When, not if..

bad things happen is as much a certainty as death and taxes. While the most wealthy can avoid some taxes and even stave off death with pricey cryopreservation experiments, in the end, and everyone has one, death and taxes remain. Common grace has its finger in all lives as certainly as common disaster. Height of foolishness is evidenced in believing that you are immune to grief and tragedy.

This morning after breakfast the boys and I talked about what we have learned about God from His Word as to His protection, provision, affliction, discipline and faithfulness. I asked them to tell me about a "bad" thing that had happened to them and then I asked them to tell me what God had taught them through it. I asked them to tell me what they knew about God and how He chooses to work in lives. Their answers were not quite equal measures of youthful ignorance with youthful trust, bordering mostly on trust. For this I was glad.

Yesterday, a friend called me to tell me about a mutual friend's two year old that was just diagnosed with leukemia. The friend who called to tell me this lost her 5 year old son to complications of a brain tumor only about 17 months ago. I lost a son to complications from his third bone marrow transplant almost 11 years ago. We know what this mutual friend is feeling, thinking and hoping. Her world has just fallen apart.

I am praying fervently today that this mutual friend has a firm foundation in the Word of God, in how He chooses to work in His people's lives, in how even a severe trial, such as this, have a perfect place in His perfect plan. I cannot suppose to know her eternal heart, but I pray that as she now must walk through the "when" that touches every one, that she will know God's eternal heart more clearly than ever before.