Every once in a while you have these sensory overloads that send you back into time.  They send you to the deepest part of your brain where you have these memories stock piled in store houses, found in that place where you try not to linger too long.  It's that place where the memories are filled with extreme joy and perhaps with extreme sadness.  Sometimes a combination of both.

You know these sensory overloads that I talk about.  Sometimes it's a smell that sends you to an emotional flashback.  The smell of that first flower you gave to a loved one, or the first flower that you received from your first love.  Maybe that song that sends you back to your first dance.  Perhaps a sunrise that takes you back to the first time you sat on the beach and watched the sun rise as if it were an artist painting a canvas that stretched across the expanse of the morning sky.  We all have these emotional flashbacks.

For me, tonight, it was a track.  It was a track with hundreds of white bags filling the midnight sky with a dim light.  A light coming from the small candles inside.  It was a track with illuminated bags and hundreds of people standing in a circle quietly reflecting on their loved ones.  This was a relay for life rally, and it sent me to an emotional flashback, or several.  One, my cousin is sick and he has to have chemo and radiation.  I didn't really know what that meant at the time, but I could see the pain and suffering.  Why?  Two, my best friend in High School tells me his mother has about two weeks to live.  She has cancer throughout her entire body.  I couldn't imagine how that felt, but I could see the pain and suffering.  Why God?  Three, I get a phone call telling me that my mom has cancer and it is extremely rare.  She may not live.  I can FEEL the pain and suffering.  Why ME God?  Emotional flashbacks.

As I allowed myself to live in the emotions I was feeling at that moment standing in that large circle around the track, I found myself filled with gratitude.  My mother is a two year survivor.  Three more years and she is "in the clear."  It was this moment that reminded me of the blessing that I've received.  The blessing that my mom is still around and is still healthy enough to tell me when I'm being stupid.  She's still healthy enough to tell me when she is proud of me.  She's still healthy enough to encourage other women who are currently battling the same rare cancer that she has survived.  What a blessing!

I don't know why these things have happened, to my friends or to my family.  I don't know why God allows these kinds of things to go on in the world.  I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He does not leave us to suffer through these things alone.  He promises to be with us to the end of the ages.  I've often heard people say that God takes away the bad things in our lives.  Even better than that, He actually carries us THROUGH the bad things in our lives.  He is there by our side, showering His love upon us.

For many, tonight's emotional flashback was extremely difficult.  They are remembering a loved one that is no longer around.  For others, they were remembering a battle where their loved one was delivered from the grasp of death to a new life filled with tremendous appreciation.  The thought of being delivered from death into a new life sends me to an emotional flashback where there is a man named Christ that willingly gave Himself to be fully crushed by death.  The overwhelming part of that story is the fact that He actually conquered death, leaving a tomb empty and paving the way for all of us to be delivered from death into a new eternal life.

Today I am grateful!  For my mom's life, yes.  More so, for the new life that all of my brothers and sisters in Christ have received through the pain and suffering that Christ went THROUGH.

Until next time, be safe and God bless!

Do you ever feel like you're always on the go?  We're so busy all of the time.  Many times I feel like I'm hurrying to finish one task just so I can begin another task.  In business, you might find yourself on the go.  Perhaps you travel from one side of the city to another, or from one city to another.  One thing is certain, you're on the go.

Here at the seminary, we talk a lot about what it means to "go and make disciples of all nations."  Jesus' statement is recorded in Matthew 28 verse 19.  Many times, people interpret this as a call to go to other countries and serve as missionaries abroad.  Often times, folks take this as a call to do service work for the needy.  These things are good in their own right, but I want to bring to light a slightly different perspective.

Perhaps you can read this statement this way.  "As you are going, make disciples of all nations."  This compels us to constantly be sharing the good news of Jesus Christ no matter where we are going.  With daily lives that constantly have us on the go, we have the opportunity to be a constant missionary.  This doesn't mean force feeding folks with the bible, but rather reflecting the hope that you have in Christ to all of those with whom you come in contact.

I pray you are able to make many disciples as you are on the go.  It is a blessing to be included in the mission of Jesus Christ.

Until next time, be safe and God bless!