Not a matter of "if", but "when"

it seems these last few months have been filled with tragedies. maybe that's just my adulthood finally manifesting itself. maybe since i've actually turned 30, i've realized how quickly the years are flying by. regardless, it's becoming more and more apparent to me how tragedy-filled this life really is.

i've had college friends suddenly lose their only child as a victim of a careless driver. i've had a friend lose his leg from a motorcycle accident. i've had a friend lose his wife to an endless coma from a car accident. i've had friends lose babies. i've had friends commit adultery and divorce their spouse. i've personally seen families shattered by marital unfaithfulness. i've had a friend get a brain tumor.

faithful gospel preachers have developed aggressive cancer. friends have suddenly lost parents. family members have dealt with unexpected medical issues that have challenged their resolve.

then there is all that is happening in the world around me that does not directly involve me. the devastation in Haiti has hit me more and more each day. it's so unnerving to think that chaos like that can exist.

brooke and i saw a commercial for Pur water filters yesterday, and something about that commercial struck a chord in us. there are hundreds of thousands of people who don't have clean drinking water. we shower in water they would glad have drunk. how blessed we truly are in this country!

speaking of our nation, it seems that we continue traveling down a road of political correctness, immorality, and humanism. will our great country ever be great again?

i guess alot of this blog has sprung from my frank realization that we are bringing a child into this world. odds are, i'll be dead by 2060 (or sooner), but my children will be right in the middle of this mess of a world. with all the crime, seemingly unnecessary tragedy, disappointments, and losses. and i realize that tough times and heartaches will at some time affect us all.

my life is amazingly awesome. i have a great, stable job that i enjoy. i can support our family. i have my own truck. i have my own house. i have the most amazing wife known to man. i have enjoyed great health. i came from a great, loving family. no true tragedies have struck me. i've never suddenly lost a parent or child. i've never had my job disappear. i've never been a victim of crime (except that time someone busted my window out in the church parking lot....shouldn't have left it there all weekend). but nothing really BAD has ever come my way.

but the more i see of this messed up world, the more i realize that my time is coming. one day, i'm going to get a call about someone dying way too soon. one day, i'm going to have my life turned upside down by a tragedy that i probably didn't deserve, but got dealt anyways. one day, i'll look back at my life and see how good i had it before all this came (whatever "all this" might be).

so, to sum up my rambling.... :) i think we all fear something hitting us out of left field. we probably all think that nothing like that will ever happen to us. we all think that until it does. but we can take heart that God is in control. things probably seem rosier to me than they really are b/c of my relationship with God. believe me: i am NOT tooting my own horn, but i'm always astounded at how people can survive the stresses of this world without a deep, underlying faith in God. if i didn't believe that God was working everything out for good (Romans 8:28), then i'd really be stressed. :)

let's thank God for the blessings we have, and let's not forsake Him if some of those blessings get taken away.