But There Are Others

There is no question that the last ten months have been very stressful ones for us. And often in times of stress and grief your vision can become slightly distorted. So this week we went back to Pinebrook, with no responsibilities for music this time, just hoping to get some rest and temporary relief from the stress. And the Lord allowed us to meet some interesting people. We came as a break from the stress of settling my dad's estate and trying to sell his house and then we met a brother from Bronx who told us how his aunt had died with a large home in New York and no will. He shared with us the resulting problems and the fighting between relatives over the estate. It made our challenge look mild. We came with the stress of trying to reopen and settle properly my wife's father's trust, after we had found that due to incorrect information provided to us, we have not properly handled several things since his death. Then we met a Bible teacher who shared that he unexpectedly had been the executor of a will where the money was to be split between 31 Christian organizations. The problem was that the deceased had written his own will and the percentages of distribution in the will totaled 110%! So they had to recalculate and reallocate these 31 gifts but before they could, all 31 organizations had to sign off to approve the changes. That also made our challenge look mild. We came still grieving over the deaths of our fathers and my brother. Then we met a pastor whose in-laws have been staying with them for several years because she has dementia and he must use a cart to get around. They require 24 hour care which means the pastor's wife must be home just about 24-7. She has not been able to attend Pinebrook for several years because of being a caregiver. That also made our recent experiences look mild and made us thankful for God's provision to us and our fathers during this difficult time. We also came to Pinebrook with the stress of having my right hand in a cast because of my thumb surgery. I am not able to drive or write or do many other things to care for myself and it has been a little discouraging and challenging. Then two days ago we were talking to a widow who reminded me that I should be thankful that my thumb could be repaired. She shared how her late husband's right thumb had been smashed at work by a 500 lb. object and how it had to be amputated. Wow, my temporary pain and discomfort certainly is mild in comparison. So once again this week we have had many reminders of God's grace and faithfulness to us. And while the stresses may still be there, we leave our week at Pinebrook realizing that things could be much worse and that for many they are much worse. God is still in control and He is good, all the time. We just need to keep our trust in Him for the strength, wisdom and peace that we need daily. As my grandfather used to say, "Keep looking up!"