Who Knew?

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Well, I did it again. I waited until the last minute to get this blog done for the month of June. We are actually on a two-week family vacation as I write this. That is not an excuse, but it did cause me to lose all track of time, but the Lord did lay on my heart what I should write while spending this quality time with the fam. 

We are at Disney World in Florida. I know recent events have caused some of you to have issues with Disney. I understand, and there are things they have done that I don’t agree with, but my daughter loves Disney. She has since she was little and now at almost 21, she’s still a Disney freak. And although this was supposed to be her senior trip in 2020, we all know what happened then. Consequently, the trip was rescheduled for 2021, but there were still too many restrictions, so it was rescheduled again for 2022. Here we are, and the button Darby has worn proudly every day in each park and every place we have gone says, “I’m celebrating Graduation 2020.” 

A pandemic, lockdown, and messed up senior trip weren’t all that happened to my family in 2020. What I thought was a problem with my hip and back turned out to be something else. After several failed procedures and medications, a doctor said that she would like me to see a neurologist. 

Of course I did, and shortly thereafter found out I had MS (multiple sclerosis). Now I realize that many people are much worse off than me, but for someone who has been an athlete his whole life, who is active as active could be, this news was devastating. There was no medicine or surgery I could have to fix the issue like I expected. Luckily I have a wonderful doctor and am on infusions that should slow the progression. But the symptoms I have now will always be with me. 

I don’t tell you this to feel sorry for me. I went through that stage and came out on the other side ready to go. But as I stood at Magic Kingdom and watched their new fireworks display “Enchantment,” I heard these words from a song from Moana: 

“Sometimes the world seems against you
The journey may leave a scar
But scars can heal and reveal just
Where you are
The people you love will change you
The things you have learned will guide you
And nothing on Earth can silence
The quiet voice still inside you.”

As I watched fireworks and the projections on Cinderella’s castle, the Lord spoke to me. The first few lines of the song talk about our journey. It’s not just the fact that it can be tough, but what’s important is what we learn through it all. God has prepared me my whole life for this trial, and as I look back at the graph of my journey, I can see that clearly and understand that what I have learned will help me through. 

Of course, that quiet voice inside me, I know is the Lord. When I am  praying, spending time in His word and just quieting myself long enough to remember that He is God and I’m not, He reveals so much. 

But the line that really got me was the one about that says, “The people you love will change you.” As I stood there staring up at the sky, I remembered how I was, early on after finding out. I mean, I can’t lie: there have been times I’ve been angry with God, angry with myself, down so much that I just want to cry.

Without a doubt God sent the people that I love to make a difference. It was my wife listening to me rant and curse because I didn’t understand why this was happening. A brother who, even though he was over a 1,000 miles away, helped me find that doc I spoke of earlier. Friends who prayed with me, watched out for me and even kicked me in the butt when I needed it. Yeah, those people I love changed me for sure. They helped me get over a big hump.

What I understood, standing there listening to those words, was that God uses those we love to encourage us, to help us, to change our focus. I know that even still today my focus can be way down the rabbit hole when I have a what I would call a bad MS day. But then my wife is there with just the right thing to say. Or a friend reaches out with a genuine, “how’re you doing?” Or I get an encouraging text from another friend who also has MS. 

Even on this trip, there are many I know praying for me – how encouraging is that! And then there’s my son, who never let me or his mom carry the backpack around the park, or my daughter who normally goes 100 miles an hour at Disney, slowing down to 50 mph for dear old Dad.

Since October of 2020, God has used so many people I love to encourage and change my focus. I should list them all here, but that would take up several pages and you don’t want to read all that. I will simply say that those individuals know who they are, and I thank God for them. 

Yes, I got something unexpected from that first night at Magic Kingdom. It was more than a wish coming true; it was the realization that God will continue to use those I love to help guide me, encourage me, and focus me where I need to be as this journey continues. 

I hope you can see where God has used those you love to make a difference in your life. If not, ask Him to reveal them to you. I believe He will.

About Post Author

Noah

noahduncan@ymail.com

http://daytodaychristian.com

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