Future Just Passed
If you knew in the Future you would be paralyzed, would you proceed forward into your destiny?
When I was twenty years old, I visited a young couple who were in their mid twenties. They were married for only two weeks when Susie became paralyzed from the neck down. I sat on a chair next to the hospital bed that was set up in a tiny bedroom. A breathing tube protruded from her neck and when she spoke the machine regulated her breaths and made her voice waver in volume. It was very alarming to me to see this thin, tiny woman completely debilitated. A bed pan sat on the bottom shelves of a night stand that held a single lamp. To the right was a small window with the curtains opened wide. It was her only glimpse of the outside world except when she left her house in a wheel chair accessible van for doctor appointments. A bird fluttered by and her eyes lit up as she proudly stated that she named every bird who passed by her window. I smiled at her while thinking how simple life can become when your very existence is reliant upon others for your care. She had to be dressed, bathed, and fed by her husband and a CNA that visited during the week.
Her husband hovered in the door way of the room. He was happy to have visitors in his home. His life had become very isolating because his wife required twenty-four-seven care. It wasn’t hard to admire a man who gave up his entire life to a woman who would never recover from her paralyzing state. They had been married for three years. She looked at her husband adoringly as she lay in bed and he returned the love right back.
She continued by telling a story of almost dying the week before when her cat decided to lie on her neck on top of her breathing tube preventing her for crying out for help. Her husband was asleep in his bedroom. Miraculously, the cat moved just before she lost consciousness. From now on the door would be closed so the cat could not be with her until someone else was present in the room. After visiting for over an hour, I left after praying with her and her husband. Susie was worn out from the visit and she needed to sleep.
I had grown up with her family in the small country Church that had maybe seventy members. They were a family with seven children. Two of the children had already died when they were babies, because all of them shared a bone disease passed down by their father’s family. William, Susie’s father faithfully brought his children to church every Sunday. His wife left him after their second child died. She divorced William, leaving the children with him because she couldn’t bear to watch her children in pain and dying. This disease was the reason Susie was paralyzed. A bone in her back just snapped. A few years later she died.
Whenever my life gets hard I think of Susie. I think of the quiet determination she illustrated to me as she smiled from her hospital bed. She had faith in God and she refused to allow her present circumstances to keep her from Praising Jesus. She had not sinned nor did she do anything to bring on her paralyzed condition. She had been born into a family that had a disease that had no cure.
Many times over the past years I have reflected on Susie’s story. If she had known what her future life would become, it would not have mattered because she would have had no ability to change it. Her life was destined to be short lived, because of the genes she carried in her DNA.
When I began writing, ‘I Want to Know My Future’, I did not write it with the idea that I would change anything about my past life. I wrote it to explain why I had to be the person I was made to be. I am a gay woman. It is in my DNA. To change who God made me to be would be impossible, just like it was impossible for Susie to change the incurable disease that she inherited from her father.
The journey I faced compared to Susie’s was very different. Her family, friends, and church rallied to her support, because her suffering was brought on by her disease. While my family, friends and church formed a mob in order to fight against me. They punished me for being what God made me to be. Susie and I were on very different journeys in this world. We were both struggling and questioning God about our fates. But even during my worse days of persecution, I would never have traded places with Susie. It didn’t matter what the world did to me as far as I was concerned my suffering could never be compared to hers. So when I recalled Susie’s life it reminded me of how blessed I was to be able to run away from those who hated me.
It is hard to understand why a loving and merciful God would pre-determine such a fate as Susie’s. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do children suffer in this world? Why is there child abuse?
I have read many Spiritual books by wonderful authors who have given astounding answers to these questions. There is one I really like and it is the answer God gave me for the suffering I faced in this world. “You agree to do this.”
“I agreed to be persecuted?” As I pondered these words a verse instantly entered my mind filling me with answers to my questions.
If we are in a world where we are supposed to learn the difference between right and wrong, of course we will be challenged. We must be tested so we can grow in knowledge. James the brother of Jesus takes it a step further when he tells Christians a spiritual fact.
James 1:12, “Happy is the person who remains faithful under trials, because when he succeeds in passing such a test, he will receive as his reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.”
Immediately this verse made me think of Susie. She had made a real impression on me. She was confined to her bed for the rest of her life but she did not blame God. She loved Jesus. She Praised Him. She was a testimony of the love of God. Her faith impressed me, because her suffering did not turn her into a person who felt sorry for herself. Instead she was an example of what God can do when our burdens are given to Him. He turns the sad things that happen to people to shine as bright beacons of hope. Her faith gave me determination in my fight. Her strength gave me the patience to endure the suffering I went through. Her life purpose was an inspiration that I will never forget.
God created us to live purpose filled lives. He created us to show that no matter what Satan tries to do to harm us that we can overcome with God’s Saving power.
Philippians 4:13, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.”
When we are Christians and we suffer we are not defined by our suffering. Instead we are an example of what we can endure when God is on our side. Susie will always be an inspiration that I can do it no matter what.
About the Author
Linda C Dipman author of I WANT TO KNOW MY FUTURE http://outskirtspress.com/iwanttoknowmyfuture presents I WANT TO KNOW MY FUTURE It will put you on the edge of your seat as you read each vivid detail. You will feel terror and experience love like nothing you have ever read before. Find out what happens when God fights for you! http://lovinghandsministry.com
The Moody Blues – Nights in White Satin
|
|
Please Be Kind/My Future Just Passed/I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine/Sleepy Time Gal Columbia B-8933: Please Be Kind/My Future Just Passed/I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine/Sleepy Time Gal by Don With Ray Conniff Cherry… |
|
|
Midnight Sun/My Future Just Passed b/w Star Eyes/I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You 7 inch vinyl EP…. |
|
|
MY FUTURE JUST PASSED / CHICKASAW LIMITED (10 78RPM) VINYL 10″ 78RPM SINGLE… |
|
|
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition) $1.68 With a reported budget of $172 million, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starts in high gear and never slows down. The apocalyptic “Judgment Day” of T2 was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing T2′s Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being pursued yet again, this time by the advanced T-X, a sleek “Terminatrix” (coldly expressionless Kristanna … |
|
|
Terminator 3 – Rise of the Machines (Two-Disc Full Screen Edition) $0.01 With a reported budget of $172 million, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starts in high gear and never slows down. The apocalyptic “Judgment Day” of T2 was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing T2′s Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being pursued yet again, this time by the advanced T-X, a sleek “Terminatrix” (coldly expressionless Kristanna … |
|
|
Infinity Reference 1600a 600-Watt, High-Performance Mono Subwoofer Amplifier (Silver/Black) $374.95 The Infinity 1600a is a 600-Watt mono subwoofer amplifier with on-board electronic crossover and variable bass boost circuit. Infinity Reference Series Amplifiers Looking for a more moving audio experience? Take Infinity car audio for a ride. Innovative materials and breakthrough engineering have always put Infinity products out in front of the competition. So expect extreme output from Refere… |
|
|
Infinity Reference 1300a 300-Watt, High-Performance Mono Subwoofer Amplifier (Silver/Black) $106.68 300-Watt mono subwoofer amplifier with on-board electronic crossover and variable bass boost circuit. ? The Reference 1300a features a 12dB per octave electronic crossover, allowing you to optimize bass performance based on enclosure type and subwoofer selection. ? Full-range preamp outputs faciliate use of multiple amplifiers without the need for noisy and expensive adapters or signal s… |
|
|
Aesop’s Mirror: A Love Story $2.49 “Everything I needed to know about Fox and Grapes mirror, I knew the moment I first I saw it” What antiques restorer Maryalice Huggins knew when she stumbled across the mirror at a country auction in Rhode Island was this: She was besotted. Rococo and huge (more than eight feet tall), the mirror was one of the most unusual objects she had ever seen. Huggins had to have it. The frame’s elabor… |
|
|
MY FUTURE JUST PASSED G MARION JR. 1930 SEAM TEAR SHEE SHEET MUSIC 385 … |
|
|
My Future Just Passed Sheet music of the song from the Paramount musical comedy Safety in Numbers. Directed by Victor Schertzinger. Dances staged by Dave Bennett. Starring Charles “Buddy” Rogers…. |