Tough nite of sleep last night. I get these nights from time to time. I am dead in the middle of "Guys are Waffles and Girls are Spaghetti" book and I am fully enjoying it. Learning not only about women ..... but also about myself and dudes. Trying to be a manly since I am not reading about fishing or hunting. I was fully awake this morning at 3:30. Tired of laying and tossing back and forth I hit the ground and got to the gym at 5am. It felt good to get up and get moving hopefully trying to sort some things out. I am for sure in a different compartment of my waffle the last few days.
This morning I woke to a dream that was actually something that took place long ago in my life. As many of you know I practiced Judo when I was younger and it was very much in every detail of my life growing up. As I recall this dream - it was as real to me as it was when this took place. I am not sure how old I was but I can remember being maybe around 14 or so. It was a big judo championship and I think I was in about the 3rd round. I was fighting a kid that was much better than me as I have faced him a couple time before but that never feared me because everyone has off days and champions lose on any given day. I can remember fighting hard for the first few minutes and then making a mistake. Blam - walked right into a choke hold. If done right and applied correctly - the person in the choke hold will usually not even have time to tap out and give up. Done - I didn't even see if coming. I was out cold.... laying flat on the mat in front of a few thousand people. It felt like hours maybe that I was out. In reality it was only 20 seconds maybe. I can remember a giant light - bright as the son ... almost like being at the beach but with no water. It was so bright I couldn't look up at it and nearly blinding. I woke up.... on the mat in front of everyone in the gym was my mom grabbing my hand. Like any worried mother she ran down from the stands. She went through security and all the folks working the tournemant. She was on the mat in her shoes ... she ran to make sure I was ok. I was ... I was telling everyone including the referee and both judges at my "beach" experience. I had to be checked out by the doctors and was released.
I am not so sure why this morning that dream - that event - is on my mind and heart. All I know is that the past couple weeks, it has been on my heart with people in the ditches of life. Students at church... families breaking down.... jobs being lost.... a coworker just yesterday who was layed off a few months before - shot and killed his wife, shot his 2 sons and then himself. Hopefully his 2 boys live so they can tell the story to find out what really happened. Life is short and for many life is hurting. 24 people every second die in this world because they don't have enough to eat.
Sometimes in life, like the passing of my mom - we never see it coming. Its like that choke hold from years ago.... once applied we have no way out. Done...... out like a light.
Like my mom on that day, Jesus is there to pick us up - to make sure we are ok. He's got us. Life may have us with cob webs in our minds after we have been beaten down and we may not know which direction to go in but if we hang on to His hand... He will help us get up.... even if we don't see it coming. Are you being that person today that is helping that friend or that family by reaching out to them?.... life happens and we often times dont see it coming.
What a great picture to wake up to this morning....... and a reminder that God is there willing and able to reach out a hand. A hand that I often think about - what does that scar look like? A scar that was for me and you....and a perfect picture of grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment