Little Voices…from HomeDuring the stem cell transplant many of the effects of the treatment started to take their toll on me, and a voice would talk to me and say “Gene you need to get up”, you need to walk” , and we would walk ….if you could call it that, around the 14th floor (passed up by an elderly lady with her chemo bags still hanging, that’s additional motivation). That voice was my wife Daleasha, who spent those long weeks sleeping on the couch in the corner of the room. Making me eat, helping me walk, making me remember home. It was January and my wife’s presence was part of God’s voice in the room.
My daughter came and sat with me on the bed, and for a moment, for an hour, I felt a little more home. I looked at a blanket that my sister-in-law made for me and I felt a little home. I saw the Freeway and the same river that passed by my home to the South flowing to the mighty Columbia and on to the sea. It’s funny I always thought that I was tougher than that.
The time over the last year/s before this had ground me down. It was not one thing it was days of things. In past years we would go to the Oregon coast and see what the water from the waves has done by hitting those massive rocks on the shore. One wave didn’t do so much, but all those hits over the centuries has produced all that sand on the beach. Today maybe you have been hit by all that water, rain, or just a continuous barrage of tough stuff. Bruce Lee used to say that water feels like the softest stuff on earth, but it can penetrate rock. I want you to know that you are not alone. One important thing that made Christ so real me to me in that moment was that Christ was there; he also went thru very painful experiences.
We all come from places and pasts and parents and cultural groups and maybe religions. Places that have created and designed what home looks like or feels like for us. Some of you may even feel that you don’t have a home to go too because it is physically gone or changed. Maybe you never had a place you called home leaving you feeling unrooted unattached or unable to attach. The fascinating thing about that is that Jesus lived that out too. He grew up and journeyed all around Israel returning home only to be criticized and pretty much rejected; eventually betrayed and killed.
The key to his perseverance and compassion for those around Him was that Christ’s focus was on His Father. Yes, Christ had a purpose, and yes, He was the Messiah, but Christ made it abundantly clear that His focus was on His Father. Prayer to his Father in Heaven, glory to His Father in Heaven, stories about His Father in Heaven. Christ knew that it was taking time to practice the presence of God in worship, prayer, and acknowledgement, that was his strength to pass the eroded path of His life. Christ saw this as the most important thing in all his actions in His life, and it was His true Home.
I pray today that we can acknowledge God’s presence and action in all that we are, and know our true home. I challenge you and myself today and this week to pray a prayer for God to use your journey. Express to God not only the difficulty or joy, but the desire to focus onto the things in store for you, regardless of the present circumstances. Consider this Scripture about Christ’s focus in Hebrews 5:7 (Modern English Version), “7 In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death. He was heard because of His godly fear. 8 Though He was a Son, He learned obedience through the things that He suffered, 9 and being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him“ We are all children really and we have a parent that can and wants to hear it all and in the very best moment give it all and more. God already gave more then I can fathom.
Gene is Husband to the amazing Daleasha, Father to the amazing Daisy, Nate, and Silas, lover of Christ, licensed counselor, ordained pastor, writer, and artist. Gene is originally from Veneta, Oregon and currently resides in Washougal, Washington. As Therapist in both local Eugene agencies, as well as private practice for 15 years, and as a Lead Pastor in Springfield Oregon for 5 years ( along with many other church based ministry roles thru the years) Gene has a heart for those that are both in the spiritual and mental healing professions. As an artist Gene focuses on sculpture and functional art items that take up space and have to be noticed.
Design by ThemeShift.