Stay Tuned For Part Two

One of my favorite TV series , maybe my very favorite, is Little House on the Prairie. I am so thankful for reruns because "they just don't make them like they used to." Today, you might have to usher your wee ones out of the room because the new dramas think they can't be successful without violence, language, and sensuality and the comedies (if you can call them that), are filled with crude, rude,and sarcastic remarks.

This rising generation probably would not even think that Lucy is funny as she stuffs chocolates in her mouth (you who know what I am talking about are chuckling now, aren't you?) or Barney Fife as he tries to get that gun with no bullet out of his holster. Well, that is just my opinion about present day TV but it is my blog so I guess I can have one, right? Another lesson for another day. Back to Little House.

Maybe my favorite episode of the Ingall's family is the one entitled I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away. The story begins with Mary, the pretty, studious first-born of Charles and Caroline Ingalls, going blind and the whole family's struggle as they stand by absolutely helpless to do anything to remedy the situation. Danny and I were watching this one day and I told him that I would like to watch it with Alicia at some point. Our sweet granddaughter was probably around seven at that time and Grandanny was cautious about whether our sensitive, "go to bed with life's questions on her mind" (much like her MaMa) Alicia would find this particular episode too sad. It was a valid point because, as Part One draws to an end, we both were needing a handkerchief as tears welled up in our eyes. You who love that show can see now this unforgettable scene. Mary, with her dreams and hopes gone (she thinks), refuses to try anything to help herself and at Doc Baker's advice, Pa and Ma Ingalls have made one of the hardest decisions but the right decision and are sending Mary away to a school for the blind. Get your kleenex out again as you relive this final scene in Part One. They walk Mary to the wagon. She has the forlorn look of a forsaken child, Laura is crying, and before Pa puts Mary in the back of the vehicle that will carry her away from her beloved family, she begs them one last time not to do this, probably thinking, "How can you send me away? I can't see- who will care for me? Do you just want me out of your way?" We, parents, want to yell out and say-"Forget this, Darling Child, you can stay!"   Don't we?

Who of us have not looked up and questioned our Sovereign Lord as we wrestle with life's unanswerables? Just this morning, as I lay in my bed around 1 o'clock , this particular blog birthing in my spirit, I prayed for friends who fight terrible cancers, families who miss their sons and daughters who fight in Afghanistan and Iraq as I write, the suffering orphans in Haiti. This morning, a friend posted on Facebook a site Prayers for Baby Madison Byrd; I went to that site and saw a beautiful, almost 2-yr old twin to brother Hunter and I saw condolences being  shared  and realized she was already with Jesus and now her grief-stricken parents need our prayers. Madison, apparently, contracted Swine Flu last week and today she suffers no more. Yes, we ask, "Why?" and yes, I answered Danny, "Alicia will cry but children will awaken sooner or later (and most of the time it is sooner) to the fact that life isn't a full-time party; fun days will be canceled, peers will make fun of you, and on a more serious note, grandparents will die..." I reminded Danny also, that this show is a two-parter and the sequel is so good. "I can hardly wait for Part Two", I told him.

See, we are living in Part One, where we don't see how our life's circumstances and burdens are working toward good for us as Rom. 8:28 promises. Of course, we don't see it on this side of Heaven-that's why we are exhorted to "walk by faith, not by sight." One of my heroes for this generation is Joni Earackson Tada, who at age 17, was a vibrant, athletic, goal-oriented teenager until she dove into shallow water in a bay and was paralyzed from the neck down. As she lay in a Stryker frame, staring at the floor of a hospital room, she heard these resounding words echoing in her head-"Your life is over, you will be a quadriplegic for the rest of your days!" And Joni, by her own admission, was hoping and scheming to make sure those days would be short. She could not see down the road, now forty years down the road,a worldwide ministry called Joni and Friends, which distributes wheelchairs and Bibles to millions of people who are disabled. Many books have been written by her- if you are a reader, I highly recommend them, especially her last one about the lessons she has learned from her encounter. I can't remember the title and don't have it here- it was so good that I passed it along to a lady at the dental office but the bookstore will know and help you with that. In Joni's own words, she says she knows that she would never have known God and experienced the peace and purpose that she has in the midst of a most difficult situation, might I say (totally paralyzed means totally dependent on others to help you through your day) had she not gone through this trial and the reason she blesses my life is the attitude -acceptance with joy attitude that she exudes.  Her age of 17 brings to mind a Genesis character, young 17 yr old Joseph, who said this about his undeserved sufferings-" But as for you, ye thought evil against me, BUT GOD meant it unto good..." God had a purpose, a plan and when we see Joseph in chapter 37, as a young man, he has no clue what lays ahead but through it all, God was with him and Joseph trusts Him!

Oh, my dear friend, the Apostle Paul says it so well in 2 Cor. 12:8-10. "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me "My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake;for when I am weak, then am I strong."

Now, the story of Mary Ingalls, of course, is fictitious and pales in comparison to numerous Biblical accounts of people in Part One not knowing the victory in Part Two but I smile when Charles and Carolyn come for a visit to the blind school and are elated when they see a smiling, hopeful Mary who has learned Braille and can still realize her dream of being a teacher and also has met her prince charming, Adam, who will become her future husband. I love the message of the show!  Believer, maybe you find yourself in Part One and it seems it has gone on forever. Amy and I were having a blessed conversation just yesterday about Mary and Martha in Luke11- how they must have thought that Jesus would never come and sure enough He didn't in their timing and their beloved brother Lazarus died. Jesus reminded them of these words-"If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God." His promise of "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" is just as true in your life, Christian brother and sister, as it was in Paul's, Joseph's, Mary's and Martha's, Joni's,Mary Ingall's, and countless others.

Trust Him, today, because there is a Part Two to your story. He's refining you for something good, ultimately to look like His Son, Jesus Christ! It's my opinion that when we get to Heaven , if we still have the desire for the "whys?"- "Why did my baby die and that one lived?" "Why did you trust us with the handicapped child who never walked nor talked?", Why was I sick alot of the time?" "Why did my spouse walk out just when I needed him or her the most?"  I believe, we can have the answer but it is also my thought that maybe the much awaited and anticipated scene from the ultimate Part Two will unfold like this: Grant me a little liberty here, will you? Jesus beckons to me, yes, even with the throngs of people there, me too because I am His child just like the others and as I approach and we sit down and He reaches with His nail scarred hand (that way for eternity, I believe) for my hand, my body now being totally healed and whole and He says, "Now, about that affliction..." and I say, "What affliction, Lord?"  Romans 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."  2 Cor. 4:17 " For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."    Amen and Amen!!

   

Looking up, Deborah

p.s. I just thought of the words , only the chorus, of a song that goes like this: "It will be worth it all when we see JESUS..."    Some of you, (Sharon, Amy, Windy, Jill, ) and others are singers. Get the words to that song and sing it. Maybe you could email me the words- I just looked in my songbooks and could not find it. It will be worth it, dear one, regardless of what you face today. I'm praying for you and desire yours for me!