May 27, 2007

Grace at NA

I'm sitting in the hotel room tonight after a long day at this great conference. It has been such a blessing to meet some of the people that have been following this blog and praying for Ian, some since the day of the accident. I am so moved again by the fact that people who don't even know Ian feel a weight on their heart to daily lift him and us up in prayer. Only God could stir hearts like that.

I was talking this morning with someone who reads the blog daily and throughout our conversation I was saying how God's grace alone has sustained me through this. She then asked me what I do in my moments of darkness and basically asked what do I practice in times of temptation. What a great question. I think I responded by saying that I stop and ask God to help me and give me grace. God has also helped me to be diligent in my quiet times and I daily have seen the fruit of that. But that question really made me start thinking more about grace and what it has actually done in my life. These are my thoughts so far.

I have been enveloped with grace for the past eight months. I have been given abundantly more grace than I have asked for in prayer. I have walked along with the Murphy's through what apart from Christ is a huge tragedy, full of sorrow, and lacking of hope. But we have not been crushed. God has met me in every hour of need and I have no way to explain that other than to credit it to God's infinite love for me. Nothing has shown me more of His character than being carried by His grace through this suffering. His grace is what allows me to get out of bed in the morning when my emotions tell me that hiding under the covers would be best. His grace is what allows me to look at Ian and see the man that I want to marry. His grace is what allows Steve and Mary to care for all of their oldest son's physical needs. His grace is what allows us to say 'it is good that I was afflicted.'

This conference opened with singing "Amazing Grace." I was crying instantly because we sang that song countless times over Ian while he was in the hospital. Ian is a recipient of God's amazing grace. We are experiencing, right now, God's amazing grace. "Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come." And "grace will lead me home."

Thank you for your prayers. And thank you, Chrissy, for challenging me with that great question.

Larissa

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

God bless you, Larissa! What a great post to see first thing in the morning!
God has given you grace and will continue to do so; He is so faithful. He has also give you love...love for the Murphys, Ian and especially for Him, whom you serve.

Still Praying!

Mary Ann K.

P.S. Glad you and Ian went to the movies...Shrek III has a run time of only 93 minutes...of course, there's all those trailers, too!
:-)

Anonymous said...

Our Sunday school class has been studying Revelations and we've reached the end of the book...to me, the most exciting and encouraging chapters. Because of God's grace we will dwell with Christ one day...

"John's vision is a vision of hope, of promise. The New Jerusalem will come down, heaven and earth will be one, and God will dwell with God's people. This is meant to be an encouragement to John's readers in their times of tribulation, persecution, and temptation. These things will not last. They will not have the final say. So be of good cheer. Hold strongly to what is true. Remain faithful to the way of the Lamb, the way of love. Do so because this is the way of God, the Creator of the universe and the Redeemer of his creation."
~Ted Grimsrud, Triumph of the Lamb

Your life and testimony continues to amaze me Larissa, and I love you.

Lisa

Anonymous said...

I believe there are unbelievers out there who heard about Ian's accident and were further convinced that God isn't this loving merciful God that all believers know that he is. To many unbelievers, I believe that Ian's accident was further "proof" in their minds that God isn't worthy of worship and praise. "Why?", the unbeliever might ask, would a loving God possibly let something like this happen to a perfectly decent and good person, such as Ian?" But as time as gone on and as Ian has incredibly went from being in what everyone thought were the final days and hours of his life to the point where he is now home and slowly improving day by day, I believe many unbelivers have been awe strucked at this and seen just how powerful prayer and faith in the Lord can be. Why did God let this happen to Ian? Only He really knows, but I believe that part of it was to let unbelievers see the miracles He has worked in bringing Ian from where he was to the much better situation he's in now so that many unbelievers may be encouraged to trust in the Lord. So much joy and wonderful things have come from Ian's accident! To the unbeliever, at first such a statement sounds absolutely ridiculous and cruel and insensitive. But in time, the unbeliever can come to know that God's grace and wondrous love is sometimes best revealed through some of the most sad, tragic, and disastrous events that occur in life. Ian's situation is one example. 9/11 and Katriana are a couple others.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I saw you in my community group but didn't get a chance to talk to you. I'm still praying for God's glory and Ian's best!

MikeQ

Anonymous said...

I was thinking of Ian a lot while at Na. Last year at Na was when i got to spend the most time with Ian. I remember him looking forward to Larissa coming and when she got there he didn't want to film any more of our silly movie we were making.

God please hear our prayers!

Praying for you Larissa, and praying for you Ian.

mike