On Friday July 1st our nephew (34 yrs. old) was in a serious motorcycle accident.  A deer jumped infront of him and he suffered some severe injuries.  The deer didn't survive.  Those first 48 hrs. after the accident were tense to say the least but one flicker of hope was the fact that it didn't appear that he had suffered any head or spine injuries.  By Sunday we recieved word that in the end he had sustained 5 fractured ribs, 3 cracked ribs, a collapsed lung, a bruised and swollen liver and a nasty break to one wrist.  Recuperation will be a long process but he is still one lucky young man.  

On Sunday morning I asked that his name be added to the prayers of the people.  After the service a number of members came by to give me a pat on the shoulder or a quick hug, most of them shaking their heads.  For this request was the most recent in a long-ish line of requests. One for my daughter's severe depression and a  few weeks later her suicidal feelings, one for my father-in-law who suffered a heart attack while on vacation and is still not doing well, one for my mother who appears to be having mini-strokes again.  All of this since the middle of May!  I didn't add in our flooded basement and my husband's struggle to keep it all together!  He ended up having a couple of "bunny friends" help him with that (see a previous post).  Many of these wonderful people were shaking their heads as if to say - my it never seems to end for you, although only 2 of them said as much.  And out came that old saying, the one we've all heard each time we are faced with some kind of challenge -  "God never gives us more than we can handle".   

To be honest there are times when I feel like I want to "smack" people who say this.... only because when you're in the midst of some kind of crisis this seems so trite.  I naturally don't because they are saying it with love in their hearts and besides I think it would be considered illegal and it's certainly bad form!  So I just smile and say something trite back. Unless I'm feeling particularily frustrated, then I'll say that perhaps God has me confused with someone else and I'm not really that strong!  

But on Sunday a thought hit me that made things seem so much clearer.... and a lot less trite.  Life is all about challenges and struggles.  God doesn't "give" them to us, they happen.  What God does do however is gives us the strength and the tools we need to get through them.  He even throws in a minor miracle or two to give us a hand.  We have that saying backwards!  When "Life" gives us what seems to be too much to bare, God gives us what we need to handle it!"  It reminded me of another popular saying/quote:  "Don't ask God to take your stuggles away, ask him to make you stronger".   Just to be clear on this however, this conversation took place in my head, I didn't actually say it to those church members standing there.    What I did say to the woman who did pass along that old saying to me was that along with the struggles come the many blessings. That we needed to remember at times like this of the many things we have to be grateful for.  Our family has been blessed on numerious occasions with what I can only call  miracles so I never doubt that God does watch over us.  Actually, most of them have had to do with my youngest daughter so she really is being "watched over"!  Perhaps some day I'll recount the many times that it had to be the hand of God that saved her from some horrible experiences.  

By working our/my way through life's challenges and struggles I have been blessed with the positive results that come with making it through.  Each one has made me stronger than the ones before.  (I do wonder somtimes about what terrible thing might be coming down the pike for me with all this strength training!).  And since I seem to be on a run here today with the quotes I'd like to add one more: 

"If you're never in over your head, how will you know how tall you are?".  Today I'm standing here feeling pretty tall indeed.  (figuratively only as physically I'm only 4'8" tall).  God has given me what I need, when I needed it, to be able to keep my head just above it all.  

Be good to you - Razz 

ps - would "credit" the quotes but I can't find them in my quotes file right now.