This post may seem "off topic", but I think it's more relevant than anything.  I think too many people walk through life complaining about their environment and their situation.  Do they ever really stop to think how bad it COULD be?  When you stop to consider for even a moment that you STILL have breath in your body, your heart is STILL beating, you still have ONE person in your life that cares, ONE friend, maybe even have a spouse or kids when others have lost theirs or could not have them in the first place, you see real quickly that "it ain't so bad after all".

Friday I suffered with a patient, and friend, for the spontaneous loss of their unborn child of 5 months.  I've never been very good at consoling, or showing emotion, most of which is due to hardening through experience.  But on the inside my heart was CRUSHED.  To see the tears welling up, and the lips quivering with every word from a grown man will make even the hardest of hearts thaw quickly.  When I've FELT what he is feeling, the last thing I wanted to do was allow myself to go into that state remembering my own experience.  All I could say is "I'm so sorry, but remember this that GOD has a plan, and no matter what you can NEVER allow yourself to question HIS will." 

And that brings me to conclusion of this story because today is the birthday of my son Owen, who is no longer with us.  He would have been 2 today, if it were not for an undetected heart defect.  I have an interesting story to tell from today though that I had to share in relation.  I remember when we lost Owen I was mad, confused, and overwhelmed with grief.  For days while even we had family in town and at our house my wife and I would go in the bedroom and lock ourselves in and just weep for hours on end.  At night we would talk and cry, talk and cry.  I didn't go back to the office for a week, though around people I began the hardening process in showing as little emotion as I could acting like I was focusing on other things.  My mind NEVER stopped wheeping though.

Those words came to me though because I remember that despite the emotional rollercoaster I NEVER questioned God's will.  I kept speaking "your will be done, not mine."  And here's what was revealed to me today.  Quirky coincidence but too obvious to ME to ignore.  You see Owen's name meant "well born".  That he was.  My wife and I had decided he was our last.  We would not have any more children.  Yet we were GIFTED with just three GREAT weeks with him. 

Today, on his birthday, we were in church and our pastor was covering the Lord's Prayer.  He first mentioned today was the 2 year anniversary of losing his wife in a tragic car accident which brought Owen to mind.  He used that story to cover what it meant in the Lord's prayer "your will be done".  That's when I realized that we named our 8 month old son, who would NOT have been born if it was NOT according to GOD's will and design, none other than WILL.  Until today that had NEVER crossed my mind.

It's incredible what GOD has for each of us when we listen and place HIS will before our own.  I don't know what's to come of my life, or my two sons, but I'm MORE EXCITED than ever to find out.  So PLEASE, stop allowing yourself to complain about anything and start LIVING the glorious LIFE that you have been GIVEN.  You are here for a specific purpose or you would not be here.  Stop whining and start LISTENING.

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