God's plan part 2
As I read my post from yesterday, I felt that I wanted to clarify some points.
I believe that God has a plan for each of us. For some, God's plan is for them to influence nations - Billy Graham comes to mind - and for some of us, it is to make an impact on a smaller number of people.
Alan has made an impact on everyone he has ever known. Even when he has been at his worst, there were aspects of his character - his childlike faith, his insistence on displaying 'good manners' - that have amazed and inspired others. Here's the difficult question: What part does Huntington's Disease play in God's plan for Alan? My answer is: I don't know.
The older I get, the less sure I am about anything except the basics of the gospel - which is actually all there is - that God wants to reconcile us to Himself, and that He is with us in every situation we may encounter. Why do Huntington's and ALS exist? Why are children born with Fragile X or Tay Sachs Disease? The longer I have wrestled with these questions, the more convinced I am that they will never be answered to anyone's satisfaction. I could accept the simple answer - a fallen world has resulted in these terrible diseases - but even that is not sufficient.
I have come to believe that the why is not important. These things are, they exist. They affect all kinds of people, in all walks of life. Suffering is one human experience that we all share. I am assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God. I have faith - through what I understand from scripture, and from experience - that God makes a way through this wilderness we call life.
For many years, my husband and I suffered through treatments for infertility. Why did God allow this to happen? There are no answers, but along this painful road, God gave us Alan, and we have had a rich and full life as a family with challenges and joys like any other family.
God will make a way for Alan, and for us. He is never caught off guard, as we may be, by the cruelties of life. He will never leave us, He will hold us - and at some times carry us - through the tough times.
I believe that God has a plan for each of us. For some, God's plan is for them to influence nations - Billy Graham comes to mind - and for some of us, it is to make an impact on a smaller number of people.
Alan has made an impact on everyone he has ever known. Even when he has been at his worst, there were aspects of his character - his childlike faith, his insistence on displaying 'good manners' - that have amazed and inspired others. Here's the difficult question: What part does Huntington's Disease play in God's plan for Alan? My answer is: I don't know.
The older I get, the less sure I am about anything except the basics of the gospel - which is actually all there is - that God wants to reconcile us to Himself, and that He is with us in every situation we may encounter. Why do Huntington's and ALS exist? Why are children born with Fragile X or Tay Sachs Disease? The longer I have wrestled with these questions, the more convinced I am that they will never be answered to anyone's satisfaction. I could accept the simple answer - a fallen world has resulted in these terrible diseases - but even that is not sufficient.
I have come to believe that the why is not important. These things are, they exist. They affect all kinds of people, in all walks of life. Suffering is one human experience that we all share. I am assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God. I have faith - through what I understand from scripture, and from experience - that God makes a way through this wilderness we call life.
For many years, my husband and I suffered through treatments for infertility. Why did God allow this to happen? There are no answers, but along this painful road, God gave us Alan, and we have had a rich and full life as a family with challenges and joys like any other family.
God will make a way for Alan, and for us. He is never caught off guard, as we may be, by the cruelties of life. He will never leave us, He will hold us - and at some times carry us - through the tough times.
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