Advent JJ for 12-23-14 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 --- I work with a man named Steve Yang. When he was young, he was the only survivor of a car accident. He lost his father, mother & brother in one day. In 2001, Steve & his wife, Lori, lost their son, Michael, who was not quite two years old, while he slept. I still can’t imagine the horror of finding his little body. It was nearly unbearable to watch this man, my employer, my friend, bury his son. At the funeral, Lori rocked back and forth holding one of Michael’s toys. It’s hard to write about it without crying. Romans 8:28 says, “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Were they angry with God? Were they confused? I WAS! That passage doesn’t say, “and I will show you immediately how this is all going to work. It doesn’t even say if it is going to be you it works out in! Maybe your pain is to help someone else? In a similar way, Jesus suffered for all the people of his day and those to come, when he died on the cross. Jesus bore the sins of the world, because God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love and would come to love Him. This story has a happy ending! In my opinion, the Yang family had the happiest Thanksgiving in 13 years. They just got back from China where they adopted Luke into their family. Now John, Alex, Ellen and Ashley are big brothers and sisters to a little boy with a huge heart ready for love. I told my friend Lori that without Michael’s passing this precious little boy would still be waiting for a family to love him. I know Michael helped Steve and Lori find Luke even though he was so very far away with the angels. --- Remind, Lord, You are Immanuel, God with us. --- linger longer: Psalm 119:76, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Isaiah 49:13, John 14:1-4 ----- https://youtube/watch?v=5PBEMfbWq_Y Different Kind of Christmas Mark Schultz
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:37:00 +0000