Shock and Blessings

Last updated on: April 29, 2016 at 3:32 am by Coleman Glenn

Shock and Blessings 2016-04-29T03:32:02-07:00 Coleman Glenn

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My wife is amazing. In the face of her cancer diagnosis a week and a half ago (could it possibly just have been a week and a half ago?), she has embraced life, and walked with courage and faith. And she’s also cried and felt exhausted and been real and open and honest. Look at that picture: arms open, loving life, just days after hearing the bad news. I love this woman. Here’s an excerpt from a recent blog post of hers on our family blog; go read the whole thing:

I do much better with a plan, able to face things head on and move forward. I do really well in crisis mode. Major emergency? I’m the girl you want next to you. I function fantastically in the immediate, the short term. The long fight? I guess we’re about to see how I hold up.

There is hope and joy and peace.

They come in moments of intense gratitude, of humbling awareness of the hundreds of people holding us in prayer, people who love us. They come in moments of focused time with my children, watching them work and play and love. They are in my husband’s eyes, full of compassion and sorrow and grace, as he looks at me and as we look together towards the Lord. I see the Lord’s eyes reflected back in his gaze and know that God does not will this – this cancer is not from Him and it is evil – and I see already the blessings that He is bringing about by allowing it.

I am more patient with my children. More intentional with my time and energy. More loving with my husband, kinder (I hope!) to the world around me. I pray that God make me slower to anger, quicker to bless. More patient, more loving. In short, more like Him!

And I see it in the responses and reactions of those around us – the love and grace poured out on us, the compassion. If there is one thing you can do for me, dear readers, it is this: let God use this for good. Let Him use the awful thing to make beautiful things. Beautiful moments, beautiful relationships, beautiful grace.

Again – go read the whole thing.

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