So many circumstances can make us want to crawl under the covers and hide until the storm passes. Last week in Tulsa with our son Jordan and his wife Cady, was one of those weeks.
All of us in doctor appointment after doctor appointment, facing tough news, cultivating tougher faith, we clung to one another and cling now to the only One who can truly heal.
As anyone whose gone through intense struggles knows, you have to keep living. You feel sort of guilty at times, like the seriousness of your battle means other things are too trivial to enjoy. Still, sometimes the trivial in contrast enhances the richness of our larger anchors, relationships, and revelations on what really matters.
So I bought a book that looked intriguing at the airport on Saturday, just after saying goodbye to Ron who was headed to Nashville while I was off to NYC. I was holding back tears, wanting not to be away from him right now, yet both of us compelled to stay our courses while staying in the fight.
The book would be part of my “fill your mind with fruitful things” plan for the 5+ hours of flying ahead, a book called, “The Charge” written by Brendon Burchard. His opening page entitled Out There, immediately took me to Jordan and Cady (no surprise) and inspired me with new hope and determination yet again….
“The Charged life, the truly lived life, is not a routine existence in some quaint, picturesque village of safety and certainty. No, the life worth living is out there, in the wooded wilds of the unknown, on the craggy battlefields that test our wits and wills in the daily fights with our own demons. It is found during the long onward slog through the storms and strife, when we hear only the whispers and taunts of foes and opponents stronger than we, on the ground where we are knocked sprawling and forced to face our own weaknesses, and on the mountaintops that we reach only because we pitted our every ounce of virtue, strength, character, and courage to keep climbing no matter the slings and arrows flung at our backs or the barriers thrown up before us…It is in the marching on when we are tired and weak and fearful, and in the camaraderie of those fellow warriors we have striven with — our brothers and sisters and family and friends who cheered us on and toiled with us despite the messiness and apparent madness of it all. It is out there on the path less traveled, an uncharted path chosen by each of us alone, an often meandering, overgrown path that leads only to another unpaved road or open field of opportunity, where we must strike out once more with the same hope for victory and transcendence…It is out there, in a world rich with choice and challenge and fear and freedom, that your greatest gifts and adventures await you. Listen. It is out there that destiny calls. Be bold and ready yourself. It is time to charge once again.”
So here’s to another week of living on all cylinders, fully charged, praying with all that’s within us, and holding fast to the One who Shepherds it all.
FootNote: For more frequent updates on Jordan’s journey, please follow my Facebook posts along with jordanandcadylewis.wordpress.com as I will only be posting occasional updates here on the blog.
