Sometimes God reminds us of the important things in life when you are not looking....

Sometimes God reminds us of the important things in life when you are not looking....

An odd post I thought, by a friend who is definately not a believer.  Curious, I peeked on her page to see what she may be talking about.  In short, it was a post about a mother she saw at a Dr office that was her age, the lady's son was her son's age and he had downs. 

I went and picked up (her son's) shot record at the pediatrician's office this morning. A mom, about my age, came in with her son, who was about my own son's age. He had down syndrome and possibly other handicaps. I couldnt help but smile at ...her but definitely had to fight back tears as I thought about how lucky I am to have a child who was not handicapped. I thought about how strong of a woman she was as I could not even imagine walking in her shoes for a day. I felt sort of guilty for being thankful for (her son), and sad because I could only imagine that child's struggles. I guess I ultimately smiled and when he came over to me I interacted with him because I wanted his mom to know that she should be proud of her son and of herself and there are people out there who do recognize her heartache and strength and her boy is still amazing being just who he is.

And then I was appalled.  A couple of comments below that was a "friend's" comment.  We shall call her Jane:

I wonder if that mother is pissed at "God" for giving her son a life of struggle and hurt. She should be.

So immediately I spring into action:

For simplicity's sake I will let friends comments be in BLUE, Jane's in PINK, and mine in PURPLE:

 

Let's hope not. (and I do not believe she should be upset) She was blessed with a son. God never gives us more than we can handle. Being born is a miracle in and of itself, especially these days.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” d...eclares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Jeremiah 29:11

plans I have for you"...what might that be?
"plans to prosper you"...the majority of people with down syndrome are not very prosperous
"not to harm you"...oh c'mon LORD
"plans to give you hope and a future"...what kind of future might that ...be?

i know some very prosperous people with all sorts of afflictions, but the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY has plans not only for our earthly lives, but our eternal life as well. In the midst of struggles we are to turn to God and we are given His grace... and His mercy.
Even in the midst of my trials and troubles (my husband walked out on me and my 2 kids last night) I have been able to find comfort and joy with my relationship with God. I know things happen for a reason and I am comforted to know when I die I will go to heaven. Obviously you are not a believer and so there's not much else for me to say. I pray that God will draw you near to him.

 

All that know me know I am not a religious person, I cant quote scripture and I just went to mass for the first time in years, and do a lot of other unholy crap but I do believe that there is something after life and that there is a higher ...being. I dont necessarily agree that God made that child that way. But I look at it like this...you deal with your life the best you can, making the most out of it and handling the challenges etc. If there is a God I think he would look over your life and give the thumbs up or thumbs down (not literally but you get the jist).

(Jane): I understand where your coming from. I bet a lot of parents wonder why...I know I probably would. I envied that woman's strength. Put in those same shoes I probably would pull through, I am just thankful Im not in them.

 

(Friend) I am with you. I have only been a believer for a year and a half and I am thankful each day for my relationship with God. He has changed me in many ways. In this short year and a half of being a believer, I have learned there i...s only one way to be saved... Romans 10:9 says confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that he died and rose again and you WILL be saved.
There is another verst that states I think it's Romans 3:23 For the wages (payment) of sin is death (hell) but the FrEE gift of God is eternal life in heaven.

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us there is nothing we can DO to be saved:
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

Isaiah 64:6 says All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

So it is by our faith we are saved not by any of the good works we do, our good works are nothing compared to HIM.

I'll get off my soap box now that my lunch is over. But I have been changed RADICALLY since coming into a relationship with Jesus and I encourage healthy conversation. I definately do not have all of the answers by any means.

Have a good day (Friend)  :D

 

wow, that was a lot of _______ to read through. you both have a right to believe what you believe, I just think that people should think about the whole god thing a little deeper, use the good part of your brain, and not give God "credit" ...(for lack of a better word at this moment) for all good and bad in peoples lives. God had nothing to do with it, shit happens, people are born fucked up, it's extremly sad and painful to see. It just makes me crazy that people say "it's God's plan", what to make fucked up people that have little to no chance at a normal good life. CRAZY! I think it's SATAN!! I shouldn't have to say this but just kidding.

 

sin entered the world through one man and thus, yes the world from there was "messed" up...adam and eve passed down to us a sin nature and "stuff" does happen, God doesn't necessarily make or cause it to happen but he allows it. Note in th...e bible the story of Abraham or better yet the story of Job. In Job, he looses EVERYTHING family friends etc. as God allowed Satan to do that to prove to Satan and to Job the power of God in his life....powerful book that we just did a study on at church.
The good news for believers is that once this eartly life is over, we have eternity in heaven with our Lord...where there is no pain, no suffering and I am blessed by that.

Then another friend comments:

I have worked with special needs children and god hand picks those parents because not everyone gives unconditional love and you have to be able to do that and you also have to be forgiving of the ignorant stares and people who choose to make fun and not understand these children are a gift from God himself.

I know that is a long preface and a lot of information to follow, I hope you could follow, though.  All of that to say...here are my thoughts.  First, God revealed to me MY FAITH through that conversation.  I could have easily clammed up and ran away from the initial confrontation.  I could have let last night's incident make a rift between my relationship with God.  But the fact that NEITHER of those happened, and I stood up and used the BIBLE as my defense, as a gut reaction proves to me that my faith is still strong...and through that faith...with his patient hand and guidance, I will survive this trial. 

Second, I need to focus on my blessings.  I have so much to be thankful for.  My children, my family, my church, and my friends.  While this experience with my husband is not an enjoyable one, all things considered, I have been BLESSED!!!!! The third thing I have realized is that I ENJOY BLOGGING!!!  Usually if something like this happened I would only talk to a select group of friends and family, and even then wouldn't be very open.  Granted I have chosen not to post the knit-picky details, however, I feel there is just enough for you to understand the situation.  I have made a resolution, whatever the outcome, not to bash my husband, because I know he is hurting too.  The old me, the "BC" me as Sam Cirrincione would say (BEFORE CHRIST) me...would have used every FB, Twitter, etc. outlet to "trash talk" him. 

As I stated before, sin entered the world though ONE MAN, but luckily we have God's grace and Mercy.

Speaking of grace and mercy...(I think it goes hand in hand with faith and patience so we can talk about it :) )

I've learned the difference between the two.  Mercy is where God does NOT give us what we do deserve.  Grace is when He gives us what we don't deserve. 

Make sense?

The final thing I have learned from today and maybe what God is telling me...is that I need to PRAY MORE. 

PRAY MORE specifically,  PRAY MORE often.  PRAY!!!!  PRAY!!!!  PRAY!!!!!

Faith and Patience