Gain and loss...

I belong to an Internet community call Board Game Geek (http://boardgamegeek.com/). A while back a member challenged us to write a 6-word memoir.

From his challenge:
Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountrer by asking their readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”). I thought it would be fun to do the same thing here at BGG. The rules are very simple: Tell us your life story in ONLY SIX WORDS. It can be whatever you want. Make it funny. Make it poignant. Make it odd. Make it sweet. It's up to you. Can you do it?

I thought long and hard on this. I wanted my memoir to speak to people. I wanted something that really meant something. I finally came up with this, “In losing much, I’ve gained more.”

I have lost a lot battling the MS. I can’t drive a car anymore or take long trips. I can’t play my guitar or cello, do crafts, or cook up something wonderful in the kitchen. Being in a wheelchair means there are many places I can’t go, including many people’s homes. I know, with the progressive nature of my illness, there are more loses to come.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sitting around bemoaning the things I’ve lost, though I do miss them at times, and I don’t mope around anticipating what will be next. I’m just being a realist and living in the now means I have to let go and move on from the past and yet be prepared, as much has I can be, for the future.

I’ve had people, yes Christians too, get mad at me for my outlook. They think that I’m not trusting God with my future or that I’ve given up hope. When what I’ve really done is to put my hope in the right place, where it should have been all along, with God.

Let me be honest here, nothing has happened so far and nothing will happen in the future that God hasn’t already allowed in my life. Yes, even the bad stuff. Isn’t that what Romans 8:28 says -

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28. NAS)

The bad and the good, all of it, God uses for our good, for my good, to help us obtain a better end.

But wait, there’s more – “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…” (Romans 8:29, NAS)

I really hate how we so easily quote Romans 8:28 without completing the thought that follows through in 8:29. Maybe it’s because we love the comfort of verse 28 and verse 29 is more of a challenge. It says that everything God allows, the good the bad and the ugly, He uses to conform use to the image of His Son. Being conformed into the image of Christ can be messy. Getting out our humanness can take work. Look what it cost Jesus.

Yes, I’ve lost a lot and I will probably continue to lose more, but in the process of losing I‘ve also gained. I'm being healed – healed in a different way – healed of selfishness, pride and perfectionism. I’m learning to find peace and stability in Christ. I’m being forced to look heavenward for what I need most, a closer walk with God. In letting go I’ve found that my hands are then empty enough to receive what He longs to give me and what He wants most for me is that I, “…be conformed to the image of His Son.”

When I was a small child, playing in the sand, one of my favorite things to do was to dig a hole and fill it with water. I enjoyed poking holes in the sandy bottom and watching the water fill them up. I’ve since realized that our lives are like that. We are a hole filled with water, God, and every time life pokes a hole in our sand, God rushes in to fill it up.

Life’s not done poking holes in my sand. It probably won’t be until I am remade in heaven, but at least I know who will fill the holes. I may not always remember that truth, but God is patient with me and I know He won’t give up.

“In losing much, I’ve gained more.” It’s only when I acknowledged what I’ve lost that I can then glory in what I have gained.

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Your turn: Think of your own 6 word memoir and post it here or email it to me. Here a few samples to get you going:

"Not quite what I was planning." - Summer Grimes
"Anything's possible with an extension cord." - Billy Sirr
"Danced in fields of infinite possibilities." - Deepak Chopra
"Objects were closer than they appeared." - Michael Grossman
"Brought it to a boil, often." - Mario Batali
"Revenge is living well. Without you." - Joyce Carol Oates
"Wasn't noticed, so I painted trains." - Mare 139
"Secret of Life: Marry an Italian." - Nora Ephron
"School geek marries a luscious cheerleader." - Christopher Clukey
"Near death experiences are my forte." - Anna Mauser-Martinez
"Never really finished anything, except cake." - Carletta Perkins