The Good...The Bad...and The Ugly

Where did this phrase originate? Was it a movie? I think so. The three words are always in that order, but today I’m going to turn them around. I’m going to talk about the Ugly, the Bad, and then the Good.

THE UGLY: ALS is a thief. It’s always stealing something from me. Right now it’s stealing my muscle: the muscle in my legs, the muscle in my lips, the muscle in my feet, the muscle in my thumbs. Do you realize how many things you need your thumbs for!?

THE BAD: I know that using muscle is the only way to strengthen it, so I try to do my exercises every day. They’re not easy, so I try to make them fun. This week while exercising I’ve been listening to one of my favorite radio speakers—Charles Swindoll. He’s doing a study through the book of Daniel. One day he was talking about the unseen world. He said that if we could see the invisible battles that are always going on around us, we’d be shocked. Powers of darkness and light are always battling for our minds.

I had already been thinking about that, and an image came to my mind:

Life is a hill—a hill that takes a lifetime to climb. God had planned for our life to be a scenic, peaceful climb. However, because of Adam and Eve’s sin, our perfect world became corrupted with all kinds of brokenness. It’s like Satan released millions of boulders from the top of the hill. Big ones, small ones, and medium-sized ones. They are constantly rolling toward us, making our climb difficult. The boulders come in the form of disappointments, relational problems, accidents, abuse, disease, and many other things. Some come slowly, and some appear quickly out of nowhere, but they are relentless.

As we climb Satan is taunting us, telling us we’re never going to make it. He’s trying to get us to panic. He’s telling us to give up. He’s saying that God doesn’t care about us. He’s inciting us to be angry with God.

THE GOOD: God wouldn’t have planned for us to have a boulder-filled life, but since that’s what mankind chose, at least he wants us to let him bring something good from each one of them. As the boulders bombard us, God is there--coaching us, loving us, teaching us how to grow through each trial. Each time we wrestle with a boulder our muscle gets stronger, so we’re more ready for the next challenge. God is pleased when our hard times deepen our relationship with Him. You know? As human beings, we can become quite independent! But the boulders remind us that we need God.

I’ve heard lots of people’s woes during these 17 months since my diagnosis, but the most common phrase I’ve heard (without a doubt!) is that someone is mad at God. Even people who don’t believe there is a God are often angry with him. (smile)

I’m almost 60. So I’ve earned the right to give a little motherly advice, don’t you think? (smile) Here it comes:

Don’t be angry with God! He’s your best help in dealing with the boulders of this life. Let the hard things push you toward God…not away from him.

That’s GOOD stuff! (smile)

mm

P.S. I have to tell you a couple of cute stories from one of the best parts of my life…the grandkids.

My four-year-old grandson Levi is fascinated by my ACD (talking machine). When I see him I type in, “Hi Levi.” When the machine speaks, he grins from ear to ear. Then he comes over to the machine, leans over it and says, “Hi!” The other day he told his mommy, “I’m going to go tell the machine something.” (smile)


Another story, this time about Reuben who is five (all set for his first day of kindergarten in this photo). A few months back when I still had a voice, albeit undependable, I began to read him a story. But after reading one page, my voice faded away so I suggested that he let Ukki (Jim) finish the story. Later that evening he told his mommy, “I had Ukki read to me today because Mummo doesn’t know how to read.” (smile)