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9/11/00 Being Still From:
Rob Payne <rob@everydayisprecious.com>
When was the last time someone told you to be still? As one of four kids, I remember being told to "be still" in church when I squirmed like children do. I can also remember being told to "be still" in the car when I was pestering my brother or sisters. It always came as a command. It was synonymous with "ENOUGH!" It was usually the last warning before something serious would happen. I can't remember being told to be still since then. It seems just the opposite. I've been told, or I keep telling myself, "keep moving." "You've got to make this deadline." "Set goals, move ahead in your career." "The kids' game starts in 15 minutes, it takes 20 minutes to get there." "Your vacation is costing $40 per waking hour, squeeze as much into it as you can." Sunday's Sunday School lesson included the scripture above and it stopped me in my tracks. Towards the end of class, before I said anything, Marcy told the group that the lesson had spoken to her. How she felt as if she had been misdirected for the last four years with too much emphasis on Happy Tales. She told of the toll it had taken on her body and that now she is learning to be still and acknowledge what is really important. Sunday afternoon at the quarterly board meeting, Marcy resigned from Happy Tales. She will make the same announcement to the volunteers this Saturday night at the Coats and Tails dinner. The "baby" that she spent 4 years raising is now up for adoption. At the board meeting, we suggested the best ways we see for the organization to keep going and the other board members decided they will keep the organization open and will hire someone to fill at least Marcy's fund raising activities. In truth, this just was an official act for the way Marcy had been functioning for the last 3 or 4 weeks. Marcy has done a great job of learning how to be still and it has helped her healing process. She is feeling so well, she has talked about canceling the appointment with the doctors in North Carolina, but I continue to urge that we need to go there, we need another voice from the medical community. She doesn't want to again be told that she is going to die. I am reminding her that they don't get to decide when she dies, but they could give us more information to help us live. We are still on our diet, the wet cell treatments and massages are going well and doing good. We are closer to each other and we're starting to come off our island and let work and church friends get closer to us. Most of all, our faith continues to grow exponentially. We have so much more than we did a month ago. And we're getting more every day. Not by running fast enough to catch it, but by being still long enough to see it's been all around us all along. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and know that you are in ours. Rob |
