Wading through life

Chase — a boy experiencing first-hand a true miracle of God. He’s taken SUCH strides the past three months, it’s hard to wrap my mind around. Talking, playing, walking, running, laughing…everything. His personality is back where it belongs. The only way one could detect "the accident" is in his leg postures and body movements. His feet turn in a bit (they’re making splints to remedy this) and he still has some coordination to work on.

But he’s back. Back to the way we remember him. And it’s a blessing. I watched he and Shelby and Celeste this past Friday and spent Thanksgiving Thursday with them. He was SO well behaved–better than I ever remember. Shelby and Celeste are also doing a great job of being his big sister and helping Andrea and Grant as their entire family continues to nurture him back.

What my post title is primarily referring to is this: another miraculous detail of the situation I didn’t know up until a few moments ago. Check out this excerpt from my Mom’s upcoming Christmas letter:

"I am convinced He was with our daughter’s family even during the accident.  Celeste was on the computer and it froze.  She left it to go into the family room and found Chase.  Andrea, the only one to know CPR, was still home, for she was preparing to leave shortly.  God was there to protect Chase’s life."

Is that not wild? I had no idea the computer crashed on Celeste–just in time to come to Chase’s rescue! What if Andrea had wrapped up laundry duty a few minutes earlier and hadn’t been home when the accident unfolded? We could still be visiting him in Ann Arbor.

We kinda tackled this issue at small group tonight. No situation, event or circumstance is unimportant and without impact.

"Four our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 6:12).

There are unseen events and battles unfolding that are more real than the physical ones we experience on a daily basis. I can’t explain it; I can’t comprehend it. But sometimes, I just get a glimpse. And that line from Mom’s letter provided me with one.

Could an angel have jumbled the Fluegge computer’s memory and caused it to freeze up at just the right time? Most certainly. Could there have been an entire battle going on between good and evil for control of that computer just up to the crucial time? You bet. Could someone have been praying for Andrea and Grant’s family at that time–unknowing of anything going on–that hindered the "spiritual forces of evil" at work at that particular time? Yep. Could Andrea have been less productive than normal in the morning–due to "unseen forces"–resulting in her still being at home when Chase has his accident? Quite possibly.

I’m convinced there are few coincidences in life. There’s just too much at stake for events to simply happen on the random. Everything is part of a glorious harmony, which rises and builds throughout history, culminating when the loud voices in heaven declare: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 11:15b).

The harmony is then sustained for all eternity. Amen. So be it.

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"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed" (Rev. 15:3-4).

Does your life ever feel like a perpetual home-improvement project? Mine does sometimes…

Oooops! I did it again. Here I am, in front of my computer, when I’m supposed to be on the road for home in 6 hours. And I’m not even packed yet.

You know that post I had about productivity two weekends ago? Yeah, I didn’t mirror that performance tonight.

Pumped about turkey day, though. Just praying the Lions don’t get spanked by Dungy and the Colts too bad. Though, I do have Payton Manning on one of my fantasy teams…

Speaking of turkey, who’s idea was it to eat these things?

Anyway, also looking forward to Friday night, when I’ll be hanging out with my nieces and nephew (minus Kristin) while Andrea and Grant go out with some friends. Haven’t had the chance to do this in a while, so I was glad to oblige when asked.

Then, it’s likely back here to Jackson on Saturday. Could go back up to the Thumb, but I think I’ll wrap up a few more projects around the house this weekend. Gotta get ready for the big JLS Christmas party!

So it’s kinda weird coming down of the deep-blogging hill I sat upon for a while. I freeze myself from blogging sometimes because I don’t necessarily have these broad theological statements or reflections to make, as I was for a while. I’m thinking "Umm…those couple readers out there want to hear something worthwhile, not rants about work-place stresses."

But, I guess I’m probably just being self-conscious again. A blog is a blog. My disclaimer from the start was that sometimes it would be interesting, sometimes not; sometimes deep, sometimes shallow.

The thing about "wading" (see blog title) is that the water is always changing. I don’t wade through an isolated swimming pool or pond, but waist-deep off the Florida coast. When things are slow, water slaps at my stomach gently; the water is refreshing and enjoyable. When things get hectic, waves rise over my head and lift me from the ocean floor–I’m at the mercy of the water.

Both are necessary to fully appreciate either. I guess that’s where I’m at: experiencing a little of each.

So I got to meet Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, some other miscellaneous Colts personnel, and Tony’s sister Lauren (who’s a nationally renown crisis pregnancy doctor) the other day.

The occasion? Spring Arbor University is involved in an initiative to encourage youth–namely minority youth–to consider higher education a necessity in their life. The late Wilbur Dungy–Tony and Lauren (and Linden and Sharon’s father)–was one of the first minority Ph.D. holders in Jackson county. He taught at Jackson Community College and encouraged a great number of minority students to continue their education at Spring Arbor University.

We’re working on a video to show in his honor at a scholarship fund-raising dinner in the spring. We interviewed members of the Dungy family to testify to their father’s influence on their life. We’ve also interviewed Tom Izzo (MSU basketball coach) and Tyrone Willingham (ND head football coach) and had them speak of the importance of higher education.

I’ll just say that the Dungy family is very impressive. During the interviews with Tony and Lauren, it was so obvious the impression Wilbur left on his kids. And it shows. Tony–as an NFL head coach–considers his job the "least" among his siblings. Besides Lauren’s MD position, his brother is a dentist serving an underprivileged community in Minnesota and his other sister is an RN.

"I get the limelight because of my position," he says, "but they are the ones doing great work."

Wilbur taught his kids that ANYTHING was possible–especially with God’s strength. They’re a Christian family leaving their mark on the world. And they’re passing down the legacy from generation to generation. The Lord’s richly blessing them for their faithfulness to him and to what they’ve been given.