Brother from another mother.
Today I got a call from my dear friend that I truly miss, and have become even more fond of our friendship since moving here to BKLY. Last night, his mother completed her battle with cancer which lasted a long time. I truly didn't believe that his mom would outlive mine, but I am glad that he got to spend time with her and that he had such a great mother like I did. When he called me today, it was hard to not be overwhelmed with emotions and I knew it was coming soon. I have been praying for him and his mother daily (almost) for months. The fact remains that we are all going to end up in a cemetary, or in an urn, or some other form of culturally relevant end of life ritual. So in praying for my friend hammy today, God reminded me of some verses he clearly gave to me the week my mom died as I sat in her room reading the bible and being with my brother and my dad and my mom as she finished her battle:
Isaiah 30:19-
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
I hope the 'menstrual cloth' part makes you laugh like it did my brother and I, but even more I hope the verses that hit me like a ton of love bricks hit you in the same fashion. The love God has for me pound me in the eyes each time I read this passage. He takes my tears. He is gracious to me. He answers as soon as he hears me. Even when I am going the wrong way, he stands behind me and points me in the right direction. He pours rain on my mustard seeds, he feeds me arich and aplenty. He surrounds me with love in all that I get to experience, and he heals my every wound. I pray for all the same love to pound hammy in the eyes this week and forever more.
Isaiah 30:19-
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
I hope the 'menstrual cloth' part makes you laugh like it did my brother and I, but even more I hope the verses that hit me like a ton of love bricks hit you in the same fashion. The love God has for me pound me in the eyes each time I read this passage. He takes my tears. He is gracious to me. He answers as soon as he hears me. Even when I am going the wrong way, he stands behind me and points me in the right direction. He pours rain on my mustard seeds, he feeds me arich and aplenty. He surrounds me with love in all that I get to experience, and he heals my every wound. I pray for all the same love to pound hammy in the eyes this week and forever more.
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