Writing the Story!

Excerpt from High Ties, Low Tides, and Riptides by Patti Sudduth

Writing the Story! 

While waiting between flights, I sat staring out of the airport window. I was reflecting on life and its fissures, cracks and potholes, of its struggles and persistent pounding, and feeling tired and heart weary. I looked to my left, and saw a sight that stirred my heart. A woman sat cradling a child of what looked to be nine summers, holding and speaking tenderly to her. The sleeping child lay peacefully in arms of love and security. But, one look told me she had come through significant challenges in her young life. Peach fuzz for hair and a scalp striped with scars told me a story.

I leaned toward the woman, and broke the silence between us. The mother told me that the child had been declared cancer free for six years, no evidence of the brain tumor. But, the cure had taken its toll. The child’s cognitive abilities had been damaged. The mother said that many times she had prepared herself for the worst, prepared herself for the end of her child’s story. But she says, with a smile, her child remains such a unique treasure from God, despite her inabilities. She changes and touches all the lives around her, and gives testimony of God’s awesome goodness and providence. The mother relayed to me God’s answer to her regarding His gift of this child. So many times when she was ready to accept the child’s death and write the end of her story, God’s answer to her was, “Do not write the end of her story.  I am doing that.  Let her go, and let Me write the end of her story.  I am the only One who can.”

I thought of those persons and situations in my life that I try to control or fix or assist. I again hear the same words… “Do not attempt to write the end of their story or yours.  I am writing your story and theirs.  Release these to Me.”

(Psalm 139)