from Him and realizing that I need Him every minute of every day. 

During this very precious time of remission, we are so grateful for the respite and know that our God is gracious to give us these days and weeks where it’s hard to even remember how much our lives were ruled by this illness. “Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God You are higher than any other!” Great is His faithfulness!