Scene from near the end of "Big Jake", Starring John Wayne, Richard Boone, Maureen O'Hara, and a host of the same faces you see in every John Wayne movie:
Boone (while dying): Who are you?
Wayne: Jacob McCandles.
Boone: I thought you was dead.
Wayne: Not hardly
The first thing I thought of when I opened up the editor to write this post - sorry.
No Tigers retrospectives this year. I've lost most of my interest in sports of any kind, although it was enjoyable to see Michigan State expose once again the fraud that is the Jim Harbaugh era at Ann Arbor Community College. I hope it takes a few more years for the athletic department down there to realize it.
I have been through a year that many would consider hellish. A serious medical issue in the spring that could have killed me. My married daughter living in Minnesota now with her husband. My soldier daughter is deployed overseas until August. And my wife is now my ex-wife. Not by my choice, though certainly better choices could have been made along the way. So I am living alone for the first time in 26 years.
And yet, I find I am not alone. I am beginning to rediscover friends that I lost touch with for various reasons over the years. I am reconnecting with family that we pushed away because of personality conflicts. I want to continue to reach out and embrace those relationships. Technology helps me stay connected to my kids in ways that I could not have dreamed of just a few years ago. I am grateful for FaceTime and other apps that enable this communication. Like my soldier calling me today from the other side of the world and sounding like she was just across town. What a blessing the modern smart phone is!
And most importantly, God has not left me alone. In the midst of what could be considered my greatest failure, He is still present. Not to scorn, not to punish, but to heal and restore. And He is doing just that. Perhaps that will be an ongoing theme of future blogging here.
Grace amazing, pure, and deep
that saw me in my misery
that took my curse and owned my pain
so I could bear your righteous name
It is by His grace alone I stand in circumstances that have destroyed others in bitterness or loneliness or despair. It is none of my own strength or fortitude or will - only His. This is my great treasure in these trying times.
2 comments:
Good to see you posting again. You've definitely had a rough year.
Hope that next year is a much better one for you, and you start posting a bit more as its always good to read your stuff.
Ditto. Like the smart one said.
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