If you have been reading my posts over the years, you will know something was up. I have never gone this long without a blog.During a recent bible study on Stuff Happens, I felt this overwhelming call to share all the stuff that has happened this year.

We have walked through illness, death of loved ones, heartache, deployment, and all the time seeing God in the mix. I have never been so thankful that God is guiding our path as this year. The trials and struggles have come one after another…but we are blessed because God was leading the way in every one of them.  I want to take a few moments to share some of the stories that made up this year of stuff happening so far.

Stuff Happens…

I would like to share a story about Fritz, my brother in law and my sweetie. He and my sister did everything with my husband and I. Fritz had struggled with terminal stomach polyps and bleed for the past 4 years and the bleeds were coming more and more often, each time making him a little weaker, but this amazing beautiful man just keep going and going. He would go to church on Sunday, he would get in the golf cart and my sis would drive them around town, he would take time to talk to anyone who stopped to see him and he would confess his faith to all of them. He knew that his time on earth was fast slipping away, but his concern was always for others, his wife and his 3 boys, who were grown men, any dad could be proud of. And it did slip away….way to fast. Just days before he passed from his earthly home, he said, do you think I have done enough to get to heaven? Do you think Jesus will know my name? I said, Oh Fritz, it is never about what we have done but how we did it and who we did it for. Then I told him, if Jesus doesn’t know your name, I don’t have much of a chance because you have lived the love of Jesus, been the hands and feet of Jesus and have confessed him as your Lord and Savior to all who would listen. I am sure Jesus will know you name and he has prepared a kingdom room in that mansion in heaven. He held my hand and both of us had tears streaming down our face. He passed from this earth May 21, just two day before my sister’s birthday.  I have thought about our talk time and time again. And I pray every day that I will live the kind of life that honors Jesus and will have him know my name, the day I stand before him.

Stuff continues to happen…..

In February, we found out that our son was deploying again. He had deployed to Afghanistan a few years back. This time he would be leaving for 12 months to Kuwait. It is never an easy thing. We all know this as our family has a long history of serving in the military. It is always difficult because of the kids. As adults, we miss them, we worry about them, we pray for them and we understand the need. As kids, oh they miss him, and they pray for him but they don’t understand why…they just know he isn’t there to do things with them, to be the daddy who helps them, and they just get frustrated and a little mad. So in May he leaves the states for Kuwait…I remember years ago when soldiers during Vietnam had no way to facetime at home, text, or email…You have the good old Post Office, snail mail, we use to call it. I am so grateful for modern technology because we do get to facetime to know our son is safe. I love that he can talk and see him kids. I pray every day for my daughter in law and my grandchildren, because I know that life is a little harder with him deployed. My daughter in law and I have never been close and it has been hard without our son as the buffer. We have gone months without seeing our grandchildren but faithful I trusted in God’s timing and on Oct. 19, thank you Jesus, she texted me and ask if I wanted the kids for the weekend. I was in the car and down that highway in a flash.  This deployment has been hard for all of us but God has walked it with us and His timing was perfect. That weekend was so beautiful to see those smiling faces and get those tender hugs. As we face the remaining months of deployment, we will have the sweet memories of that weekend in our mind and hearts because God was in the mix.

Stuff continues to happen….

In April, my husband’s brother was diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer. For years we had had family reunions, than after Brad’s mom died, we stopped having them. Well it was decided that this year we would have a family reunion. As Brad’s brother, spoke to all of us about his disease, his faith, and his life. God was ever present. You could hear the conviction of Faith as Brad’s brother spoke and you could feel God’s presence in the room. God was seen in the little faces of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. In the tears of his wife and children, who knew the struggles that lied ahead. But you could feel this awesome Peace like we all knew what was ahead….heaven and it wasn’t an end.  They gave him 3 months without chemo and 9+months with it. A man who was never sick, was suddenly struggling to live. After just one round of treatments, it was sadly very clear that the chemo was not going to make any difference. The tumors were still growing and a new one had developed. Well, God was in control through this entire journey. Normally liver cancer is painful, but not for him. He had very little pain until about 2 weeks before his passing. On August 25, he left his temporary home on earth and rode on the wings of angels to heaven with Jesus right beside him. The most memorial thing about him….He loved to talk, He knew more than anyone I had ever known, He served his country with honors and He was a man of Faith who love and served his God. Being the hands and feet of Jesus wasn’t a saying to him…He lived it. Again, God was in the mix….all the way through this journey.

Stuff continues to happen…..

For months Brad was having difficulty with his breathing, at first we thought it was just bronchial and would get better, but as it continued to drag on and on; he was struggling to breath and had a rattle in his chest. So his doctor sent us to a specialist. They did extensive tests on his lungs and said, the problem isn’t in your lungs, so back to the doctor we went. We had blood work, x-rays, CT’s and MRI. Well, after one of the CT’s the technician said, I think we need to repeat this and so they did. Well come to find out, Brad’s heart is in backwards and the subclavian artery is wrapped around his trachea and is choking him to death. Ok….are you say WHAT???? because we sure did. The doctor said, he had been born this way and he couldn’t believe he had never had any troubles before this. He told us that if they had found this in the 50’s and tried to fix it, he would of probably died. Then he said, but we can fix this we just have to replumb your heart. He went on to explain that there were only 9 cases in the history of Mayo like this. And that during his internship at Mayo he had actual been involved with surgery on a backwards heart…Do you see God in the mix? I sure did, can you believe in Wichita KS there is a thoracic surgeon who has actually been involved in the surgery of a backwards heart before. That alone was a huge blessing. So we set the date, we would have the surgery to remove the subclavian from the right sided aorta and connect it to the left carotid artery. And what is most amazing…it worked. Twenty nine hours later…we walked out of the hospital and Brad could breathe. They didn’t even have to crack his chest they were able to do this all through the artery. God’s miracles were ever present that day and God was in the mix not only in our lives, but in that surgical room with those doctors and nurses.

Stuff continues to happen……

One afternoon, I got a phone call and the sweet voice of my grandson was filled with excitement as he shouts into the phone GRAM you won’t believe it…I get my micky out…I am big enough and I get to be normal. My heart was leaping out of my chest. I was filled with joy as I could hear how much this mean to this little guy. From the day he drew his first breathe life has been a struggle. Many of you have heard this story, but now 12 years later, this little boy was getting his feeding tube out. The last few years have been a continue struggle for him, as we all know, kids can be unkind and as he started middle school, he unfortunately found out how unkind. My grandson has never been held back by his disability…he thinks he is just as normal as anyone else. Don’t tell him but this GRAM thinks he’s miles ahead of most, because he has the most positive and amazing attitude. But I heard him say earlier in the school year, I just want to be like all the other kids, normal. Kids made fun of his walk, his wheelchair, his feeding tube, and it made him realize there were differences. Talk about heart breaking, so you can imagine why he was so excited that his feeding tube was going to be no more. To him this meant he was one step closer to being normal. To me, I was praising God at the top of my lungs because it meant he was finally able to sustain his weight without assistance. Another major hurdle that God had helped us achieve. God has had a plan for this little guy for the moment he was conceived. God has been guiding the destiny of this beautiful young man every day of his life. His micky surgery to remove the feeding tube was his 14 surgery in 12 years. Thank You God for giving us this amazing child to inspire us every day.

Stuff happens…

This is just the highlights of the stuff that has happened in our lives this year, but I hope you can see God in all of it. For God has promised that “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8. God is our strength in all that we face in this world if we believe in him. In Exodus 15:2 “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. So when stuff happens, cling tight to God, focus your eyes on him and let him carry you through the storm. Isaiah 25:4 says “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall.

My Prayer for You……….

Gracious Father,

In the storms of life, as we are faced with trial after trial , let us seek Your face always. Let us take comfort in knowing that all things are within Your control. You calm the storms of life, You guide us through the storms, You are always with us and You are our refuge when stuff happens. How blessed we are. Thank You Lord, for being everything we need, every day as we walk this earth. May all we do honor you and may all glory be Yours, for You are Our Lord and Savior and we sing Your praise. In the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN