Scars


While visiting eleven year old Marilyn in the hospital recently, memories from my teenage years flooded to mind. Upon entering her room, beautiful Marilyn was reclining in the bed, using a breathing machine for her pneumonia. She was surrounded by family and had declared that she was bored and wanted to go home.

Going back over 40 years, I could place myself in a hospital bed where I laid for a month. My circumstances where different in that I had been in a car accident during the summer, just weeks before entering high school. My head hit the windshield and was cut up pretty bad…my forehead, my eye and even my chin all required many stitches by a plastic surgeon, but the major issues were the internal injuries sustained--holes made in my inside throat from hitting the dashboard.

Like Marilyn, I also had to use one of those breathing machines to rid my lungs of the congestion that had collected in them from the accident. And I too can recall the doctor in the doorway entering my room with the bad news that I still couldn’t go home. However those long, lonely days in the hospital provided me with lots of time to reflect. 

Since I had grown up in the church and had asked Jesus to be my Savior at an early age, many of my thoughts revolved around why God had chosen to save me from an accident that could have taken my life. Did He really love me? Did He have a plan and a purpose for my life? Did He have something that He wanted me to do for Him and His kingdom? I figured the answer to those questions must be yes.

Over the years as I look in the mirror, I see the scars from the accident so many years ago and my first reaction is often, “I wish those were gone,” but I quickly turn those thoughts around and say, “Thank you Lord for loving me and having a plan and purpose for my life. Please help me to be used for Your kingdom.”

Jesus too has scars…the scars caused by me and my sin. His hands are proof of His love for each and every one of us. They are there to give us hope. If we choose to ignore what He did for us on the cross those many years ago, it was all in vain, but if we choose to receive His gift, His pain and suffering was worth it all.

Will you choose to acknowledge His scars with thanksgiving that He has paid the penalty for your sins?

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bavarian Cream Pie

Image
2 eggs 1/8 t salt 3/4 c scalded milk 1 c whipping cream 1 T gelatin 1/4 c cold water 1/2 c sugar 1 t vanilla Chocolate crumb crust Beat sugar and egg yolks. Then add milk and scald until it sticks to the spoon, stirring constantly. Let gelatin and cold water soak until dissolved, then add to milk and let cool. Whip cream and egg whites separately and then mix together. Mix cream and egg mixture to the milk that has been cooled. Add vanilla to mixture. When this begins to congeal, pour into chocolate crumb crust. Put into refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Sprinkle crushed crumbs over the top before serving. www.hearthope.org
Read more

Mount of the Holy Cross

Image
For years people have enjoyed the awe of Mount of the Holy Cross which is a 14,000 foot mountain in the Sawatch Range of Colorado. It is named for the distinctive snow-filled cross at the top of the mountain and was proclaimed a national monument by Herbert Hoover in 1929. Painters have painted it; photographers have photographed it and hikers have hiked it, because of its special beauty. When my children were young and visiting the area, we would take the gondola up the mountain to the observation deck at Eagle’s Nest for the perfect view of the majestic Mount of the Holy Cross.  So when my grandchildren were visiting this summer, it seemed natural to take them to the same spot for old times’ sake.  The mountain had not changed and the view was still inspiring, but something was terribly wrong. The name on the sign at Eagle’s Nest had been changed. It was no longer labeled Mount of the Holy Cross, but instead has been replaced with the designation Cross of Snow. Why would that be do
Read more

My Latest Award!

Image
This is my niece Allison Bullock who wins triathlons! I won an award today, but before you go getting all excited for me or want to see how you can win one too, you might want to read more. This honor might not be one you want to receive, because you see it is not an accolade that I really want either.  I went for my annual mammogram this morning and while there the doctor found some suspicious areas and wanted to have an ultrasound performed. While laying on the sterile bed, with my pretty pink robe opened and covered with goo used for the transducer, the hand-held device that sends out the waves which produce the picture, the technician declared that I had won the prize for the most cysts she had ever seen in a patient. How do you like that one! I guess the good part is that cysts are not usually dangerous, but still…. I have received other awards in my life that are much more prestigious than the one today, but there is a future award that I hope to obtain that will be more
Read more