Be Near

Sometimes you come across something that makes selling a house, the headaches of moving, the daily grind and stress of life seem completely, utterly insignificant.
Yesterday was one of those times.
A few things led up to this realization.
A couple of months ago, I read a convicting book, one that I knew would challenge me before I even opened it. It is "Dangerous Surrender" by Kay Warren, and DO NOT read it unless you want your brain and heart to be stretched, to be asked to think through things in a kingdom way. She has the audacity to expect the reader to apply what he/she reads, not just skim through it and say, "Oh, that was a great book. I think my husband would get a lot out of it! He should really read this." No, she asks ME to change.
Then, last week I read "My Hands Came Away Red" by Lisa McKay, a fiction about a girl who embarks on a mission trip, thinking it will be fun and simple. It is everything but. I can't say any more about it without giving away the plot, but, barely into the first chapter, I already didn't want it to end.
The combination of both of these books and the blog God led me to yesterday snapped me out of my shallow self-centeredness and reminded me that, yes, life is often incredibly hard, often makes us long to quit, often just plain wears us down. But the beauty--the moments where we do see a glimpse of God, of eternity, the total surrender to the belief that He cannot be anything but good-- keeps us pressing through the desert. There is a Promised Land.
So, please read the story of Anthony and Amber (a couple I don't even know) on the blog I found, http://www.cold-water-news.blogspot.com/
They are a young couple with two children, missionaries to Ethiopia,who went through the unimaginable last week. Amber, only 28, died in a car accident. The faith demonstrated by her husband and her church, her own words in her journal rocked me. Please pray for Anthony and their young children, for God to be very, very near to them now. Here are some lyrics from a song by Shane and Shane that speak a prayer for all of us:

You are all,big and small ,
And wonderful to trust in grace through faith
But I'm asking to taste~
For dark is light to you
Depths are height to you
Far is near, but Lord I need to hear from you.
Be near, oh God, Be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good.
Be near, oh God, Be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good ,Our good.
Your fullness is mine
Revelation divine
But oh to taste, to know much more than a page
To feel your embrace...
For dark is light to you
Depths are height to you
Far is near but Lord, I need to hear from you.
Be near,oh God, Be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good.