So much can happen in one month. I don't think this is a profound declaration or some new discovery that I can coin and make t-shirts with. But as I slowed down today to make sure I posted an update on my brother's progress this thought became measurable and real. We are given so much time. I know it seems more appropriate to state we are busy and don't have time or that our plates are full and our calendars are booked until American Idol and Glee go off the air. The truth is that we freely give our time to what we deem valuable. So where are we spending all of our time? And it may be fair to ask... How much time am I given? Now before you stop reading, begin to think this is induced by personal suffering, or start having internal dialog about how cliché this thought is; let me take you on a short journey. One month and a day ago my brother, Brad, was in a serious car accident. It was not your run of the mill fender bender. His car was totaled, a deer was saved, and a bus tried to play monster truck with the Kia that my brother was driving. He has had to endure personal suffering I cannot fathom. He has been supported by machines in order to breath and live. He is medicated daily for pain and infections. Assuming that you have viewed previous notes in regards to my brother, I'll stop there. He has been through so much in 29 days. But it may be just as true to say that all of us have been through so much in the past 29 days. This isn't confined or exclusive to my family. This includes you as well. This is why this thought is so vast and so necessary for us to notice and be shaken by. Take a moment and inventory the past 29 days. What has gone on? Maybe you have received that new job you had been searching for over the last few years? Maybe you caught the bouquet at a wedding? Maybe you had the chance to restore a relationship that had gone sour in years past? Maybe you cried at a chick flick. Legally Blonde always gets to me! Or maybe your friend was diagnosed with cancer? Maybe your children moved out and you feel all alone? Maybe your family is broken and dysfunctional? Maybe Valentine's Day was just a reminder of what you don't have? Maybe you lost your job, house, wife, and the family dog? So much can happen in 29 days. About three days ago my brother was moved from the ICU to the 2nd floor at Borgess Hospital. His status was changed from critical to serious. His situation went from bad to better. Today they changed his trache size to a 6. This allows him to have the potential to begin talking when he is full and ready. We are so incredibly excited for his progress. We are re-learning the beauty of celebrating the small things. This can be difficult in a culture that has Bieber Fever and Twitter. We seek big things to excite us. It takes alot for us to get excited. But this progress excites me. I'm jumping as you read! Not gracefully, but jumping! And to think that 29 days ago he was driving down a snow covered country road and minutes later being cut out of a car. You see counting the days past should illustrate chapters of our story. They paint a vivid picture of the time we have been given. I don't know what the story ahead has in store. Not for Brad, you, or myself. It may have a villain that fashions a curly mustache and takes your lady friend for ransom. Yikes! It may be running through the streets of historic Paris while singing show tunes as the sun kisses your skin. It may be a scene in which you are at graveside defining surreal as your face burns from the tears. But the story is much clearer when you know who the protagonist is. Things have trouble progressing from sentence to paragraph, and page to chapter when you are trying to guess the protagonist. If this term is foreign or is hard to relate to, the protagonist is the main character. Most often the hero. You see I'm finding that more and more each day I need to be the deuteragonist in this life story. That if my life story is going to have a hero, it isn't me. The hero is the one who gives the time that I'd like to think I control and use and tell people I'm busy with. But I'm the deuteragonist. The side-kick! A witness to the good and bad stuff. I'm surely not the one in this story that gives time and determines how much of it I will have. But a well written story ends with the protagonist on top at the end. The hero finds hope even when hope looks like he skipped out on his check at Steak-N-Shake! He knows where hope lives and he'll take you there at lighting speed; if you ask! So a wise side-kick follows this guy to the end. A seasoned side-kick says that he or she is ok with going along for the ride even when he questions the hero's action plan! A great story will be written. It is in progress. It has a beginning and an end. There are victims and villains. Chaos and mayhem. And there is a hero. This hero came in and fought the villain. Matter of fact, he won. This hero fights for my brother and you every moment. In return this hero gave us time. Time to spend, live and share. So the next time you start to feel the words "I'm too busy" or "I don't have the time!", remember what you have been given. This hero did not fight to give a prison sentence for you to serve out while you are on this side of heaven. Nor did he do so that we may convince others that we are important and have much to do. Remember we are the deuteragonist, not the protagonist. Just embrace the ride and support the hero! Whether your story is 29 minutes, days, years, or decades; it is a story. One where Jesus can save and rescue. One in which he is the hero. Your moments will be remembered and cherished by someone. They will be revisited and described by others. You are making an impact right where you are. Whether you are in a hospital bed or a board room. A factory or a mission trip. A classroom or the kitchen. So what story will be told? Is it one about the time that was given, or one about the time you didn't have to give? And who is your protagonist and what are you holding valuable? So much can happen in a month... don't you think?
Please continue to pray for our family, Bradley, and those that you see in need. We covet these requests!
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