Friday, Oct. 1st Update from Joni

Friday, October 1st Update from Joni:

As the sun was setting last evening, the undersides of the clouds cast a golden glow over everything in our backyard and beyond – Ken and I just had to stop what we were doing and step outside. I felt an immediate, incandescent joy wash over me, with the sky so big and the moment so heavenly. And being with Ken made it all the sweeter. That got me to thinking…
 
It’s amazing how often I’ve tried to find “meaning” in tough times (like the one I’m going through). I’ve got to keep reminding myself that suffering has no meaning in itself. Left to its own, it is a frustrating and bewildering burden. But given the context of relationship, suffering suddenly has meaning – I see that with Ken as he tends to my needs; with my get-up girls; with the team at Joni and Friends, and with friends like you who keep blogging the most inspiring stories, scriptures and hymns! But nowhere does the meaning in our suffering become more clear than in an intimate relationship with Jesus. There’s nothing absurd, from his point of view, about a personal relationship with hurting humans.
 
Like the host issuing party invitations left and right, he’s out there searching for that one on whom he can bestow forgiveness and enjoy a relationship. Like a shepherd leaving the ninety‑nine in the field, he’s seeking. He’s interested in “going deep” with us, especially when we’re suffering. My cancer has shown me that I want to know a God like this! Shove me under the waterfall of his joy, splashing and spilling over heaven’s walls, because if he’s always in a good mood, I want to catch it. If I’m lost, I want him to find me. Part the heavens, Lord, come down, and embrace me. It’s then when my suffering make sense. Complete sense.