“and said: ‘Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.’” – Job 1:21 The Rev. Dr. John Rowan Claypool IV was well known and much loved as a minister, preacher, theologian, author, and teacher. In his book Living and Growing Through Grief, he describes the death of his young daughter. In 1970, he and his wife Ann lost their 8 year old daughter, Laura Lou, to leukemia. John later explained his loss by telling a story from his childhood. During WWII Johns family didnt own a washing machine, and since gas was rationed, they couldnt afford to drive to a laundry. Keeping their clothes clean became a challenge. Johns neighbor went into the service and his wife moved in with her family. They offered to let Johns family use their Bendix wringer washer while they were gone. They reasoned it would be better for it to be used than to sit rusting on the porch. John helped with the familys laundry, and he said he developed a fondness for that old green Bendix. When the war ended his neighbors returned, and they reclaimed their washing machine. Over the course of the war, young John had actually forgotten the machine was loaned to them, so when the neighbors removed it, John was upset and angry that they would take his washing machine. His mother sat him down and said, John, you must remember that the washing machine never belonged to us in the first place. That we ever got to use it at all was a gift. So, instead of being mad at it being taken away, let us use this as an occasion to be thankful that we ever had it at all. John said years later he struggled with the death of eight-year-old Laura Lou, until he remembered that old green Bendix. He wrote: When I remember that Laura Lou was a gift, pure and simple, something I neither earned nor deserved nor had a right to; and when I remember that the appropriate response to a gift, even when it is taken away, is gratitude, then I am better able to try and thank God that I was ever given her in the first place. The Lord is the giver of all good things, and it is naturally difficult when someone or something is taken away from us. Today in prayer, if you are wrestling after a loss, praise the Lord that He is near you during difficult times. “In almost everything that touches our everyday life on earth, God is pleased when were pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our makers praise without anxiety.” – A.W. Tozer God’s Word: “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Ephesians 5:20 By Peter Kennedy
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 06:25:32 +0000
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