Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart....naught be all else to me save that Thy art. Thy my best thought by day or by night...waking or sleeping Thy presence - my life!!!


After 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep, my mind and body feels stronger today. Fatigue can play tricks on us - we all know that. It is why I always counsel anyone that seems beaten physically down with exhaustion not to make any big decisions and certainly not to act on the way they are feeling! Exhaustion is a bad place to be anytime, but when you are a caretaker to someone who needs positive reinforcement and encouragement, it is mandatory that you be on top of your game!

Just talked to my dad and he sounded tired, but good after his first rehab session. Said that he did not sleep very well last night. He won't say it, but we have all had those times in the middle of the night when it's just us and God and our deepest thoughts. As hard as I would like to protect him from those times and just stay with him every night, I know that he must have them and he must feel the powerful ministering hand of His Heavenly Father - alone. Before I left him last night, I walked down to the little chapel and struggled with the Lord about that. I could tell he wished I would stay just to be there to push the button, help him when nature calls, etc.... I wanted to but I distinctly heard God tell me to leave my daddy in His hands. Do you trust me, Kim? Remember in Africa when he had knee replacement surgery and you couldn't be here? Remember your struggles in giving him over to me? When you asked that I enable the surgeon to do the very best surgery he had ever done. And I did that. Remember?

I did remember and was again overwhelmed at God's amazing faithfulness to me at that time. So, I kissed my daddy, reminded him that this is a new beginning, that he no longer has to worry about infection in that old foot. We both smiled and I slipped out of his room. Then I came home to spend some sweet time with my mom and then I was asleep by 10:30 (which is amazing for me!)

One funny thing happened yesterday - or at least, my mom chooses to look at it as funny and not dwell on the sadness of it. She went shopping yesterday morning to buy my dad some workout clothes for rehab. Gym shorts and tee shirts. On the list was also "non-skid socks" and she said that she was actually heading toward the sock section when it hit her: He doesn't need those. And then she said that she laughed outloud! Wow! What an amazing woman to just soak in the joy of the Lord at a time like that.

I was reminded by a friend this morning that has many trials of her own that there is not a prerequisite of having two good feet in order to be the feet of Jesus to the world who desperately needs HIM. Oh, that is so true! My dad will continue to be a light, the aroma of God, and will exude the hope of His Savior!

Though my flesh still struggles with seeing the reality of disease and suffering and knowing that the world we knew before as the Lennon family has changed drastically, the greater Truth is that God's ways ARE higher....and amazing...and good....and powerful....and HE IS ABLE to keep my dad, to sustain him, to strengthen him to do the things that I (my flesh) wonder if he'll be able to physically do at his age. But God and Bob together are a powerful force!! Not because of anything Bob can do, but simply because he has chosen to take God out of the box and let HIM BE VERY BIG!!!

So my dad, my mom, and I all choose to allow Him to continue to be our "best thought by day or by night"!

Praise Him! His presence fills our lives! How about yours?