{"id":619,"date":"2009-05-12T10:31:59","date_gmt":"2009-05-12T14:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=619"},"modified":"2009-05-12T10:31:59","modified_gmt":"2009-05-12T14:31:59","slug":"so-where-is-god-in-all-of-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=619","title":{"rendered":"So Where is God in all of This?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A friend came by in his truck on the way home from painting a house the other day.\u00c2\u00a0 I hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen him in months.\u00c2\u00a0 He knew I had been in the hospital but he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t heard the latest news about the bone marrow transplant.\u00c2\u00a0 He invited me to go see the new house that he and his family just moved into last week. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I felt like a ride so we headed out to their place to see it. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It was a great visit.\u00c2\u00a0 On the way back, he asked me about where I was on the religious front right now.\u00c2\u00a0 We had had many a conversation about faith, going to church, and God.\u00c2\u00a0 He wondered where I was on all of this after hearing the devastating news. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a good question.\u00c2\u00a0 So, where IS GOD in all of this?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been a person of faith for many years.\u00c2\u00a0 Growing up in my little country church made me question religion and develop my awareness of God on a daily basis.\u00c2\u00a0 It helped me develop an appreciation of God and what he does for us. I certainly know that, but by the grace of God, I could be in other less blessed places. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

So where does he fit in with me now?\u00c2\u00a0 Why doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he just \u00e2\u20ac\u0153heal me\u00e2\u20ac\u009d without having to go through treatments…and maybe even die? \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect God to keep me from pain and illness.\u00c2\u00a0 I know he could if he wants to and, if he did, that would be great.\u00c2\u00a0 I also know that we all must die at some point.\u00c2\u00a0 We are all terminally ill – if you will allow me to take those liberties in describing our bodies. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I do know that, even though we may not deserve this kind of grace and care, that God loves us and will be right there with us through things – the good and the bad.\u00c2\u00a0 He will be there to wrap his loving arms around us, our families, and our friends during times of difficulty.\u00c2\u00a0 When it is time to go, hopefully many years from now, he will carry us to a permanent place of comfort and peace and will even support each of those who remain as much as they will allow in their time of sorrow and adjustment. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a great peace in that for those of us who are believers.\u00c2\u00a0 That is where God is.\u00c2\u00a0 Right there with us in the trenches – sometimes holding our hand – sometime carrying us through them.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

My wish for you today<\/strong> is that you or your loved ones never have to experience a place of illness and tragedy.\u00c2\u00a0 However, if you do find yourself in that place, that you embrace the love of a God that is gracious and caring.\u00c2\u00a0 Though you may feel like you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deserve it, that care and love is there if your faith is there to accept it. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

~ Joellen<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A friend came by in his truck on the way home from painting a house the other day.\u00c2\u00a0 I hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen him in months.\u00c2\u00a0 He knew I had been in the hospital but he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t heard the latest news about the bone marrow transplant.\u00c2\u00a0 He invited me to go see the new house that he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,41,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","category-health","category-illness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}