10/4/11
Friends,
Let me share with you a story that is a large reason for my recent blogs... it is a deeply inspiring story, and has helped me to see with the eyes of my spirit the glory of God all around me in new ways, and through scripture to ‘feeeeel’ and ‘beeeelieve’ his promises. It is a story that hit home because it is from a friend whose integrity I trust to the core... what a beautiful spirit this woman has :)
As the story goes, my friend Liz six years ago was stricken with a lung condition while training for a marathon coming up on January 9th (is important later..), just 6 or so months away. Anyhow, this lung condition in its exactness was misunderstood by over seventy doctors (wisdom of the world? 1cor3:19). Now liz has a background as a nurse, and so she was able to discipher a lot and find - who she felt confidently - were the right people.
This lung condition landed liz in the hospital sometime late december (I wish I remembered ALL the details, because little bits of glory are found in them.. i hope to at least deliver the large chunks). There came a time late in her stay, that she felt stranger than normal.. it was a sunday. She called her husband and asked he not go church that day.. he of course obliged and instead went to the hospital. She couldn’t explain what it was she was feeling, she just felt strange... and after one doctor trying to prescribe her a pill for anxiety, she - being a nurse - knew better. Finally the right doctor got news of what she was experiencing, and he called that she be moved to the icu, she was crashing.
She crashed. Her lungs failed, and they were to do surgery to try and repair (i forget the exact condition) whatever it was that had caused this crash (a crash landing i guess you could call it?).
Where she landed? In the presence of her creator... :)
She - having had a career in interior design - told me of how her and Jesus walked around designing mansions together... “he breathed mansions luke...” . Same guy who breathed the universe into being i suppose.. :) She said how the word mansions wasn’t enough, that the word just didn’t describe what they were her. The colors, the light... magnificent. She shared how she even made jesus laugh.. her favorite part :) She asked him if they “could build any waterfront houses maybe...” and with a deep belly laugh, he replied “darlin, here we’ve got the endless seas... of course we can” :)))))) I mean... cool.
In this place, time did not exist. She was under the knife and then in a coma for 14 days... there, where she actually was, she describes it as months worth of.. whatever she was doing. I suppose it’s simple though, how could time exist in eternity?
Near the end of her stay there she saw her dad :) He was holding one of the precious gemstones... in his life on earth, he was a jewler. The gemstones are described in revelation.. lovely (in fact, revelation 21-22 is a great place to start in reading.. then believing the beauty that awaits ) Anyway, he at some point said to her “be sure and tell your mother about these stones..” She replied, “well what? I’m not going anywhere.. I’m staying here..” He knew what jesus would later share with her immediately upon her return to her body.. that she was to finish the race. (man, I’m forgetting that part, but how He told her she wasn’t ready to be there just yet is incredible.. i’ll remember soon).
Liz has a happy marriage of over 30 years, four children, and now I believe it is up to eleven grandchildren... AND SHE WANTED TO STAY!
This place... this place she was given the beautiful gift of getting a taste of... this place is where she will be one day.
In the months before learning of her condition, she was in her home listening to a woman preach on how if you really want to know the life of Jesus, you have to ask to know the life of Jesus in his suffering. In her studio that day, she raised her hands and asked to know the life of jesus in his suffering.
She got it alright. A crash landing...
And her life today as well as sooo stinkin many peoples lives have been changed because of her story.. because of her beautiful spirit, because of her heart that drips with passion and love for her creator.. and because of her unique knowledge of whats to come. she’s convinced she only got a taste of what’s to come.. what I would do for a taste of a taste.
She came to, and out of her coma on... January 9th. And while she wasn’t able to run the marathon she was six months earlier determined to run (although after long rehab and many more surgeries, she has now ran two half marathons.. way to go liz!)... the marathon she was about to run was one of a deeper importance, one with lasting determination as her fuel.
I’ve found myself in such states of spiritual euphoria lately... states where I find myself in a new way meaning these words when I say “take me lord.. if i can better serve your kingdom in my death than in my life, take me.. use me.. bring me home!”
And the thing is, a big part of this new ‘condition’ i find myself in is due to this story... and the lips it came from... ones of integrity, truth, and love... good things (great discernment is needed in hearing of a ‘near death’ experience from a stranger..). Hearing this story gave me an injection of something I haven’t yet found the words to describe (i know right.. well it’s that wonderful! and i’m just not convinced there are words for it..). It was as if for a moment or two I snuck into her story, and was filled with what i’m sure is a fraction of the faith she must feel.. her cup overflowing onto (with the aim of the spirit) those who might need it.. when they need it... my cup.
Now it’s been six years since the incident, and I was a bit unsure why I hadn’t yet yeard the story, knowing now after talking to her how freely she’d been sharing with everyone and anyone.. (the lord must’ve given ron her husband an injection of some sort of patience to deal with her ending up hugging, crying with, and sharing her story with randos in home-depot etc... haha.. way to go ron! I wonder what your day will look like :))
I wondered why it’d taken so long to hear of it. Then, i stopped wondering... :)
We had this conversation just monday, and my spirit was in a place to know the answer... it just wasn’t my time to hear it (the story). and a smile came over my face, and out of my heart - with a soft, smooth and lovely, but dense flow - poured thanks. I simply cannot contain myself these days... and it scares me, because my life is forever changing.. it’s as if once you’ve tasted a certain amount of sweetness, you’re always accountable to it.. because if you’re not at least enjoying thaaat, you’re in maybe a darker place just imagining it’s taste and others beyond it..
In ‘heaven’.. liz said that she was constantly smiling so big, that - in her growing understanding of this new world she was in - she was worried her face would begin to hurt.. badly! haha :) Realizing soon, there is no pain in heaven - not of any sort - she smiled on... her heart smiled on too.
It was my time now to hear this story. Maybe it’s yours too. It gave me such energy to dig deep into the word and combine new levels of faith with my new hunger for scripture.. opening my eyes.. my heart... to feel eternity all around me. You read all throughout scripture that what she felt is trueee.. it’s right there! She didn’t want to come back to her 11 gchildren, 4 children, and loving husband of 30 years, because it was THAT GREAT! thats the promise..
This is in scripture... the greatness of eternity. Her story (what a gift!) gave me new faith when reading scripture, and so i believed.. i asked god and it’s been given.. i worship alone through tears with a purity that sometimes finds me wishing i was home with him. I can feel that, and mean it, because of promises all throughout scripture, as well as this womans account. If what I’ve hoped for (and still do..) most in this world - a lovely, god fearing woman to grow old with, loads of children to make a home, a community waaarm, and g’children someday coming out my stinkin ears - pales so greatly in comparison to the vibrant colors in heaven.. then bring me home. :)
If you’ve made it all the way through... I’m glad to have given you the chance to experience - vis-a-vis my words - her time with god :)
Whatever you’re feeling... don’t ignore it... with new faith, explore it.
Thanks for reading :)
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