Amazing Story

The other day I received an e-mail from NOOMA containing this story. For those of you that have seen the latest NOOMA, 012 Matthew this might mean a little more to you, but for those of you that have not seen it, I strongly encourage you to see it.

I just received 3 copies of Nooma 12 "Matthew" today. I bought one for myself and 2 to share with others that need to hear the message. My wife and I had purchased the previous 11 Nooma videos. It was always nice to sit together on the occasions in our life when we could carve out time and ask God to speak into our lives through Rob's teachings.

When I went to the Nooma web-site and noticed that there was a new video available I was surprised. It hadn't been that long since we purchased Nooma 1-11. When I listened to the clip I was speechless. What a gift from God at just the right time in my life.

You see, my wife and younger son and I moved from our home of 23 years in California to Boise, ID in the summer of 2005. Our older son chose to stay in CA with friends. We left behind family, friends and a church body that loved us well. While I had a job offer, we had a sense that God was moving us to Idaho for other reasons which we did not understand. It has been a wonderful 7 months, making new friends, growing closer to each other and to God.

On January 21, 2006, my wife Nancy (47 years old) passed away from a cerebral aneurysm. There was never any indication that there was a problem. The night before we had friends over for dinner (she had a gift for hospitality) and then we went to a missions meeting at church. As we returned home our conversations were all about how God might direct the future. It was an exciting time. In the morning I returned to the room to tell Nancy I would take Chris to school, allowing her to sleep longer. I found Nancy having a seizure. She never regained conciseness. We were with her for 66 hours in the hospital. It was a time for disbelief as doctors explained what had happened and the probable outcome. It was a time for prayer, asking God for a miracle, saying "God, I know that over and over Christ told people "your faith has saved you", please save Nancy. It was a time to grieve deeply as it became evident that she was only alive because
the ventilator was breathing for her. It was a time to gather friends and family to remember how much she meant to each of our lives. The 66 precious hours were a gift from God. Nancy lived life like it mattered. I know she is with the Lord. She's in a better place. It still hurts. God is still loving and good.

Reflecting on why God moved us to Idaho, it's as if God was saying "Trust me, you don't know what is going to happen, but I do. You need to rid your life of all of your commitments and obligations and cling to each other, cling to me. You need to take long walks together and see beautiful sunsets together, because you don't know it, but you only have 7 months left with Nancy". What a gift.

Thanks for reminding me that Jesus wept.