I'm Just Sayin'

    "The most beautiful picture I saw this week-- Awake!"

                                          “I’m Just Sayin’”

                                                                 by Alan P. Scaglione

 “Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil!”  Psalm 23

 I have never led with our weekly scripture text before but this week,
I have seen it in such a real way…it’s been present in all of my thoughts.
Watching a friend suddenly turn a corner in their life…
Just to be faced with that valley…
No warning, no preparation, no clue—
Just suddenly—life threatening!
And all because she suddenly did not feel well!
What started as…
“Just having some pain in my back… think I might just stay in bed today…”
Progressed to…
"Think I will spend the night at my son’s house, just not feeling well…”
And continued with…
“Just wanted to let you know that we are taking her to the emergency room just to get her checked out.”
And it went downhill from there!
ER doctor said it was diverticulitis…
Said they had to go in and see how bad it was.
Should be an hour’s operation….
SIX hours later…
It was worse than they expected….had to do more than they thought…
And now…
She was in a coma AND on a ventilator!
That—all from a pain in the back!
They took out a portion of her bowel—think they got out all of the diverticulitis—so that’s good!
But they had to do some things that she was not going to be happy about once she came out of her coma.
Some life changing things—probably temporary, but possibly… permanent—
That she never expected to wake up to!
None of us did!
But… again… Life is what happens when you’re making other plans!
And we pray, we believe, we have faith!
And yet…we have to understand…
Sometimes—things still happen!
All the faith, all the prayers, all the statements…
And God chooses to allow something to happen we NEVER expected.
And only HE knows why HE allows it!
There’s an old song that has words that I have had to hold on to several times in my life:
“And if HE chooses NOT to move in the way we prayed HE would…
Confident HE’s working all together for my good…
I will stand upon HIS Word for HE is able, He is able, He is ABLE!”
Anyone remember that song?
The group “Truth” sang it back in the day!

 It’s a hard life lesson to learn, but…

Sometimes, things just don’t turn out the way we prayed!
In this situation…
Suzann was supposed to only be in a coma and on the vent for 24 hours!
Four grueling and heart hurting, prayer chain fueled days later…
She finally came out—and our girl was back with us!
Woke up to a life she did NOT have before our Sleeping Beauty shut her eyes a week before!
But that’s life—sometimes, you turn this corner and there it is—
The Valley of the Shadow of Death!
And you say “We have faith, We will live by Faith—We trust God—We will be okay—He would never let us go through that!”
But sometimes…my friend…
He allows you to walk through that valley…
But the lesson is in the next line—
“I will fear no evil FOR thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me!”
The rod is for correction.
The staff is for protection.
Sometimes, we need the rod to correct something in our life.
Sometimes, we need the staff to protect us from something in our life!
Either way—they comfort us!

So… a week later, having watched my dear GrannyZann lifelong faith-filled friend Suzann walk through that Valley
And come out…
Different- sure, dealing with stuff she never expected- sure, but ALIVE, definitely!
Just reminds us all…
You just never know how a day is going to end…
Based on how it started!

Until Next Time

I’m Just Sayin’…

Brother “A”

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