Life and Purpose

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 One of my brothers-in-law is in the hospital with a very serious condition. It's the same hospital that I was taken to almost ten years ago because of the motorcycle accident. At 51 years of age he has had a stroke. After they cleared out two blood clots from his brain, he had a heart attack. The following day he experienced trouble with his breathing and they discovered that he had a combination of pneumonia and congestive heart failure, along with more blood clots in his brain and heart. Things looked bad for him, but he is now slowly recovering as the medical people continue to work hard while his loved ones continue to pray.

I cannot help but to think of what it will take for him to become more fully functional within his physical and mental capacities. His rehabilitation process has already begun, but I still wonder what it is that lies ahead for him as he deals with the aftereffects of these things that have happened to his body. I have been observing the heartache that his wife and adult son have been enduring, but I know that the challenges that they have been facing, and will face for some time, will be eclipsed by the joy that they will experience over the coming years as he recovers beyond the things that he has endured. I know that they will cherish his presense within their lives each dawning day, each holiday, each quiet moment...everything.

So, for me, I continue to visit him with the rest of my wife's family in a waiting room at a hospital in which I once cheated death and I perhaps understand a little better the grace involved with my survival. I have sometimes wondered why God allowed me to survive the motorcycle accident that invloved so many injuries, the effects of which linger to this day. My thought just now is that my selfish mind does not fully realize that, if for no other reason, God has allowed my wife and daughter to experience the wonders of His preserving grace through my survival. We have shared a lot of wonderful times together since my recovery from the accident, and I cannot possibly weigh my "pain and suffering" over the past years against the joys that we have shared together. I know that my death would have hurt them immeasurably, but God's grace has allowed for a different path. As I've watched my sister-in-law and nephew experience such torment and pain throughout the past two weeks, I feel that my brother-in-law's survival and continuing recovery will help to bring a great deal of heaing for all of them.

I know also that my life outside of that same hopital has certainly been granted healing for me beyond the simplicity of my body. There is always a purpose to everything, and clarity of mind is a wonderful thing.

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