July 6th Changed My Life

Tonight i was looking through my iPhoto library and i saw some pictures that almost brought my to tears. So let me flesh out my heart for a moment.
July 5th i sat on the porch of my cabin up at Jr. High camp with my best friend. I turned to her and told her that i thought that change was coming. I didn't know what, or what it means but i had a divine sense that something was going to be changing in my life. My heart immediatly thought of a school change, or i was going to move somewhere, or i would find out something. But it was something much bigger. God has on his mind something grander and harder than i ever could have imagined. July 6th i packed up my cabin and travedl back down the mountain, challenged to glory in God even in the rough seasons of my life. But my life was pretty safe at that moment so i dind't exactly know what to do with that. I went home, showered , slept and went out to eat with my fellow camp leaders. I retunred home that night only to receive the worst news of my life. My mom answered the phone and she got really quite. And i knew something was wrong. "Is he alive?" she asked, and the pit of my heart and stomach gave way. I didn't know what happened but i knew that it wasn't good. And in that moment i knew why i was up at camp. I was up there to be prepared for the jounrey ahead of me. One that would radically change my life and the lives of evey member in my family. I now knew why i would need Glory in the power of Christ during the hard times of my life, because the hard times were right upon me. These past 7 months have probably been the hardest yet the greatest months of my life. The Lord took me to hard times and told me: " Sarah, you life is safe right now. You need to learn to love me, and worship me even if times are hard. I will prove myself faithful, you mustn't keep quiet. Tell everyone you know, for in the hardship of your life, my name will receive glory." The story of my dad is one of miracles and a manifestation of God's beautiful, gracious, faithful hand. It's one that turns people toward Christ whether they know it or not.
Here are a few miracles along the way beacause hearing about God's goodness is worship.
- God spared my dad's life.
- God allowed for my dad to leave the hospital for a day to see the man he mentored be baptized
- God moved him into one of the world's best rehabilitation hospitals
- God allowed my Popi to walk Sharon down the isle at her wedding
- God moved my Aunt Joyce toward Christ through his hardship and my Popi's faith
- God healed my dad from his second surgery and healed his mind from the effects of his seizures

God is good all the time. All the time he is good. This journey is still in progress... and it will continue as my dad still is in rehab, and continuing to heal... and who knows what is ahead for our family. I don't know what tomprrow holds. I don't know if my dad will go back to work. I don't know if my Popi will ever be the same Popi as i had... but what i do know, and i pray that i will continue to trust, is that God will do what is best for my family. And in that, whether good or bad, i know that God is present in the moments.... even if it is confusing, or hard, or challenging.
Through it all, God has showed up in a real way. Powerful and mighty. I tell everyone this, but the story of my dad is hard to tell. But i tell everyone i know, because of the hardship of it, and the glory of God in the midst of it all will bring people to worship God... and that's what life is all about. I want people to worship God, and if people need to see my family go through this trial relying upon the grace of God to get through, to worhsip God, then so be it. God is worthy of that.