Thursday, August 4, 2011

grace for the graceful

One of the sweetest and gentlest men I have known lies today in a nearby hospital.  His face and body have been badly broken by the sudden impact of a deer flying through their car windshield last week.  We have known this couple for years and traveled with them on a short term mission trip to England several years ago.  They have the closest of marriage relationships and are so bound in love that you don't think of them as just close to each other....they are always "next" to each other.  Rod is the kind of man who is big-framed physically, but tender and soft on a personal level.  Rod and Elaine both love music and singing in the choir.  In England, as we moved about, Rod would often spontaneously start a familiar praise song or hymn (I remember one particular time as we rode on the top level of a double-decker bus in London...) and it always felt so right to join in...even in public.  We love this couple and now this gracious pair needs great grace to walk through difficult days.  A few months ago I watched two mated geese swimming on a local pond.  The male was drawn into a fight by another hostile male goose, who seemed to be vying for his partner.  Researching geese, I learned that they are absolutely loyal to their mates.  If one is injured, the other will remain by his side until he is well again.  Rod and Elaine are like that.  Rod is in a controlled coma and Elaine is standing by her life partner continually watching and waiting and trusting.  It is a time when grace is needed for the graceful.  Please lift Rod and Elaine in prayer today.  Thanks and blessings!

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
         The LORD will give grace and glory; 
         No good thing will He withhold 
         From those who walk uprightly. 
 

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