Read it out loud.
"I think that it is God's severe mercy allowing our grief to come in rolling waves rather than in one titanic-tsunami..."
Wow - Thanks, Punky! That visual image makes me recall that eventful year when I was trekking back and forth on that chemo roller coaster. Basically, when it comes to illness, I am a wimp. Don't like it. Don't want to do it. Chemo was one of those things that goes in the category of 'horrific.' You feel human, then they load you up with poison, then you feel like you would rather be on the brown side of the grass, then slowly you start feeling human again and it starts all over again. The start over was always the worst part. Knowing what good felt like, then walking into the office just knowing you would come out feeling like toast ~ the worst!
At the time I had a student who had just survived this with his mother. He had compassion, like little I had ever seen from a male high school student. He also was a surfer and he shared this little hint with me. I knew I would never forget it, and yet, it was not until Punky wrote me the little message I quoted that his lesson came back. He said to face chemo like riding a wave. (Now imagine this young man telling this to an olde lady....cute....riding a wave!) Not that I had any life experience that would even give me an idea of how to ride a wave, but I did watch Gidget at one time - so sure, I could visualize this. He said to just imagine that I would lie down on the board and paddle out to the calm water. When in deep water, the waves are small - rising and falling, gently - but as you get closer to shore - the shallow water, the waves begin to increase in size. If you fight the wave, you go under. If you ride the wave and hang on to your board (your foundation, I gather) - then you'll soon ride it out and be safely on the shore, basking in the sun. Cool visual image - I tried that on the next chemo and it worked...
But there was something deeper there, that possibly he did not even realize. Deep water - the depth of Christ's love and care for me. Deep water - no way to conquer it on your own - no one can tread water long enough. Deep water - you hardly ever start there. Shallow water - turbulence. Shallow faith - no way to draw from past experience, where you learn to have faith, little by little. It does not happen in one day, or even in one year. It takes a lifetime.
High school students are a special group. I laugh when I meet people who roll their eyes and wonder if I have lost my mind because I say that I love, yes love, working with young people. "Teen agers" AHHHHH, they might say. Teenagers - wow- they think they are invincible. They see the world with unlimited possibilities. They often even think deeply about our world and where their place is in it. And I tend to gravitate towards those artsy teens. The ones who think outside the box. The ones who will take a risk and not necessarily conform. The ones who don't seem to care as much about what impression others have of them as they do in trying to be all they can be.
With these teens, there is always the chance that they will try risky behaviors and follow the ways of the world. There is an equal chance, however, that they will find the source of strength that grounds them. And when they do, wow - the passion they have - the way they are ready to take on the world as God directs them - it is quite something to see!
And that reminds me of Number 7. Roger met her in the band and maybe they connected because of her name. We used to host a 5K for the band, and her race number was 7. He cheered her on and waited in the chute for all of the runners. He had to be there in case anyone needed help at the end of the race. Those were fun days. After that, he never called her by her name, only a hug and "Hey, Number 7!" And she loved it. I had dinner with her Monday night and what a joy. She is all grown up and in college now. She knows who she is in Christ and has a passion that I love to see. There is no telling how many lives she will impact for the Lord. Roger would have loved to have had dinner with her. I'm sure he knows though, that she has grown to be a wonderful young woman, full of grace, full of faith, full of passion for the things that matter.
Roger's Lesson: He would remind me of how much I have learned from the young people in my life and not to forget to connect with them. They are our future and we need for them to be well grounded in the faith. That's the important thing.
So the next time the tears start rolling, for whatever unforeseen reason, I'll think about teens and some of the remarkable wisdom they impart. Even when they don't realize they are being so wise.
Beautiful post. Thanks.
ReplyDelete