Celebrate Life Day!

Today is annual Celebrate Life Day for those of you who didn't know.  :)  Yes, we should all celebrate life each and every day, but this day is special in the Lewicki household because 6 years ago was my slightly momentous car accident.  I feel as though I'm exaggerating when I say that it was bad, traumatic,  or potentially fatal, but the reality is that all those descriptions are true.    I let myself acknowledge those dramatic facts on this June 17th, in efforts to appreciate and recognize the true gift of life that all of us have.  And on that I will now ponder...:)

I sometimes feel guilty thinking and talking about how God chose to bring me out of a coma, and blessed me by giving me a fairly quick pretty full recovery...Guilty because He could have not done those things, and for some He doesn't...Guilty because God's characteristics are just as true for those who have gone through loss, as they are for me and my family, but I feel bad declaring those characteristics when others are in situations where it is much harder to see them.  So know that I don't say any of these comments lightly, and some not even comfortably.

Life is such a funny thing.  We celebrate life, and celebrate health and safety.  Those are not bad things to celebrate but as believers why are we so sad about death?  I find myself being horrified at the thought of Benjamin or Joel, or my growing baby inside or anyone in our families dying, and I dont think that its wrong to love and not want to be lonely. But what if we had such pure excitement for someone going to heaven and seeing Jesus, as we did for someone getting a trip to England and moving into Windsor Castle.  No, I don't know that is a realistic way to think, or that we should even feel guilty for not feeling it, but I do think its healthy to think about it.

Another thing I think about, and probably more often, is how all of us are here by God's choosing.  Not only does He choose for some believers to enter heaven, but He has chosen for the rest of us to be here on earth.  Thats a huge deal.  We're here for a reason.  How many days do we forget that?  How many opportunities to share His Love, and His redemptive story do I miss?  How much more could I accomplish in the time that I'm here, if I stopped being selfish and lazy with my life?  It's not a super uplifting thing for me to think about at first, but it is pretty awesome to know He wants to use me, if I'm just usable. Little unskilled Tori.  He wants to use me.  And you...He wants to use you too...

Those are just some of my thoughts on this hot day in June.  I was writing thinking about how great God is, and how awesome it is that He has us in His hands, and just what a small picture I have of how much He loves us, and as I wrote those things I was stopped in my thoughts.  Today after being so thankful for the peace I had about bleeding this pregnancy, and how everything seemed safe and good to go, the bleeding changed and has a been a little nerve racking.  Its not alarming enough for them to want to see me tonight, but the color has changed and I'm just supposed to monitor it.  I have a Dr. Apt tomorrow to check everything out.  The point of this is the irony of this scare on "Celebrate Life Day".  I'm really trying think about the fact that life is to be celebrated here are on earth or with our heavenly Father, and that nothing that happens changes how great God is, how awesome it is that He has us in His hands, and how much He loves us.

Thanking Him for the day He has made
Wanting to Rejoice and be glad in it!
me