Too

bad we can't remember that all things are working

together for our good and His glory in the midst

of it all. It all? Your all. My all.

A friend who died a

couple of years ago with Lou Gehrig's Disease

(ALS) said something to me once that I will never

forget.

As I recall, I was

complaining about feeling bad one day and

suddenly felt very guilty about my griping in

light of Milt's plight. Know what he said to me?

He told me not to feel guilty and reminded me

that we all must have our various trials.

Oh, how I wish I

had recorded all he said that day. He was a man

of few words and when he spoke you listened. And,

at that time, he also was a man who knew his time

on earth was short. A fellow who had already

figured out there was no miracle to be uncovered

through all trial medication he had tried. To my

knowledge there still is no miracle drug for ALS.

Anyway, Milt goes

into this explanation about how we are never

faced with more than we can bear. How all things

work together for good. How my pain and his pain

are one and the same. All of it is working to

make us stronger, to grow us up, to help us

become all we are becoming.

Less than a year

after that conversation Milt was dead. I wonder

if he ever knew what a shining light he was to

me. What his sense of humor meant. How his

occasional philosophical conversations affected

me. How much his faith shined.

I can't remember if

I ever told him. I know I tried a few times. But

he played everything down. It was all no big

deal.

I always wondered,

if the choice had been his, if Milt would have

thrown the cards he was dealt back into the pile

and asked for more... Somehow, I don't think he

would have. He had real faith, the kind that

truly believed all things work together for our

good, and God's glory. No matter what.

I woke up this

morning aching all over. My hands are swelled.

They've been doing that a lot again lately. And I

was frustrated. Running my fingers up and down

this keyboard actually is helping the hands, but

reminding me the problem is in my neck. Has been

ever since two back-to-back auto accidents in

1971. Some things follow us throughout life.

See what I mean? I

gripe. I complain. But I'm all right. Milt said I

was, and I live with the assurance that God loves

me just as I am. There's something quite

phenomenal about the honesty that surfaces when a

man is preparing to meet his maker. I think my

conversations with Milt helped me to finally

realize that God truly loves me just as I am, as

I have been, and as I will be.

There's more peace

in that realization than one could even begin to

shake a stick at. With all my aches and pains

this morning, with a never ending flow of

frustrations, with constant reminders of all

life's imperfections, I am, nevertheless, aware

that God loves me as I am.

Think about it.

Whatever you are doing this morning, wherever you

are spiritually, however you may feel about the

grand scheme of things, have you ever realized

God loves you? Just as you are.

Oh, you think he

probably will one day... But, not right now. You

still have too much to do before you can be

lovable. Too much to accomplish before He can be

proud of you. Too many things to make right

before you can be worthy.

Wrong. He loves you

just as you are. Today. He understands where

you've come from. What you've been through. How

much life has hurt you, and how much you have

hurt others. Through it all He has loved you.

Don't believe me?

Ask him. Then trust Him with who you are today,

who you have been, who you are becoming... Then

enjoy. Enjoy the peace you will know once you

trust Him. I can't give it to you anymore than

Milt could give it to me. But it's yours to

accept. To claim. To enjoy on the journey. And

remember, the journey and the destination become

one sooner or later.