:. shall we? .:

Saying it's been a life-changing week would be an understatement. First a diagnosis of a debilitating illness. A few days later, a decision to take early retirement.

Wow.

I'm pretty certain I'm still in shock; pretty sure I haven't realized the full magnitude of it all. We've had tears aplenty. We've also managed to laugh a bit. [Benny's new nickname? Parker. I know, I know. It's what is known as 'black humor'. And he laughed hardest of all.]

Through it all, though, I can't stop thinking of Job's words. He had absolutely everything taken away from him: his children, his wealth, his health . . . . everything except his nagging wife. And when his wife told him he should just curse God and die, Job said, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

Ah, that is a good question, isn't it?

Most of the time, usually without realizing it, we feel entitled to God's blessing. We don't rob, cheat or kill, so yeah, we deserve good things from the Almighty. We take it all in stride when God chooses to bless us. We might remember to give Him thanks, but we're really not all that surprised. We seem to forget that even our most righteous acts, when compared to a holy God, come out looking like filthy rags.

I have said, in another time and another place, "It seems to me that if we really understood our true condition, when something good came our way we would cry out to God and ask, "Why?" with the same intensity and perplexity we now use when things go wrong. Imagine that."

I stand by those words today. I don't like the news from last week. I don't like to think about how this will affect the future. But I believe with all my heart that a loving Father is completely in control.